Your Westcountry news from Bristol
MUCH-LOVED faces will be disappearing from Westcountry television screens in the shake-up of regional news programmes.
Presenters such as Richard Bath and Alexis Bowater, who have anchored the region's television news for several years, have been axed under the new regime.
-
Lisa Aziz and Steve Scott will anchor The West Country Tonight from Bristol, covering 7 counties
The ITV Westcountry headquarters in Plymouth will close down next month as the operation merges with ITV West in Bristol.
Staff are said to be under massive pressure as the station goes into its dying days. With reduced numbers, it is understood an untrained employee has had to read the news on one occasion.
Business Cards From Only £10.95 Delivered www.myprint-247.co.uk
View detailsOur heavyweight cards have FREE UV silk coating, FREE next day delivery & VAT included. Choose from 1000's of pre-designed templates or upload your own artwork. Orders dispatched within 24hrs.
Terms: Visit our site for more products: Business Cards, Compliment Slips, Letterheads, Leaflets, Postcards, Posters & much more. All items are free next day delivery. www.myprint-247.co.uk
Contact: 01858 468192
Valid until: Friday, May 31 2013
From February 16 there will be one regional news programme, The West Country Tonight, covering seven counties in the West of England. Included in the programme will be 15 minutes dedicated to what is now the ITV Westcountry patch.
Current ITV Westcountry presenters Mr Bath and Ms Bowater are being made redundant and the new programme will be presented by Lisa Aziz and Steve Scott.
Other popular faces such as Jemma Woodman and Julie Fisher will also be disappearing from the news.
An internal message sent to staff at ITV Westcountry from the head of news, Liz Hannam, reveals the "exceptionally challenging" conditions for station workers.
An extract from the memo reads: "The redundancies, high levels of sickness and stretched resources, combined with the wider economic gloom, have put many colleagues under considerable pressure.
"I realise this has been an exceptionally challenging time for staff, especially those who won't be staying with the new service."
It is understood staff are being pushed to the limit to meet production deadlines as those who will be working on the new programme are often on training courses or other preparation work.
These shortages are thought to have led to a woman who works as a news assistant reading out the local news for Plymouth and Truro earlier this month despite having no training as a television presenter.
A spokesman for ITV said the restructuring will allow the firm to continue to provide a high-quality service. He said: "There will be familiar faces reporting on news and we will be running bureaus across the region.
"We will very much have the resources to cover news wherever it is in the region and we've invested in new technology that allows us to report live from news events."
The spokesman stressed that within every programme there will be 15 minutes of news from what is now the ITV Westcountry region.
Regarding the untrained employee reading the news, the spokesman said: "Due to staff illness, in exceptional circumstances another member of staff was used to read out a short part of a bulletin."
Comments
by Sue Melley, Mid Cornwall
Wednesday, February 17 2010, 10:16PM
“When I choose to watch a lcal news station, that is what I want to see - local news. Bristol and Bath are NOT local to Cornwall. I have no interest whatsoever in what happens up there.
We had brilliant presenters in the likes of Richard Bath and Alexis Bowater, for example, and now we have the stiff starched shirts of Steve Scott and Vanessa with the startled rabbit in headlights look.
I watch very occasionally to see if anything has changed, but I am sorry, It is dreadful. Please go back to the original format and get some local presenters.”
by k hartland, glos
Tuesday, January 12 2010, 9:00PM
“when isEllie due to have her baby? she looks so uncomfortably.will she be returning to our screen?”
by Mr Smith Ms Bell, Weston Super Mare
Tuesday, July 21 2009, 8:42AM
“What has happened to Lisa Aziz , we wait to see her smiling face every evening ,she seems to have vanished and nothing has been mentioned as to if she has left, on holiday, or out sick. Perhaps we have missed something ? When is she coming back ?”
by Peter John Frise, Tavistock Devon
Wednesday, March 25 2009, 6:51PM
“I do not like the way you not using presenters jemma and Rickard from the west country. I am a retired and on my own and get £124-00 per week and own a car and run it I mange very well on what i get , so what are the poeple doing with they money. program on 6 oclock wed night on the 25/ 03 2009”
by nathan, Exeter
Thursday, March 12 2009, 6:34PM
“I agree with you Bridget it is absolutely awful!
Westcountry Live used to be a brilliant to watch, now, you've got these two who are so serious all the time.
The news has taken a knock back too as it is more focused on the West than us in the West Country now”
by bridget Turner, lyme regis
Saturday, March 07 2009, 5:19PM
“well I have given them a couple of weeks to prove themselves, what a disaster ,its like watching two sacks of poatoes not an ounce of personality between them. Richard Gemma etc enjoyed them selves laughing and really getting involved in what they were reporting, a sad sad time now I have to watch BBC which I have to say isnt perfect but its better than Lisa and her mate droning on!!”
by Gareth Evans, Penzance
Sunday, February 01 2009, 8:27PM
“We have seen ITV gradually reduce the amount they spend on regional tv over the last few years. They have been very devious by making subtle changes that they think nobody will notice and this latest cut back is the icing on the cake as far as they're concerned. Nobody has cared so far, so why whinge now. The time to speak up about was when Westcountry became Carlton! The regulator Ofcom has no back bone and the local community just sat back and watched. What did we all expect... Itv to suddenly decide it was going to start spending its share holders money on local news, which is what they are contracted to do, again?!”
by Joe Winston, Cornwall
Wednesday, January 28 2009, 8:54PM
“This is obviously sad news, terrible that a television news service will be cut so drastically. But are we not forgetting something here? The ITV are not the only ones to be doing this, newspapers are cutting the number of staff they employ to write their publications, I believe I saw the same name next to three very large stories in the Morning News just the other day, no one is going to tell me that this person was able to give each and every of those stories the time they deserved.
Editors of both local TV and print news are simply cutting staff levels to cover their own backs. They don't care about the readers who pay their wages.”
by MCXV, Exmouth
Tuesday, January 27 2009, 5:58PM
“This is just a cynical attempt for the commercial stations to get rid of news programming altogether. They will justify this by saying no-one watches. Of course we won't as news from Bristol is no news for us. Couple this with the lack of commercial radio - no local news in the afternoons - and we are kept in the dark. Still, at least it is cheap, even it is useless......”
by Jan, Kernow
Tuesday, January 27 2009, 1:02PM
“Well, that tells you what they think of us 'down 'ere'. Westcountry has never really covered Cornwall very much, so now is the time to give them up completely. Spotlight - here we come!
Just one more case of lets bundle them all up together and lose their individuality. 'Local news'? - not on ITV.”