Analysis of the structure, branding, graphics and presentation methods of an entire news programme relevant to your own project

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I am going to analyse the "ITV News at Ten" programme which was shown on 17th November 2020 at 10pm and was presented by Nina Hossain.  It is a formal News programme that contains live presenter led segments, pre recorded News packages and interview sections. We see a variety of contributors and locations. However I am going to be focussing on the structure, branding, graphics, and presentation methods of the programme and how they have affected our News item. This programme is relevant to my News channel is it has presenter segments that introduce News packages, just as we do. Furthermore it also contains lots of branding as we wish to also do as well as similar graphics to what I have planned as our graphic designer. 


The Structure and Presentation methods: 

The News programme begins with the headlines being read, which are accompanied by a fast-paced dramatic toned music with the chimes of Big Ben. It is common with News to have "music rumbling under the headlines" (Boyd, 2008:352) as it adds to the severity of the headlines builds to the informative tone. We see establishing shots of locations and as well as short glimpses of each story to reflect what is coming up for the viewer. Using this tone of music with the style of shots creates an almost trailer for the main headlines as well as "stories being enhanced by music."(Graham-Holm, 2012:11)  The gripping tone in the Presenters voice adds a formal feel to the headlines and emphasises the severity of the News. We are not using headlines in our project, however we are creating a teaser therefore I have taken inspiration from this segment of the programme when writing out teaser script as the Producer. I particularly enjoy how the shot and headline changes on the chime of Big ben and this is definitely something that I will use in our News teaser as it is captivating for our viewer. I hope to use a fast paced music with a repeating pattern whilst a montage of shots from our News channel is played, and then when the music pattern restarts the shots will change. This follows a similar pattern to the one used in this News programme with the structure of the headlines. 


Fig. 1 The Headlines (2020)


At the beginning of each News story we are introduced to it in the studio by the presenter; who again uses a formal and serious tone to explain the information the viewer needs to know before seeing the package. This made me realise that the tone used by the presented is important to consider as it is "vital to delivering the story to the audience." (Jacob, 2010) As I am Producer, it is my role to write the scripts for our News Channel, and although George is our Presenter, the language that I use to write the script will still affect his tone. Also to help, when writing the script I will highlight phrases or words that I personally feel should be emphasised and then I will discuss this with him to see how he naturally presents the phrases. This News programme has taught me that it is important to have the presenter introduce the story in an informative and open tone to relay the facts to the viewer. Using emphasis will also allow the News piece to sound interesting and engaging. 

After all pre recorded News packages, we go back to the studio where Presenter interviews a contributor who has a link to the package. Even though the News package is self contained, having this acknowledgement to it afterwards in an interview allows the programme to flow smoothly and feel as it is all linked together, as the "studios introductions 'tease' the story and prepare the viewer for what is coming."(Graham-Holm, 2012:4) Hence they prepare the viewer for what they are about to see. Before studying News, I had never realised how crucial the links to the news packages were. However after studying it and especially after watching this programme, it made me understand that if there were no links between each News package with the presenter in the studio the programme would feel quite separated and as if it were a montage of news packages placed together. Furthermore this has influenced me to pay more attention to how the presenter introduces the story and for Live Broadcasts how they end the story. As the Producer, and being responsible for writing the script, I will make sure that there are clear links between the Presenter led segment at the beginning and into the main body of the News to help it become a "continuous, uninterrupted flow of action that tells the story."(Graham-Holm, 2012:15) Having it run smoothly also helps with the time constraints of Television news, as with this programme it is very concise and no interview or segment goes on for too long which is also good for keeping an audience engaged. 


Fig. 2 The links (2020)


After the News packages and pre recorded interviews in the studio, the programme draws to an end with a Live Broadcast interview with the Washington ITV correspondent. We see the conventional 'Live' still graphic in the top left part of the frame which is a convention that I have already designed for us. The programme draws to a close with Presenter Nina Hossain saying goodnight and the credits appearing. The same music used in the beginning is played again which reflects the identity of the programme. When our News items draw to an end, each one closes with a presenter or reporter saying 'thank you for watching' or 'goodbye' as these are friendly phrases to close with, and "broadcast news is gradually becoming more approachable and friendly." (Boyd, 2008:171). Therefore by us using terms such as 'goodbye' and 'thank you', it helps to build an approachable tone which reflects what is currently happening in the television news industry.


