ITV Borders News

The ITV Border regional news service launched on September 1, 1961, broadcasting from the Harraby studios in Carlisle. In its early days, the station produced concise evening bulletins and a current affairs magazine show titled ‘Focus’. Later in the 1960s, ‘Lookaround’ emerged as the station’s primary daily news programme, while shorter news updates were branded as ‘Border News’.

On February 25, 2009, the integration into ITV Tyne Tees & Border took place, maintaining the ‘Lookaround’ and ‘North East Tonight’ names for the main 6pm show and the late-night bulletin during weekdays. The shorter news segments were simply titled ‘Tyne Tees & Border News’. Broadcasting continued from the Gateshead studios, with both regional services sharing the same presenters and studio set. As a result, depending on the news of the day, one of the two programmes is typically pre-recorded ‘as live’ approximately an hour before its scheduled airing.