13. Memo from Mr Nick Myers and Mr Alan
Rook to Employees at Meridian
We're doing well—VERY well. Set against
some ITV newsrooms with a virtual monopoly in their respective
regions and a direct 680 opposition with greater resources Meridian
Tonight in Maidstone is again the most watched regional news programme
in mainland Britain with an audience share of nearly 40%.
A good illustration of our success is last Tuesday's
High Speed Rail Link special. That show again achieved the highest
regional news rating in mainland Britain. And our spies at the
880 in Tunbridge Wells tell us that—on watching our output
that evening—they were forced to admit they'd got their
treatment of the story "totally wrong". Sue Kinnear
and the crew with her on location, along with those back here
at base played a blinder with one of our best programmes of the
year.
Our consistently high rating is a remarkable achievement
that has been recognised at the. highest level within Granada.
Thank you to all of you for your hard work.
In the past few weeks we have carried out some
market research. Viewers were asked to keep diaries of viewing
habits, what they liked and disliked about Meridian Tonight and
how they felt we compared to the BBC. We received high praise
but we must also take note of their criticisms. There is always
room for improvement and we cannot afford to relax.
THEY LIKE:
— Content and Feel of the programme.
— News versus Features—they feel
the balance is about right, but they want more "good"
news.
— Interactivity—email response
and phone polls well received. Even though did not take part they
liked the fact that they could.
— Live Reporting—particularly
when the main presenters get out.
— Sport—about right. But be aware
that many women, who represent 60% of our audience, are liable
to turn off. Keep it tight and relevant.
They felt that Meridian Tonight has very consistent
strengths as a regional news show and gets close to its communities.
It is relevant, humane, entertaining and informed and successfully
blends news and magazine.
Regular themes—Meridian Reports, Campaigns,
Features and Strands—and credible journalism are integral
to the show's popularity.
Three quotes from the viewers' panel:
— "You always watch Meridian because
it feels more friendly"
— "Meridian seem to go after the
local stories more"
— "You are watching to see local
stories—you want it light hearted—you want to be happy
where you live"
THEY DON'T
LIKE:
— Some stories not properly "rooted"
in the region—seen as national issues not local.
— Style over substance—particularly
on some lifestyle features. Make it relevant to me and my region,
they say.
Pace—sometimes too slow. "Get
on with it". They want tighter stings. That said they do
like the "call to attention" and a reminder of regular
themes in the programme.
— Too much misery. They want more good
news. This doesn't mean we abandon hard news; it just means we
must keep our eye on the balance throughout the programme. They
want more of the feel good factor.
— Cheesyness. Just be careful—think
about your piece to camera. They want a slick, professional performance.
Our audience is much more fickle—there
is more competition, they get bored more quickly and have less
loyalty.
They also watch on a few occasions each week—not
every night. This is an important point. Too often we assume too
much previous knowledge. Our audience does not have an encyclopaedic
knowledge of our output. This means we must thoroughly re-state
the background to a story and—if required—remind people
why we're interested here in the South East.
The titles remain the shop window for the programme.
We must pay more attention to our titles. There are many distractions
in the average home at 6pm and a dull opening sequence will drive
people away from their screens. We must get out of the habit of
regarding the titles as an irritation but put more effort into
providing the best shot of the day. Think about your title shot
on location; think which shot will grab the attention. Titles
must be cut before the item.
Viewers want to hear place names—they
want to hear about the region they live in. This means we should
make sure essential facts and place names are in both the link
and the item. It "roots" the story to the region.
Our viewers sent a very clear message—if
we don't think it is local then we lose interest.
Our audience likes us. They like our relevance and
empathy for what is `our area. So, maintain a populist human-interest
approach with tight, bright, engaging, enthusiastic, challenging
journalism and presentation.
They still feel there is too much crime on the
programme but they don't want a soft approach. We need to make
sure we are covering stories that really matter to people. Stories
which affect their lives or provoke empathy . . . "it could
have happened to me".
