LWT News

LWT director of programmes, Michael Grade, described the proposal for a joint service as "impractical for various reasons" but insisted the company would provide regional news on all three days, irrespective of how it was achieved.

According to press reports at the time, Thames staff felt LWT's replacement for their Friday evening news would resemble more of a chat show and entertainment format, despite the company's success in local current affairs and social action programming.

[1] In September 1981, LWT reached an agreement with Thames to provide 16 minutes of local news coverage on Friday evenings for a reported £500,000 a year, as part of their new light-hearted magazine programme, The Six O'Clock Show.

Presenters included Lynda Dryburgh, Pam Royle, Anna Maria Ashe, Ed Boyle and Lindsay Charlton, who would later become head of factual at London News Network and managing director of Meridian.

As part of the launch of LWT News, The Six O'Clock Show was axed in July 1988 and replaced on 7 October 1988 by a smaller-scale current affairs programme entitled Friday Now!,[5] presented by Pam Royle with reporters Charles Colville, Rob Sprackling, Jeni Barnett and Chris Serle.

Six O'Clock Live[6] was an hour-long news magazine programme launched on Friday 1 September 1989 and presented by Frank Bough and Jeni Barnett with reporters including Danny Baker, Jo Sheldon and Nick Owen.