Lookaround

Lookaround is the flagship news programme in the ITV Border (previously Border Television before the formation of ITV plc. in 2004) region. The programme's coverage area consists of Dumfries & Galloway, the Scottish Borders (on the western side; the eastern side of the Scottish Borders is covered by neighbouring ITV Tyne Tees), Cumbria (including Carlisle, where the programme is based) and the northern parts of the Isle of Man (the southern parts are covered by the neighbouring ITV Granada region). It is one of the most popular regional news magazines in the UK, and has been on-air since the launch of what was then Border Television (now ITV Border) in 1961.

Shorter bulletins are called Border News, which broadcast at breakfast time (during GMTV), mid-morning, lunchtime & late night on weekdays and twice a day at weekends.

Most bulletins are pan-regional, but some are sub-regional, with separate versions going out to each of the English/Manx and Scottish sub-regions.

On 12 September 2007, Michael Grade - boss of ITV plc. - announced plans to merge ITV Border with neighbouring ITV Tyne Tees. On Thursday 26th September 2008, OFCOM (the Office of Communications, the UK's broadcasting regulator) authorised ITV's plans to save £40m a year by making regional programming cutbacks. These include axing mid-morning bulletins on weekdays & lunchtime bulletins at weekends, merging a number of regions and halving the number of non-news regional programmes.

51 jobs are set to be cut at ITV Border, with only 13 production staff remaining to work on the merged Border/Tyne Tees service. The current Television Centre in Harraby is due to be sold off. The changes are due to take effect from early 2009.

The Border region will still be covered by a weekday opt-out bulletin (within the main 6pm programme) and a fully separate late night bulletin until digital switchover is complete in 2014. After that time, there is no guarantee that ITV regional news programmes will continue.

On air

Border News airs on Border seven days a week. Border provides several news bulletins during GMTV. The mid-morning bulletin airs immediately after an ITV News summary at 11:15, during This Morning, this update airs for five minutes. The afternoon bulletin follows on from the ITV Lunchtime News, giving a five minute round-up of the days developments at 13:55. The main evening edition of Lookaround begins at 18.00, ending at 18:30, preceding the ITV Evening News. The late news update from ITV Border follows the News at Ten on ITV, from Monday to Thursday at 22:25. On Fridays, the late bulletin follows the ITV Late News at 23:25.

Border News also airs lunchtime and early evening bulletins on Saturdays and Sundays, though times always vary.

Scottish opt-out service

A short pre-recorded round-up of Scottish Borders stories is broadcast within the main evening edition of Lookaround on weekdays, and presented by the main anchors. A separate Scottish late bulletin is also produced on weekdays and is also pre-recorded.

The team

Currently, the Lookaround on-air team consists of the following:

Main presenters

• Tim Backshall (Monday-Friday)
• Kate Fisher (Monday-Thursday)

• Fiona Armstrong (Friday)

Relief presenters

• Jonathan Willoughby

• Helen Pearson

Sports presenters

• Jennifer Humphreys
• Matthias Kürth

• Graham Davies

Weather presenters

• Jo Blythe
• Kerrie Gosney

• Debbie Lindley

N.B. The weather presenters record their forecasts from the ITV Yorkshire studios. They can also be seen presenting weather forecasts in that region, as well as on ITV Granada and occasionally ITV Tyne Tees.

Reporters

• John Bevir
• Joanna Clague (Isle of Man Correspondent)
• Gillian Fraser
• Philip Gomm (Westminster Correspondent)

• Adam Powell
• Davina Hagan
• Miranda Wilson
• Hannah Lomas

N.B. Some reporters can be seen also reporting for ITV Tyne Tees's North East Tonight.

Former presenters and reporters

Kate Webster	Now a News Correspondent and occasional anchor at ITV Yorkshire
Russell Hookey	Appeared as a weekend reporter for ITN's ITV News before re-joining Channel Television as Editor
Courtney MacLeod	Currently on maternity leave
Andrew Glover	Married Vanessa Black in the late 1990s and left ITV Border
Vanessa Black	Married Andrew Glover in the late 1990s and left ITV Border
Craig Austin	Became network presentation manager for the ITV network
Carol Malia	Currently the main anchor of BBC Look North
John Lawrence	Moved to ITV Tyne Tees before BBC Look North in Newcastle
Ross Kelly	Became national TV star on GMTV
Penny Smith	Now long-serving female anchor of the 6am-7am News Hour on ITV 1's GMTV
Richard Madeley	Promoted to Granada Reports, before becoming one half of Richard & Judy
Lee McKenzie	Presenter on ITV, Sky Sports - mostly motor sport but also other sports programmes
Kenny Toal	Moved to ITV Tyne Tees in 2002 and previously worked for ITN
Lindsey Archibald	Moved to Setanta Sports in 2007.
Nick Martin	Now a news correspondent for Channel 4 News
Sarah Elliott	Now a presenter/reporter for Granada Reports, since 2006
Nina Hossain	Presented BBC London News before moving onto ITV News and LNN's London Tonight in November 2004
Heather Larcombe	Producer for ITV Border
Jeremy Hands	Moved to ITN before becoming editor of Anglia News (East).
Keith Macklin	Sports presenter left to head up Red Rose Radio in Preston, Greater Manchester
Nicol Nicolson	Moved to STV's Scotland Today as a reporter, occasionally seen on ITV News reports

External links

• Border News at itvlocal.com
• Help tips and advice as Cumbria leads the way to digital TV