Fig. 3 The Live Broadcast segment (2020)


Branding:

The branding is very strong in this News programme, and as the viewer I am constantly reminded that I am watching an ITV News show. The house style colours for ITV are blue, grey, and white; and this are the colours featured in all branding. As our branding researching, I was particularly interested in seeing how ITV had branded their programme as branding is something that is crucial with audiences. It is a way for audiences to recognise their favourite news channel and also a way for a channel to promote themselves. In order to "gain audience loyalty, news have to establish a clear identity"(Boyd, 2008:138), hence making our brand recognisable as ITV do, we will gain audience loyalty across multiple media platforms. The ITV logo is always featured on screen and this has influenced me when designing our branding as I would like the TTV logo to always be featured on the top right corner of the frame. This is so that any viewer will be able to know that they are watching TTV. They also have presenter Nina Hossain wearing a navy shirt which reflects the colours of ITV and builds to their identity as an audience will start to associate that colour with ITV. Again, I hope that this will influence our news channel as we will have the TTV house style colours of blue, grey and yellow featured in costuming. The digital background to the presenter led shots, also known as "the video wall for graphics" (Boyd, 2008:334), as well as the furniture in the studio are also all dark blue which again builds a brand identity for ITV and their news channel, this is something that we will also be inspired by as I am designing our digital backgrounds to contain blue, yellow, and grey, which will help to build TTV's brand identity. This will hopefully make our brand recognisable and stand out to audiences. There are moments in which we see ways to contact ITV pop up on screen, whether it is through email or social media. This is highlighting that the News channel is accessible across multiple media platforms, and is something that will be used in our News package as our website and social media information will be featured at the end to show that we are a brand that is accessible in many places. 


Fig. 4 Digital background (2020)



Fig. 5 The ITV branding (2020)


Graphics:

For the introduction Graphic, we see a moving globe with three dimensional cubes evolving on top of it, we then move in closer from an ariel view to the UK, before finally seeing the 'ITV News at 10' graphic form. Something that I really enjoy is the movement used when above the UK. It glides smoothly and does not feel disorientating or too fast paced as some graphics can. It also moves in motion with the music which has made me want to create something similar for our introduction graphic sequence. Something that I do not enjoy so much is the angle that we see the UK from, as it is slightly tilted but not fully therefore it could appear to just be wonky. For our graphic we are also using the UK, however I would like ours to be perpendicular to the bottom of the frame rather than being at an angle as I personally feel that this is more pleasing to the eye. For astons, they fade in to the frame quickly with a swipe to the right, this is a simple movement however it is effective and therefore not distracting and as graphic designer I would like to design something similar, however I would like to leave it in the frame just a little longer than they do in this programme to ensure that the viewer has time to read all relevant information. The purpose of "Graphics and astons are to convey updates information in a concise way" (Boyd, 2008:327) so it is important that they are on screen long enough for an audience to read. The programme also uses on screen quotations as well as illustrations, these are rather simple however they look effective and eye catching, whilst also keeping the viewer engaged as there is always something to look at. Graphics like these are also quite simple to create, hence they are good for television news and "fast turnarounds times" (Boyd, 2008:249) so will be extremely useful for us to use. 


Fig. 6 The intro graphics (2020)


Fig. 7 The Intro Logo (2020)


Fig. 8 The Astons (2020)


In conclusion this programme will heavily influence our News channel, mainly through how they use the branding. As myself being our branding researcher it is really important to me that we build a strong brand identity to help TTV to become recognisable to any viewer through use of colour, and using our logo on frame whenever possible. Furthermore this programme will also impact many other parts of our News channel. 

List of Illustrations:

Fig. 1 Emmerson, S. (2020) The Headlines. [Screenshot] In possession of: the author: Kent. 

Fig. 2 Emmerson, S. (2020) The links. [Screenshot] In possession of: the author: Kent. 

Fig. 3 Emmerson, S. (2020) The Live Broadcast segment. [Screenshot] In possession of: the author: Kent. 

Fig. 4 Emmerson, S. (2020) Digital background. [Screenshot] In possession of: the author: Kent. 

Fig. 5 Emmerson, S. (2020) The ITV branding. [Screenshot] In possession of: the author: Kent. 

Fig. 6 Emmerson, S. (2020) The intro graphics. [Screenshot] In possession of: the author: Kent. 

Fig. 7 Emmerson, S. (2020) The Intro Logo. [Screenshot] In possession of: the author: Kent. 

Fig. 8 Emmerson, S. (2020) The Astons. [Screenshot] In possession of: the author: Kent. 


Bibliography:


ITV News at Ten [television news programme online] Pres. Hossain. ITV (2020) 30 minutes At: https://www.itv.com/hub/itv-news-at-ten/2a4409 (Accessed on 17.11.2020)

Jacob, J (2010) BBC Blogs, Video: TV News Production. At: https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/collegeofjournalism/entries/0911b341-2b06-33ba-84a2-cc0eb49c84fa (Accessed 25.11.2020)

Boyd, A (2008) Broadcast Journalism: Techniques of Radio and Television News. [online] At: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ucreative-ebooks/reader.action?docID=1074583 (Accessed on 24.11.2020)

Graham-Holm, N (2012) Fascination: Viewer Friendly TV Journalism. [online] At: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ucreative-ebooks/reader.action?docID=858735 (Accessed on 24.11.2020)




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