Incidentally, has everyone else noticed how the ITN branding has disappeared without a trace over the years? It used to always be called “ITN News” and “ITN News at Ten” (heh, it rhymes) and with ITN logos all over the place.

Now the only clue that ITN are involved is in the credits at the end.

For anyone interested, here is a longer version of the “no news” sketch from Time Trumpet which Adam Buxton made. It comes complete with a joke about pointless two-ways.

“I fear it’s the “target demographic” problem”

Where’s the problem – news on ITV fits it’s viewers the “***** from Hell” brigade. Morons have to be catered for as well you know

A puzzle for you though. The news is produced by ITN, *for* ITV. OK, so I’m perhaps distinguishing two organisations that are joined at the hip, but ITN is the organisation that brings Channel 4 news to our screens.

The Channel 4 news programme is, in my view, the single best television news programme going. Newsnight is a close 2nd, but is frequently just too dreary or antagonistic for my tastes. I find much of BBC1’s news bulletins painful (All those presenters taking turns to read *one* headline).

C4 have a decent time slot and allocation, top notch presenters (who continue to produce some solid journalism), and an independent sense of purpose.

I fear it’s the “target demographic” problem (or whatever you might call it). The commissioners at ITV are requesting ITN produce a programme that remain ’soft’, ‘engaging’ and ‘relevant’, or similar such, and in doing so are losing sight of the very reason people are watching the news. To be informed in a way that feels authoritative. Sounds like they’ve missed it badly, and I’m a bit worried that the great saviour Michael Grade may not be so great, or much of a saviour, if this is what we’ve got to judge him by.

I’m pretty sure they continue to use Sir Trev because he isn’t actually real, and therefore is very cheap despite the supposed hugely inflated pay packet – he gives the impression of being an animatronic puppet with his strange speaking style and jerky head movements.

(Never watched it before, am unlikely to watch it now)

THat spoof of the BBC effort was amusing though – I must have missed that episode of whatever it was that Armando Ianucci was doing at the time – a very humorous man indeed!