ITV Boss Departs
The MD of ITV Tyne Tees Graeme Thompson has announced his departure from the local broadcaster after nearly 20 years with the company.
Over the last few years Thompson has seen Tyne Tees go from a powerhouse of network production to little more than a news shed on the outskirts of a Northern town.
But back in 1996, when Tyne Tees was part of the Yorkshire Television empire, things were looking very rosey for the company. Having poached popular – ratings winning – newscaster Mike Neville from BBC North, Thompson – as Head of News – revamped and relaunched the North East News output with the stations first hour-long news-slot: North East Tonight. Within a year, Mike and the show had won numerous broadcasting and journalist awards. Graeme even made the newspaper headlines himself when the newly poached Mike Neville crashed his car into the back of Thompson’s while traveling to the now closed Tyne Tees studios in Teesside.
The late 1990s and early 2000s were Tyne Tees’ most successful news era, with the ratings for the first time beating the rival BBC Look North programme – which Mr Neville had previously fronted for three decades.
In recent years Graeme Thompson progressed to Managing Director of Tyne Tees Television overseeing its downgrading from network producer to regional news service, this change also saw the famous Newcastle City Road studios – home to the iconic Channel 4 music show The Tube – shut after nearly fifty years of operation. This closure was also met with dismay from Tyne Tees fans as it became clear a lot of the stations heritage was skipped rather than given away to such orgianisations as the BFI or Newcastle Library services. The new smaller office complex is based in Gateshead. Later changes saw the station name reworked to ITV Tyne Tees.
At the start of 2009 the North East station was merged with nearby Cumbrian broadcaster ITV Border. Thompson has overseen this further downscaling, which will also see the closure of the former Border Television studios, again replaced with a smaller ‘news bureau.
Graeme Thompson will leave ITV Tyne Tees and Border at the end of June. He told The Journal newspaper: “I am leaving to work on a number of new projects – including one or two with ITV. I have had a hugely enjoyable time since leaving the BBC to join ITV and am enormously proud of the teams I have had the pleasure of working with over the past two decades.”
Thompson’s first ventures into television broadcasting were at the Leeds based YTV back in 1989 following a successful career with BBC local radio having switched to that medium from regional newspapers. In the mid-1990s, after Yorkshire Television bought up Tyne Tees, he switched from the Leeds studios to City Road to take charge of news output.
ITV controller of regions and current affairs Ian Squires speaking to The Journal commented: “Graeme Thompson has been a champion of broadcasting in the North throughout his career with ITV.
“While we know that Graeme has many plans to pursue, I am delighted that he will continue to work with us in the ITV regions on various projects.”
The newspaper reports that Neil Thompson has been appointed as the new boss for not only Tyne Tees but also the local ITV divisions of Yorkshire, Border and Anglia.