BBC Weekend News
Television series
- BBC Breakfast
- BBC News at One
- BBC News at Six
- BBC News at Ten
BBC Weekend News is the BBC's national news programme on BBC One at the weekend and bank holidays, although it is often referred to on guides simply as BBC News. It is called BBC Weekend News on all bulletins and carries generic BBC News bulletin titles, apart from the late bulletin on Sunday where it is named BBC News at Ten and carries the BBC News at Ten titles.
Format
BBC Weekend News airs three times on both Saturday and Sunday. The main three bulletins are presented in the studio in a similar format to other national news bulletins on BBC One but are shorter in length. The bulletins are usually presented from Studio B in Broadcasting House, but sometimes use Studio E since late 2023, especially for late bulletins.
The lunchtime bulletin is normally at 1:00pm although these times often vary. The programme lasts approximately 15 minutes, including the sports news segment, and is immediately followed by a weather forecast. Shorter bulletins that are about 10 minutes long usually do not have a headline list and preview at the beginning of the bulletin but starts straight with the titles and the top story.
The evening bulletin contains a sports update from the BBC sports centre in Salford, and is usually broadcast either side of 6:00pm, although exact time usually varies. It is followed by a five-minute regional news bulletin.
The late edition also contains a sports update from the BBC sports centre, and is usually shown at 10:00pm, depending on scheduling. Despite being listed as BBC Weekend News on TV guide, the late Sunday bulletin usually carries BBC News at Ten branding and titles (unless if it does not start at exactly 10:00 pm). There is also news from the nations and regions after the Sunday late news.
Until early 2023, the weekend bulletins were also broadcast on the BBC News channel, ending ahead of the merger between BBC News' UK and domestic rolling news channels. However, if there is a major news story, the bulletin may be occasionally simulcast but only on the UK feed of BBC News channel.
Presenters
Lunchtime
For a long time the lunchtime bulletin was presented by the on-duty BBC News Channel presenter during the scheduled bulletin. Maxine Mawhinney was the long term presenter from 2006 until 2015. Following a reshuffle, BBC News 24 launch presenter Gavin Esler became the main presenter until his departure from the channel in early 2017. Mawhinney briefly returned to the role until her departure in April 2017[1] and Shaun Ley took over afterwards. Following the COVID-19 pandemic in spring and summer 2020, the main presenter of the Saturday bulletin was Carrie Gracie and the Sunday presenter normally continued to be Ben Brown. On 25 August 2020, Carrie Gracie announced that she had left the BBC.[2] From then, Shaun Ley returned as the main host on Saturdays (alternating with Geeta Guru-Murthy once every 4 weeks). However, Ben Brown continued to present the programme every Sunday.
On Saturday 24 April 2021, the BBC rolled out a new repetitive presenting rota for the newsreaders - lasting for four weeks before it started again. From late December 2022, the lunchtime bulletin changed to being presented by the presenter that covered the mid-afternoon shift on the BBC News Channel. Some bulletins were covered by the presenter that covered the morning shift. Following the merger of BBC News with BBC World from spring 2023, with overnight shifts on Saturday and Sunday mornings from Washington ending by 5:00 am UK time, there is now usually a presenter from London at 5:00 am who also covers this early afternoon BBC Weekend News bulletin on BBC One.
There is/are no specific presenter(s) for this programme, however since April 2023, recent presenters have been Tanya Beckett, Frankie McCamley, Celia Hatton, Samantha Simmonds, Nancy Kacungira (currently on maternity leave),[3] Rajini Vaidyanathan, Rich Preston, Anjana Gadgil, Vishala Sri-Pathma, Catherine Byaruhanga, Lucy Grey, Nicky Schiller, and Lauren Taylor. Lukwesa Burak and Luxmy Gopal have covered the bulletin from the afternoon shift when the 5:00 am presenter hasn't. Lewis Vaughan Jones presented a bulletin that ran later than normal on London Marathon day, after covering the 10:00 am shift. If its a bank holiday its often presented by Matthew Amroliwala or whoever covers his programme Verified Live. During the festive period 2023, it does seem the lunchtime bulletin is being covered by chief presenters although it is not yet known whether this is a more permanent change.
Evening
Unlike the lunchtime bulletin, the presenter of the two evening bulletins has usually been a dedicated presenter for that evening on BBC One, with the surrounding news presentation on the BBC News Channel being presented by another presenter. The programmes are presented by Ben Brown, Jane Hill, Clive Myrie, Reeta Chakrabarti. Senior presenters, such as Sophie Raworth, can appear in the event of a major news story or as relief cover.
