Thursday 29 November 2007

Harry Redknapp press conference

Portsmouth football manager Harry Redknapp was forced to defend his title today after being arrested in connection with alleged corruption in football.

Luckily for us this top story is in the Meridian region so we were able to upload his entire, unedited press conference to ITV Local.

Click here to watch Pompey’s manager here.

As its big news in the footballing world we will be bringing you all the latest information. Stay tuned to ITV Local for more.

Tuesday 27 November 2007

Lewis Hamilton and The Golden Compass








Once again ITV Local is at the forefront of what’s hot in entertainment this month! With special interviews with Lewis Hamilton and a special behind the scenes look at The Golden Compass you can’t go far wrong.

Formula 1 superstar Lewis Hamilton made a pit-stop at ITV Local to sign copies of his new book. Watch our exclusive interview, in which he talks about his celeb status and how he's put 'that' defeat behind him.

Plus; it's expected to be the Christmas blockbuster. The film, The Golden Compass, is based on the novel by Oxford writer Philip Pullman, and stars Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig. Thames Valley reporter, Helen James, has been invited behind the scenes to discover some of the CGI secrets behind the fantasy bought to life.

Click here for an exclusive look behind the scenes of Christmas blockbuster.

Remember to stay tuned to our What’s On channel for all the latest entertainment news.


Tuesday 20 November 2007

Monkey business









All those who are cute-a-phobic look away now!!

He may have weighed in at just fourteen ounces, but the birth of a new woolly monkey in Dorset is being celebrated across the world. As an endangered species this new addition to the Monkey World sanctuary is big news.

We couldn’t resist this cuddly story so click here to see the extended package and prepare to say, owwwww!

Monday 12 November 2007

Another busy Friday...


If you'd asked me on Thursday what our main story would be on Friday, I would have told you Remembrance Sunday, no hesitation.

We'd already started to put together a list of all the ceremonies around the region and were prepared to update the site on Sunday with the latest footage... then early on Friday morning we heard of two very different events at sea which threw a spanner in the works.

First, we heard about a big sea search in the Solent after a man was reported overboard from an Isle of Wight ferry. Then, reports came in of a major threat to East Coast towns as a tidal surge was predicted to breach sea defences in Kent and Essex as well as East Anglia.

We managed to get shots of both the Solent search and Kent waves, then the sad news came in that a body had been found off the Isle of Wight and the search had been called off.

Once we'd updated, we now could focus on the tidal surge. Viewer videos and still images came in to us throughout the day via our uploads system, and we were able to pass these onto the South East newsdesk to use in bulletins and Meridian Tonight as well as feature on our front page. You can see a selection of the videos here and some stills here.

Meanwhile, channel assistant Heather, who hadn't planned on working on news that day, pitched in to pull together the Remembrance Sunday material. The whole team - even those not usually concerned with content - helped us out in various ways.

It was a busy day on three fronts, but the effort paid off - we had one of our busiest days EVER in terms of viewer visits.

Never a dull moment here at the coal face....

Friday 2 November 2007

Emily guest blogs


Hello, I’m Emily Unia, ITV Local’s guest blogger for one day only. I’m the ING trainee for ITV Thames Valley and part of my programme involves getting to know how all the different parts of ITV news fit together.

Sharon, (Head honcho of ITV Local Meridian news) didn’t hesitate in throwing me in at the deep end and by ten thirty this morning, I was participating in the morning conference call, being asked for stories from Thames Valley which would work well on broadband.

Fortunately, there are some interesting stories around today; the Queen is visiting Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire. It’s their 70th anniversary this year and the place has gone from strength to strength. It’s the home of Bond and Carry On and it’s where Hitchcock cut his directorial teeth. More recently, the Bourne Ultimatum and the Golden Age have been given the Pinewood treatment. Reporter, Helen James went along to join in the fun and meet Her Majesty click here to see her full report.

Thames Valley Consumer Correspondent, Andrea Benfield, has been looking at firework safety ahead of all the fun and games happening this weekend. She called in the experts at RAF Odiham to demonstrate just how dangerous powerful over-the-counter fireworks can be in a confined space. Sharon and the team were very keen to run Andrea’s feature on the web because it links so nicely to their listings for organised events and safety advice over the coming weekend.

Over at Meridian South East, they’ve got a great story about a 40 –year-old horse, possibly Britain’s oldest...catch the details here.

I could go on and on about all the other great stories ITV Local is running today, but it’s Friday evening and I’m ready to head home to Oxfordshire for a well earned rest and some exciting (but safe) firework fun. I’ve had a great day and I hope to be back soon. Watch this space…

Pink ladies, runners and knights!









Our Local Life channel is bursting with new documentaries from all over the region. Here are just a few highlights:

More than 18,500 people of all ages, shapes and sizes took part in Sunday's Great South Run. If you were one of them, you might spot yourself here.

A day of fundraising saw pink-clad ladies tearing up the streets of Portsmouth in aid of breast cancer services. Click here to watch them ride to Chichester.

Plus living history packs a punch and takes visitors back to Arundel Castle’s early years in a historic re-enactment. Watch Arundel go back to the year 1150 here.

We’ve always got more content coming in so stay tuned for more. Alternatively if you are a filmmaker and feel you can do a better job than the above packages grab your camera and get going! We are always on the hunt for new ITV Local citizen journalists. If you would like to know more send us a short email here.