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ITV Lunchtime News
ITV News opening sequence
Presented by	Nina Hossain
Voices of	Gayanne Potter (intro)
Opening theme	"Global Broadcast"
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
Production
Production locations	ITN headquarters, London, England, UK
Editors	Rachel Corp (Editor, ITV News)
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	25 minutes
Production company	ITN
Original release
Network	ITV
Release	16 October 1972 (1972-10-16) – present
Related
News at One ITV Evening News ITV News at Ten ITV Weekend News

The ITV Lunchtime News is the afternoon news programme produced by ITN on the British television network ITV. It airs Monday to Friday from 1:30pm, covering British national and international news stories and is presented by Nina Hossain. The bulletin's time-slot is occasionally brought forward to a 1pm start-time in the event of ITV Racing coverage airing on ITV.

History

Television broadcasting hours in the United Kingdom had been tightly regulated and controlled by the British government until 1972, when the then Conservative government under Prime Minister Edward Heath decided to end all limits and restrictions on the broadcasting hours of television.

ITV had been campaigning for the end of the restrictions since the mid-1960s, and finally on 19 January 1972, the government announced the lifting of all restrictions, allowing proper daytime television to launch on both the BBC and ITV.

ITN had provided a short lunchtime news summary to start the ITV schedules on a Saturday since 1959, with an afternoon news summary on a Sunday starting in the mid-1960s, however it was the lifting of the restrictions on 16 October 1972 which helped ITN to launch a codified, more solid weekday lunchtime news programme as part of a raft of new programming which would now take up broadcasting hours which were up to 1972 restricted to schools programming and adult education.

The programme was first broadcast on 16 October 1972 as First Report, a twenty-minute bulletin presented by Robert Kee at 12:40pm. The bulletin was moved to 1:00pm on 30 September 1974 and retitled as News at One on 13 September 1976. Leonard Parkin and Peter Sissons alternated as the programme's lead presenters 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 fronted alternate editions of the programme. On 7 March 1988, ITV's daytime programming was rejigged and the bulletin was moved back to its 1:00pm timeslot. News at One later relaunched on 16 October 1989 with John Suchet as its lead presenter. On 7 January 1991, the programme moved this time to 12:30pm.

On 2 March 1992, News at 12:30 was relaunched as the Lunchtime News with a dual-presenting team comprising Nicholas Owen and Carol Barnes. On 6 March 1995, ITN's news bulletins were relaunched with a cohesive identity. The Lunchtime News on air team was revamped, this time with a returning Julia Somerville alongside Dermot Murnaghan. Owen and Barnes remained as relief presenters.

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 lead presenter of the new ITV Nightly News. On 22 January 2001, as part of a wider reorganisation of ITV News, Suchet became the sole presenter of the Lunchtime News; in mid-2002, he was replaced by Nicholas Owen.

On 2 February 2004, ITV News was relaunched and the 12:30pm bulletin was restructured: Owen was joined by Katie Derham in a return to a dual-presenting team; then, on 11 April 2005, the programme was extended to 60 minutes. The 15-minute regional news bulletin at 3:00pm 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 1:30pm. On 5 February 2007, Owen left to join BBC News and was replaced by Alastair Stewart.

In April 2007 ITN announced that ITV had awarded it a 6-year contract to produce ITV News, at a cost of £250 million.

ITV Lunchtime News switched from the traditional 4:3 format to 16:9 widescreen since 3 December 2007.

On 27 July 2009, the ITV Lunchtime News returned to a single presenter, with Stewart and Katie Derham alternating. Derham later left ITV News in June 2010 and was replaced by Nina Hossain.

On 2 November 2009, the bulletin was retitled as ITV News at 1:30 (though never announced on screen, where it was simply referred to as the ITV News, in contrast to other bulletins) as part of a rebrand of the channel's news programmes. Since 12 October 2015, the programme was again being referred to as the ITV Lunchtime News.

On 24 May 2019 it was announced Hossain would become the sole presenter of the programme.

The ITV Lunchtime News presenter also fronts the impending ITV News London lunchtime bulletin from 13:55.

On air staff

Main newscaster

• Nina Hossain (2004–present)

Other newscasters

• Yasmin Bodalbahi (2023–present)
• Gamal Fahnbulleh (2022–present)
• Lucrezia Millarini (2017–present)
• Geraint Vincent (2006–2012, 2021–present)
• Lucy Watson (2022–present)
• Romilly Weeks (2006–present)
• Charlene White (2014–present)

Former newscasters

• Mark Austin (1998–2002, 2009–2010)
• Carol Barnes (1980–1998)
• Felicity Barr (2001–2005)
• Sally Biddulph (2009)
• Andrea Byrne (2010–2012)
• Andrea Catherwood (2003–2006)
• Katie Derham (1998–2010)
• Shiulie Ghosh (2000–2004)
• Andrew Harvey (2000–2001)
• Alex Hyndman (2009)
• Natasha Kaplinsky (2011–2013)
• Robert Kee (1972–1976)
• Daisy McAndrew (2006–2011)
• Lucy Meacock (2007–2009)
• Dermot Murnaghan (1993–1999)
• Mary Nightingale (2000–2002, 2009–2015)
• Nicholas Owen (1992–2007)
• Leonard Parkin (1976–1987)
• Kylie Pentelow (2021, 2023)
• Sonia Ruseler (1992–1994)
• Steve Scott (2005–2015)
• Ranvir Singh (2014–2020)
• Peter Sissons (1976–1983)
• Jon Snow (1987–1988)
• Julia Somerville (1987–2000)
• Alastair Stewart (1983–1987, 2005–2020)
• John Suchet (1989–2004)
• Kirsty Young (2000–2001)

References

1. "ResponseSource: Rachel Corp selected as editor at ITV News". Retrieved 28 March 2021.
2. "TELEVISION AND RADIO BROADCASTING (Hansard, 19 January 1972)".
3. "Time Limits".
4. "Daytime Hours – Programming – Transdiffusion Broadcasting System".
5. "TVARK | ITV News | Lunchtime". Archived from the original on 31 January 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
6. "ITV and ITN sign new six-year contract for ITV news worth over 250 mln stg". ABC Money. 2 April 2007. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 5 June 2006.
7. Robinson, James (21 April 2010). "Katie Derham leaving ITN for BBC". MediaGuardian. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
8. "ITV Lunchtime News". DigiGuide. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
9. Nina Hossain moves up to lead ITV Lunchtime News, James Walker, Press Gazette, 24 May 2019

External links

• ITV News at itv.com

• 1972 British television series debuts
• 1970s British television series
• 1980s British television series
• 1990s British television series
• 2000s British television series
• 2010s British television series
• 2020s British television series
• British television news shows
• British English-language television shows
• ITN
• ITV news shows