02/05/2014 Newswatch

In America falls on both the Dow and the NASDAQ. Now it is Newswatch with

Samir Ahmed and this week, the battle of the breakfast TV

programmes. Welcome to Newswatch. Coming up, as it faces a newly

revamped competitor on ITV, which asked the man in charge of BBC

Breakfast about the balance between news and entertainment. There is

criticism of what is seen as intrusive reporting following the

death of teacher Ann Maguire in Leeds. And the frequent appearance

of Nigel Farage on television this week. He's the UKIP leader being

sneered at all pandered to? Viewers were divided. Good Morning Britain

started on ITV on Monday morning. It marked the latest skirmish in a

long`running war between the two main channels for early morning

viewers. In a moment, we will be exploring exactly what BBC One is

offering at that time of day. But first, a brief history of Breakfast

TV in Britain. In January 1983, the idea of eating your cereal in front

of the box seemed radical. The BBC was first to air, with an eclectic

mix of aerobics, astrology and news. There were the famous five

presenters and Roland rat. Good morning... On the BBC, the comfy

jumpers were replaced after a while by a more serious, news focused

approach. Since then, the balance between heavy and light, between

disconcerting, has been shifted over the years until its current

reincarnation, broadcast from Salford. Now the pair have

collaborated on a new album. Meanwhile, ITV poached Adrian Childs

and Christine bleakly for GMTV and have rated BBC a game for Susanna

Reid, who launched Good Morning Britain on Monday with three other

presenters from behind a desk. A good opportunity, then, to examine

how BBC Breakfast sees itself now and how it is seen by viewers. Some

seem confused about what they are getting.

Other viewers have been in touch with us about the impact of

Breakfast's move to new studios in Salford two years ago.

The editor of BBC Breakfast is Adam Bullimore and he joins me now from

the programme's set in Salford. What impact ITV's Good Morning Britain is

having Breakfast? Not much an impact. Certainly not in terms of

viewing figures. Both sides have finished this week pretty much where

they ended last week. 7 million people see a bit of Breakfast every

day. So I think we are doing something right. We are not

complacent, and we are certainly reviewing our output all the time,

but we are in pretty good shape. We are clear, we are news led magazine

programme and our job is to give our viewers the main news stories of the

day along with information, weather, sport and business. That is the most

interesting question that most viewers tend to contact us about and

looking back at archive of previous incarnations of BBC Breakfast, there

was a period when it was Breakfast News. It is very much on the sofa

now. What is the balance between news and entertainment, which some

viewers feel is too much? Yes, I think our first job is to do the

news properly. The news well. I think if we do that, we have a

little bit of licence to also have a bit of a smile and have a bit of fun

in the programme as well. But I am clear that the news is the most

important thing we do, and news drives audiences to Breakfast. So it

is a magazine and as such, it is a bit of a mix, that the balance is

very strongly in favour of the news. Viewers regularly say they feel

there is publicity every day for a pop star or new film or actor, and

that is not what they feel the new should be doing on Breakfast. We are

talking about two or three items from the world of media, arts,

entertainment, culture every day, and we are talking about doing them

at a time in the programme towards the end, when there is a slightly

more relaxed feel to the show, and it is important to say that

entertainment and news and arts and culture is all part of our brief. So

it is part of the show, it is all about the mix. The news is still

very much the main thing we do, though. You are joining us from the

sofa in Salford. One of the complaints we get is that even two

years relocating there all the newspapers are really in London and

too many of them are just not able to be interviewed face`to`face. It

is something that BBC journalists also complained to me about, saying

it is a real problem with the programme. You have to remember that

it has always been the case that some guests either can't or won't be

able to sit on the sofa with you, and that was the case when this sofa

was in London, and it is still the case now that the sofa is in

Salford. People use politicians as an example, and I think if you ask

anyone who worked on the programme at in London and who still works on

it now, they will tell you that probably less than half of the time,

politicians would come and sit on the sofa in West London. Politicians

much prefer to stay in Westminster. It is also true to say, of course,

that we have had the Prime Minister on the sofa, the leader of the

opposition, Cabinet ministers. What are your ambitions for the

programme, looking ahead? I think the challenge for Breakfast is to

move with the audience, and the challenge for the BBC generally and

especially for Breakfast and our time of day is the ability and

instant access, and I just think it would be great if as we go forward,

there is a way of taking Breakfast with you. People now want the news

in the palm of their hands, literally, and if you can leave the

house in the morning and take a bit of Breakfast with you and add value

to the Breakfast content of the morning by getting more context

information on screens, being able to watch the items as and when you

wanted as he travelled to work or school or whatever, and so I think

responding to a new world is our biggest challenge.

Thank you very much. Please do tell us what you think of

BBC Breakfast or any other part of BBC News. I will let you how to do

so at the end of the programme. Monday brought the shocking news

that leads schoolteacher Ann Maguire had been stabbed to death in front

of pupils. BBC News showed plenty of reaction

from the school and elsewhere, some of which elicited comments from his

watch viewers. The BBC revisited a double at

another highly distressful story this week, interviewing the parents

of Madeleine McCann, marking seven years since the toddler disappeared.

Finally, every time Nigel Farage appears on screens, he seems to

produce a response from our viewers. And he has been on quite a bit this

week. Particularly being hit by an egg while out campaigning, and

acting he will not stand in a forthcoming by`election. Some

viewers object to the town given towards the UKIP leader.

Thank you for all your comments this week. We may quote your opinions or

even ask you to appear on the programme if you call us or e`mail

us. You can also reach us by Twitter and on the website. You can search

for and watched topics we have covered on the programme. Join us a

game next week for more thoughts about BBC News. `` again next week.

Do not worry. This forecast is not a repeat that this isn't opening

you're more likely to see in January and May. Frosty there and that is an

indication of what is to come. An unusually cold night for the time of

year. Cloud coming in from the West. Maybe light rain in Cornwall and

East Anglia.