The Bank Holiday news bulletins can be presented by either a member of the BBC Weekend News team or a presenter from the BBC News at One, BBC News at Six or BBC News at Ten.
Current presenters
| Years | Presenter | Current role |
|---|---|---|
| 2021-present | Ben Brown | Presenter (Saturday) & Occasional Relief Presenter (Sunday) |
| 2021-present | Jane Hill | Presenter (Saturday & Sunday) |
| 2015–present | Clive Myrie | |
| 2014–present | Reeta Chakrabarti | |
| 2023–present | Katya Adler | Occasional Relief Presenter |
| 2023–present | Maryam Moshiri | Occasional Relief Presenter (Saturday) |
| 2018–present | Tina Daheley | Occasional Relief Presenter (Sunday) |
Former presenters
If there is no position before the years of being a presenter, then this newsreader was either a relief presenter or occasional guest stand-in presenter.
- George Alagiah (1999–2002)
- Matthew Amroliwala (2001–2014 and 2022)
- Michael Aspel (Main presenter, 1964–1972)
- Richard Baker (1954–1982)
- Jennie Bond (Main presenter, 1988–1999)
- Fiona Bruce (Main presenter, 1999–2005)
- Michael Buerk (Main presenter, 1988–2003)
- Martine Croxall (Relief presenter, 2021-2023)
- Jill Dando (Main presenter, 1988–1999)
- Robert Dougall (Main presenter, 1964–1973)
- Chris Eakin (2013–2015)
- Huw Edwards (Occasional relief presenter, 1999-2023)
- Gavin Esler (2002, Main presenter, 2015–2017)
- Joanna Gosling (2008–2011)
- Andrew Harvey (Main presenter, 1984–1999)
- Philip Hayton (Main presenter, 1984–1993, 2005)
- John Humphrys (Main presenter, 1981–1993)
- Darren Jordon (2001–2006)
- Kenneth Kendall (1954–1981)
- Sue Lawley (Main presenter, 1983–1988)
- Jan Leeming (Main presenter, 1980–1987)
- Chris Lowe (Main presenter, 1988–1999, 2006-2007)
- Jon Sopel (2003)
- Martyn Lewis (1988–1999)
- Emily Maitlis (2006–2013)
- Maxine Mawhinney (Main presenter, 1999–2017)
- Laurie Mayer (1985–1993)
- Louise Minchin (2006–2012)
- Clarence Mitchell (1999–2005)
- Christopher Morris (1984–1993)
- Riz Lateef (2008-2013)
- Sophie Raworth (2002–2006)
- Angela Rippon (1975–1983)
- John Simpson (1981–1988)
- Peter Sissons (Main presenter, 1993–2009)
- Julia Somerville (2011–2012)
- Edward Stourton (1993–1999)
- Moira Stuart (Main presenter, 1981–1998, 2006)
- Carole Walker (2012–2017)
- Richard Whitmore (Main presenter, 1972–1988)
- Sian Williams (1999–2013)
- Nicholas Witchell (Main presenter, 1981–1999)
- Peter Woods (Main presenter, 1964–1981)
- Nicholas Owen (2007-2018)
- Sophie Long (2010-2013, 2017)
- Rebecca Jones (2015-2017)
- Karin Giannone (2017)
- Simon McCoy (2008-2021)
- Tina Daheley (2018-2020)
- Kate Silverton (Main presenter, 2008-2021)
- Joanna Gosling (Main presenter, 1999-2023)
- Mishal Husain (Alternate presenter, 2005-2022)
- Gareth Barlow (2023)
Sports News
During the late programme on each day a round up of the days sports news is presented from the BBC Sport Centre at MediaCityUK, Salford. This is usually presented by one of the BBC News channel sports presenters: Olly Foster, Karthi Gnanasegaram, Lizzie Greenwood-Hughes and Katherine Downes.
References
BBC portal
External links
- BBC News at BBC Online
- BBC Weekend News at BBC Online
- v
- t
- e
BBC News
Radio | |
|---|---|
| Radio stations | |
| Languages | |
| Current |
|
| Defunct |
|
| Timelines | |
| Online services | |
Staff | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director/CEO |
| ||||
| On-air staff |
| ||||
| Regional news | |||||
Category
