Westcountry Live
Westcountry Live was the flagship regional news programme of ITV Westcountry, serving South West England.
History
The programme was first broadcast on Monday 4 January 1993 - four days after Westcountry Television took over the ITV regional franchise from Television South West.From December 1993 until early 2009, Westcountry ran four sub-regional services, each providing short opt-out bulletins for their area during Westcountry Live and the late-night bulletins on weekdays. Westcountry was the first and only ITV company to produce four opt-outs for their region
The opt-outs were broadcast from Westcountry's district studios in Barnstaple, Exeter, Plymouth, and Truro.
Reporter and camera crews were also based at district newsrooms in Penzance, Taunton, Torbay and Weymouth.
The programme ended on Friday 13 February 2009.
Merger
Following ITV Westcountry's merger with ITV West to form ITV West & Westcountry, the new pan-regional programme The West Country Tonight launched on Monday 16 February 2009. A 20-minute opt-out for the current Westcountry region is featured within the 6pm programme alongside fully separate short bulletins and localised weather forecasts seven days a week. The news service was renamed ITV News West Country on 14 January 2013.Depending on the day's news, either the West or Westcountry bulletins are pre-recorded. The service is presented from Bristol with newsrooms in Plymouth, Truro and Exeter covering the Westcountry region.
Former Westcountry Live presenters Richard Bath, Alexis Bowater and Jemma Woodman were made redundant. Bath and Woodman presented the final main edition of the programme on Friday 13 February 2009, which featured a special highlights compilation with contributions from presenters, reporters and production staff.
Westcountry's main Plymouth studios were closed along with the district newsrooms in Barnstaple, Penzance, Torbay and Weymouth. A new, smaller Plymouth newsroom opened at the offices of independent production company Twofour.
Former on air team
- John Andrews
- Richard Bath
- Katy Haswell
- Ron Bendell
- Ed Boyle
- Alexis Bowater
- Neil Bradford
- Paul Brennan
- Bob Crampton
- Vanessa Cuddeford
- Bob Cruwys
- Martyn Dean
- Dan Downs
- Lorna Dunkley
- Julie Fisher
- David Foster
- Debbie Geraghty
- Jonathan Gibson
- Sharon Goble
- Tony Gray
- Peter Griffin
- Kate Haskell
- Alison Johns
- Sam Joseph
- Richard Lawrence
- Claire Manning
- Philippa Mina
- Helen Pearson
- John Ray
- Shelley Roberts
- Tiffany Royce
- Allen Sinclair
- Graham Smith
- Emma Snowdon
- Jonathan Swain
- Philippa Tomson
- Mark Tyler
- Jeff Welch
- Jemma Woodman