5 /10 1 Votes
Opening theme "Global Broadcast" Original language(s) English First episode date 16 October 1972 Language English | 5/10 IMDb Country of origin United Kingdom Genre News | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Similar Kopi Kade, Obada Lakshapathi Mamada, Sirasa Superstar, ITV Evening News, ITV News | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ITV Lunchtime News is the afternoon news bulletin on the British television network ITV. It is produced by ITN.
The 25-minute programme, currently presented by Nina Hossain or Alastair Stewart, covers British national and international news stories and broadcasts at 1:30pm from Monday to Friday.
History
The programme was first broadcast on 16 October 1972 as First Report, a twenty-minute bulletin presented by newscaster Robert Kee at 12:40 pm. The bulletin was moved to 1:00 pm on 7 September 1974 and retitled as News at One on 6 September 1976. Leonard Parkin and Peter Sissons alternated as the programme's main newscasters in the same year after Kee's departure.
On 20 July 1987, the bulletin was relaunched as News at 12:30. Jon Snow and former BBC newsreader Julia Somerville presented alternate editions of the programme. On 7 March 1988, ITV's daytime programming was rejigged and the bulletin was moved back to its 1:00 pm timeslot. News at One later relaunched on 16 October 1989 with John Suchet as its main presenter. On 7 January 1991, the programme moved this time to 12:30 pm.
On 2 March 1992, News at 12:30 was relaunched as the Lunchtime News with a two-newscaster team comprising Nicholas Owen and Carol Barnes. On 6 March 1995, ITN's news bulletins were relaunched with a cohesive identity. The Lunchtime News newscasting team was revamped, this time with a returning Julia Somerville alongside Dermot Murnaghan. Owen and Barnes remained as relief newscasters.
On 8 March 1999, coinciding with a further relaunch of ITN's news bulletins, John Suchet returned to the newly named ITV Lunchtime News to replace Murnaghan, now main newscaster of the new ITV Nightly News. On 22 January 2001, the ITV Lunchtime News reverted to single presentation with Nicholas Owen.
On 2 February 2004, ITV News was relaunched and the 12:30 pm bulletin was restructured: Owen was joined by Katie Derham in a return to a dual-newscasting team; then, on 11 April 2005, the programme was extended to 60 minutes. The 15-minute regional news bulletin at 3:00 pm was axed and incorporated into the new 60-minute ITV Lunchtime News. On 4 September 2006, the 60-minute format was axed, returning to its shorter length and at a new broadcast time of 1:30 pm. On 5 February 2007, Owen left to join BBC News and was replaced by Alastair Stewart.
On 27 July 2009, the ITV Lunchtime News returned to a single newscaster, with Stewart and Katie Derham alternating. Derham later left ITV News in June 2010. On 2 November 2009, the bulletin was retitled as ITV News at 1:30 as part of a rebrand of the channel's news programmes. Since 12 October 2015, the programme was being referred to as the ITV Lunchtime News.