Think about stories which affect a lot of people—the
pensioners march and council tax rises. They may sound dry but
sometimes these stories get the best response.
At the market research sessions viewers asked
for more "good news" stories. Too much doom and gloom
was their cry. This has to be treated cautiously. We don't want
to make the shows too soft as there's plenty of evidence that
people feel they have to earn part two by watching the hard news
in part one.
But we can—and must—make a conscious
effort to find more positive stories.
Live reporting. Sometimes we see the live truck
as a burden not a bonus.
One viewer said: "I love the Meridian format
. . . I love the way they move to outside reporters."
The live link is a big asset to the programme—it
gives the show an edge. We need to use it properly.
If you want to talk in more detail about the
findings of the report then please come and see us. We are doing
very well but must continue to perform to the highest level otherwise
we will lose viewers.
So, as we near the end of 2003 it's time to
look ahead to 2004.
Here then are the plans (so far) for our feature
strands, carrying us towards the summer of next year.
A WAY WITH WORDS—we've had some excellent
features from Charles Lambert and Alison Waters. Their strand
runs for another three weeks.
MERIDIAN CHECKOUT—Sandy Fleming has made
a success of this .strand with a great deal of audience feedback
in letters, e-mails and phone calls. She'll be returning with
her third series at the helm in late October.
CAN YOU CLAIM IT: Is Meridian Tonight's winter
campaign to be TX'd in November. The idea: learn about the benefits
you might be entitled to. One of our anchor presenters will front
this.
MERIDIAN REPORT—will continue with up
to three features a week. We've maintained a high standard in
this series, but we're looking for harder news ideas as well as
lifestyle content. Jon Parker's suggested system of a "one
week-on, two reports produced" format seems to be working,
but we'd welcome any comment on this from reporters . . .?
COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS—is a six-part series
that'll start in late in November. Ideas are still being firmed
up, but `Top Toys" and "How the South East Used to Celebrate
Christmas' are among the themes being worked on. Volunteers and
new ideas are more than welcome.
COME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS—is a Meridian
programme idea about missing youngsters that provoked a huge audience
reaction a few years ago. We're aiming to use it again from late
November in a co-production with LNN. One of our anchor presenters
will be fronting the strand.
THE CHRISTMAS SHOW—This year we're aiming
to broadcast our Christmas show as-live from the English Channel
with the help of SeaFrance and P&O Stena Line. One presenter
heading out to France, while the other is heading into Dover.
Panto guests and the theme:
"Those who have to work at Christmas"
YEARENDERS—John Ryall will front three
news reviews and lain McBnde two sports reviews in the new year
period. Each reporter will re-visit locations across the region
to link their reports together with pieces to camera.
MERIDIAN COUNTRY—Sue Kinnear leaves us
as anchor presenter in October, but will be a regular freelance
face. She's agreed to produce another series of Meridian Country.
Six films with a rural feel that'll be TX'd from mid-January.
HIDDEN HISTORY—Derek Johnson deserves
great credit for the success of this strand. It's one of the most
popular we've ever run on our programme and has such obvious broad
appeal that Meridian's other newsrooms have been asked to produce
their own versions. So, Derek will be back with Hidden History
in late February with Alison Waters sharing the burden this time
around.
THE LONGEST DAY—2004 marks the 60th anniversary
of D-Day, the Normandy landings. Derek Johnson will be coordinating
our coverage from this newsroom. As things stand we plan to run
eight special reports in the two month run up to the anniversary.
Again all ideas gratefully received.
And that's it, so far, until the Summer. Nothing
is set in stone and all feedback is welcome.
The BBC is soon to re-launch their show with
a format much closer to our own, with more money and some new
faces. We CANNOT afford to be complacent. But after two years
of direct opposition we still have TWICE their audience share.
And that's thanks to all of you. Let's fight to keep that lead.
23 September 2003
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