:00:13. > :00:23.Welcome to NewsWatch. Coming up: As it faces a newly revamped competitor
:00:24. > :00:25.in ITV, we ask the man in charge of BBC breakfast about the balance
:00:26. > :00:30.between news and entertainment. Criticism of what is seen as
:00:31. > :00:35.intrusive reporting after the death of Ann Maguire in Leeds. And the
:00:36. > :00:40.frequent appearance of Nigel Farage on television again this week
:00:41. > :00:49.divides viewers. Is the UKIP leader being smeared out or pandered to?
:00:50. > :00:55.Good morning Britain launched on ITV with presenters including Susanna
:00:56. > :01:00.Reid, poached from BBC Breakfast. In a moment, we will explore exactly
:01:01. > :01:03.what BBC One is offering at that time of day and whether viewers are
:01:04. > :01:09.happy with what they are getting. But first, a brief history of
:01:10. > :01:14.breakfast television in Britain. In January, 1983, the idea of eating
:01:15. > :01:19.your breakfast cereal in front of the box seemed radical. The BBC was
:01:20. > :01:26.first in there with an eclipse mix of aerobics, astrology and news. ITV
:01:27. > :01:35.followed swiftly afterwards with their famous five of presenters,
:01:36. > :01:38.bolstered later. Back on the BBC, the comfortable jumpers were
:01:39. > :01:41.replaced after a while with a more serious, news focused approach, with
:01:42. > :01:47.heavyweight presenters. Since then, the balance between heavy and light,
:01:48. > :01:51.desk and so far, has shifted over the years until its current
:01:52. > :01:57.incarnation broadcast from Salford combining hard news with items more
:01:58. > :02:05.typical of daytime television. Meantime, ITV poached Christine
:02:06. > :02:11.Charles `` talent from the BBC with its own request programme. Susanna
:02:12. > :02:14.Reid launched good morning Britain on Monday with three other
:02:15. > :02:18.presenters from behind a desk. A good opportunity then to examine how
:02:19. > :02:22.BBC breakfast sees it off now and how it is seen by viewers. Some, it
:02:23. > :03:04.seems, are confused about what they are getting.
:03:05. > :03:11.Other reviewers have been in touch with us about the impact of
:03:12. > :03:28.breakfast's news to `` moved to new studios in Salford a few years ago.
:03:29. > :03:34.The editor of BBC Breakfast joins me now from the programme set in
:03:35. > :03:42.Salford. Thank you for coming on NewsWatch. What impact is ITV's good
:03:43. > :03:46.morning Britain having on Breakfast? The launch of good morning Britain
:03:47. > :03:50.has not had much of an impact on us, certainly in terms of viewing
:03:51. > :03:55.figures. Both sides have finished this week pretty much where they
:03:56. > :04:02.ended last week. 7 million people see a bit of Breakfast every day.
:04:03. > :04:05.That means I think we are doing something right. We are not
:04:06. > :04:09.complacent and we are constantly reviewing our output all the time,
:04:10. > :04:13.of course, but I think we are in pretty good shape. We are clear that
:04:14. > :04:18.we are a newsletter magazine programme and our job is to give our
:04:19. > :04:25.viewers the main news stories of the day along with information of the
:04:26. > :04:28.weather, sports and business. That is the most interesting question
:04:29. > :04:32.that most who was contact us about. Looking at archive footage of
:04:33. > :04:36.previous incarnations of Breakfast's output, there was a
:04:37. > :04:40.period of breakfast news but it is very much on the sofa now. What
:04:41. > :04:48.about the balance between news and entertainment? Yes. I think our
:04:49. > :04:54.first job is to do the news properly, to do the news well. And I
:04:55. > :05:00.think if we do that, we have a little bit of licence to also have a
:05:01. > :05:04.bit of a smile and have a bit of fun in the programme as well but I'm
:05:05. > :05:12.clear that the news is the most important thing we do and news
:05:13. > :05:17.drives audiences to Breakfast. It's a magazine and as such, it's a bit
:05:18. > :05:22.of a mix, but the balance is very strongly in favour of the news.
:05:23. > :05:28.Viewers regularly feel there are publicity plugs pretty much every
:05:29. > :05:32.day for some pop star or a new film or some actor and that is not what
:05:33. > :05:37.they feel the news should be doing on Breakfast. We are talking about
:05:38. > :05:42.two or three items from the world of media, arts, entertainment, culture
:05:43. > :05:46.every day and we are talking about doing them at a time in the
:05:47. > :05:52.programme towards the end when there is a slightly more feel to the
:05:53. > :05:55.show. And it is important to say that entertainment and news and arts
:05:56. > :06:02.and culture is all part of our brief. It's part of the show. It's
:06:03. > :06:08.about in the school. News is still very much the main thing we do. You
:06:09. > :06:14.are joining us from the sofa in Salford. One of the complaints we
:06:15. > :06:17.get is that people feel all of the newsmakers are still in London and
:06:18. > :06:23.too many of them cannot be interviewed face to face. And it's
:06:24. > :06:27.not just viewers. BBC journalists also say they feel it is a problem
:06:28. > :06:33.with the programme. You have to remember that it has always been the
:06:34. > :06:39.case that some guests cannot or will not be able to sit on the sofa. That
:06:40. > :06:44.was the case when this sofa was in London and it is still the case now
:06:45. > :06:49.that this sofa is in Salford. People use politicians as an example. If
:06:50. > :06:53.you asked anyone who worked on the programme back in London and who
:06:54. > :06:58.still works on it now, they will tell you that less than half of the
:06:59. > :07:02.time politicians would come and sit on the sofa in west London. They
:07:03. > :07:07.much prefer to stay in Westminster. It's also true to say that we have
:07:08. > :07:09.the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition as well as Cabinet
:07:10. > :07:16.ministers on the sofa, so they do travel. What are your ambitions for
:07:17. > :07:21.the future of the programme? I think the challenge for Breakfast is to
:07:22. > :07:25.move with the audience and the challenge for the BBC generally and
:07:26. > :07:32.especially for our timeslot is mobility and instant access and I
:07:33. > :07:36.just think it would be great if, as we go forward, there is a way of
:07:37. > :07:41.taking Breakfast with you. People now want the news in the palm of
:07:42. > :07:45.their hands, literally, and if you could leave the house in the morning
:07:46. > :07:50.and take a bit of Breakfast with you and add value to the Breakfast
:07:51. > :07:55.content of the morning I getting more context, information, on
:07:56. > :07:58.screens and so on, being able to watch the items as and when you
:07:59. > :08:00.wanted as he travelled to work or school or