It airs Monday to Friday from 6:30pm, covering British national and international news stories and is presented by Mary Nightingale.

This simple bulletin made use of a single camera, and was intended as a round-up of the day's headlines and (from 1967) looking at stories to be covered in more length by that evening's edition of News at Ten.

Immediately after the animated visual 'roll' and electronic theme music at the beginning, an announcer intoned in a hushed tone: "The news at 5:45, with Alastair Burnett/Michael Nicholson".

Other relief presenters in the late 1970s included Leonard Parkin, who at the time also regularly hosted the News at One, and Martyn Lewis.

ITN dispensed with the "main" presenter and relief host format, and instead a "team" of newscasters – Alastair Stewart, Fiona Armstrong, Nicholas Owen, Trevor McDonald, Sue Carpenter and Carol Barnes – began presenting the show on a "rotation" basis.

On 13 February 1989, the introduction of a national weather forecast at the end of the programme led to the bulletin's timeslot starting earlier at 5:40pm, being extended in length and the title being changed to News at 540.

The new look made good use of ITN's impressive headquarters in London with opening sequence consisting of a camera panning across the building towards the newsdesk giving a panoramic view of the newsroom.

The Theatre of News was scaled back following a relaunch on 9 February 2009, with a return to a more traditional style of presenters sat behind a desk.

[5] Unlike traditional Chroma key systems, Ultimatte allows for such things as full camera movement and can generate artificial reflections on glass and metallic surfaces.

It was announced in June 2015 that, as part of a wider restructure at ITV News, Mark Austin would return to the programme full-time, alongside Mary Nightingale from October 2015.

Alastair Stewart continues to appear on the programme as a relief presenter, alongside his duties on the ITV Lunchtime News.

The move will also ensure more live coverage will be provided from more locations across the UK, with an emphasis to cover more stories around Britain.