Created by BBC News Country of origin United Kingdom Running time 5-20 minutes Program creator BBC News Language English | Theme music composer David Lowe Original language(s) English First episode date 5 July 1954 Genre News Audio format Stereophonic sound | |
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Location(s) 1969-2013 BBC Television Centre
Studio E, Broadcasting House, London Presented by Maxine Mawhinney, Kate Silverton, Reeta Chakrabarti, Mishal Husain, Clive Myrie Similar BBC Breakfast, BBC News at One, BBC News at Ten, BBC News at Six, Final Score | ||
BBC Weekend News is the national news programmes on BBC One at a weekend and bank holidays although it is often referred to on guides simply as BBC News, or if broadcast at 1:00pm exactly, BBC News at One, 6:00pm exactly, BBC News at Six and 10:00pm exactly, BBC News at Ten. The programmes are simulcast on the BBC News Channel.
Contents
Format
BBC weekend news airs three times on both Saturday and Sunday, and is also used as the title of the BBC News Channel simulcast on Sunday mornings during August when the Andrew Marr show doesn't air. The main three bulletins are presented in the studio in a similar format to other national news bulletins on BBC One but are shorter in length.
The lunchtime bulletin is normally at 12pm on Saturdays and 1pm on Sundays although these times often vary. The programme lasts approximately 10 minutes including the sport and is immediately followed on BBC One by a weather forecast on Saturdays and extended weather forecast on Sundays.
The early evening bulletin lasts either 10 or 15 minutes depending on scheduling and can be at any time between 5pm and 7pm (and occasionally outside these times due to sport or other live events), and is followed by regional news on both evenings.
The late bulletin contains a sports update from the BBC sports centre in Salford, and is at 10pm on Sundays and around 10pm on Saturdays depending on scheduling.
Lunchtime
The lunchtime bulletin is now normally presented by Maxine Mawhinney, with the programme falling during her morning News Channel shifts. Mawhinney regularly presented the bulletin from 2006 until 2015 when Gavin Esler took over the morning shift following the departure of Chris Eakin from the News Channel. As of 19th February 2017, Gavin Esler appears no longer to present the programme. Cover presenters include Carole Walker, Rebecca Jones, Nicholas Owen and Annita McVeigh, although it appears that potentially any presenter on the News Channel, who happens to be rota'd to the relevant weekend shift, could present the programme.
On Bank Holidays the bulletin is normally read by the on duty news channel presenter however if the immediately preceding shift was presented by a more senior presenter it may be presented by the more senior presenter.
Evening
The two evening bulletins are normally presented by the same presenter. Kate Silverton presents the bulletins on Saturdays while Mishal Husain and Clive Myrie share presenting duties on Sundays. Myrie as well as Jane Hill and Reeta Chakrabarti present the bulletin when the regular presenter is away. The presenter of the two evening bulletins has usually been a dedicated presenter, specific to the two bulletins for that evening on BBC One, with the surrounding news presentation on the BBC News Channel being presented by another presenter. Although Huw Edwards is listed as a former presenter in the list below, he has occasionally presented the programme when there is a big news story in progress or, for example, when he interviewed the then US President in 2016.
The Bank Holiday news bulletins are presented by a member of the BBC Weekend News team or a presenter from the BBC News at One, BBC News at Six or BBC News at Ten.
Current presenters
In addition, Huw Edwards often presents the Weekend News bulletins in the events of major stories, such as EU referendum and US Elections in 2016.
Former presenters
If there is no position before the years of being a presenter, then this newsreader was either a relief presenter or occasional guest stand-in presenter.
Sports News
During the late programme on each day a round up of the days sports news is presented from the BBC Sport Centre at MediaCityUK, Salford. This is usually presented by one of the BBC News channel sports presenters: