The West Tonight

The West Tonight
Also known as	'The West Today'
Genre	Regional News
Presented by	Lisa Aziz Steve Scott
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Production
Producer(s)	HTV ITV West
Release
Original network	HTV West/ITV West
Original release	1968 (as Report West) – 15 February 2009
Chronology
Followed by	ITV News West Country

The West Tonight was the flagship news programme in the ITV West region. It was broadcast at 6pm every weeknight. It launched in 1968 as Report West and ceased broadcasting on 15 February 2009.

History

Previously known as HTV News, the The West Tonight name was introduced in 1997 as part of a relaunch to coincide with the opening of a digital broadcast centre at HTV's Bath Road studios in Bristol. The branding was discontinued two years later but reintroduced in 2005 when Lisa Aziz rejoined ITV West from Sky News.

As well as the main programme at 6pm, before the merger with Westcountry Live, ITV West produced news bulletins during GMTV (now Good Morning Britain), an update at around 11:15am during This Morning, the lunchtime news at 13:55, a late news update from 22:30 - 22:35/22:45, as well as weekend news bulletins.

Merger

Following the ITV West merger with ITV Westcountry to form ITV West & Westcountry, the new dual-regional programme The West Country Tonight launched on Monday 16 February 2009. A 20-minute opt-out for the former West region features within the 6pm programme, alongside fully separate short bulletins and localised weather forecasts seven days a week. Depending on the day's news, either the West or Westcountry bulletins are pre-recorded. The news service was renamed as ITV News West Country on 14 January 2013.

Past presenters/reporters