BBC Weekend News

BBC Weekend News
Created by	BBC News
Presented by	Lukwesa Burak Shaun Ley Ben Brown Annita McVeigh Clive Myrie Reeta Chakrabarti Mishal Husain
Theme music composer	David Lowe
Country of origin	Vereinigtes Königreich
Original language	Englisch
Production
Production locations	Studio E, Broadcasting House, London (2013-present) Studio B, Broadcasting House, London (2022-present)
Herausgeber	Paul Royall
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	Lunchtime: 10 minutes Evening: 10 minutes (Saturday) 15 Minutes (Sunday) Late: 15 Minutes (Saturday) 20 minutes (Sunday)
Original release
Network	BBC One BBC News (UK feed, occasionally)
Release	5 July 1954 (1954-07-05) – present
Related
BBC Breakfast BBC News at One BBC News at Six BBC News at Ten

BBC Weekend News is the BBC's national news programme on BBC One at the weekend and bank holidays, although it is often referred to on guides simply as BBC News. It is called BBC Weekend News on all bulletins and carries generic BBC News bulletin titles, apart from the late bulletin on Sunday where it is named BBC News at Ten and carries the BBC News at Ten titles.

Format

BBC Weekend News airs three times on both Saturday and Sunday. The main three bulletins are presented in the studio in a similar format to other national news bulletins on BBC One but are shorter in length. The bulletins are usually presented from Studio E in Broadcasting House, but sometimes use Studio B instead since 2022, especially for late bulletins.

The lunchtime bulletin is normally at 1:00pm although these times often vary. The programme lasts approximately 15 minutes including the sport and is immediately followed on BBC One by a weather forecast on Saturday and Sunday. Shorter bulletins that are about 10 minutes long usually do not have a headline list and preview at the beginning of the bulletin but starts straight with the titles and the top story.

The evening bulletin contains a sports update from the BBC sports centre in Salford, and is usually at 6:00pm (although exact time usually varies) on Saturday and Sunday. It is followed by regional news.

The late bulletin contains a sports update from the BBC sports centre in Salford, and is at 10:00pm on Saturday and Sunday depending on scheduling. Despite being listed as BBC Weekend News on TV guide, the late Sunday bulletin usually carries BBC News at Ten branding and titles (unless if it does not start at exactly 10:00pm). There is a BBC One regional news after the Sunday late news on BBC One.

The bulletins are usually only shown on BBC One and not on the BBC News channel, unlike BBC's weekday bulletins. However, if there is a major news story, the bulletin may be occasionally simulcast but only on the UK feed of BBC News channel.

Presenters

Lunchtime

For a long time the lunchtime bulletin was presented by the on-duty BBC News Channel presenter during the scheduled bulletin. Maxine Mawhinney was the long term presenter from 2006 until 2015. Following a reshuffle, BBC News 24 launch presenter Gavin Esler became the main presenter until his departure from the channel in early 2017. Mawhinney briefly returned to the role until her departure in April 2017 and Shaun Ley took over afterwards. Following the COVID-19 pandemic in spring and summer 2020, the main presenter of the Saturday bulletin was Carrie Gracie and the Sunday presenter normally continued to be Ben Brown. On 25 August 2020, Carrie Gracie announced that she had left the BBC. From then, Shaun Ley returned as the main host on Saturdays (alternating with Geeta Guru-Murthy once every 4 weeks). However, Ben Brown continued to present the programme every Sunday. On Saturday 24th April 2021, the BBC rolled out a new repetitive presenting rota for the newsreaders - lasting for 4 weeks before it started again. From late December 2022, the lunchtime bulletin changed to being presented by the presenter that covers the mid-afternoon shift on the BBC News Channel but, depending on timing, is now covered either by that presenter or the one that covers the morning shift.

Current presenters

	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4
Saturday	Lukwesa Burak	Joanna Gosling	Shaun Ley	Annita McVeigh
Sunday	Lukwesa Burak	Joanna Gosling	Ben Brown	Joanna Gosling

Relief presenters include; Luxmy Gopal and Geeta Guru-Murthy.

Evening

Unlike the lunchtime bulletin, the presenter of the two evening bulletins has usually been a dedicated presenter for that evening on BBC One, with the surrounding news presentation on the BBC News Channel being presented by another presenter. The programmes are presented by Clive Myrie, Reeta Chakrabarti, Martine Croxall and Mishal Husain.

Senior presenters, such as Huw Edwards and Sophie Raworth, can appear in the event of a major news story or as relief.

The Bank Holiday news bulletins can be presented by either a member of the BBC Weekend News team or a presenter from the BBC News at One, BBC News at Six or BBC News at Ten.

Current presenters

Years	Presenter	Current role
2015–present	Clive Myrie	Presenter (Saturday & Sunday)
2014–present	Reeta Chakrabarti	Presenter (Saturday) & Relief Presenter
2007–present	Mishal Husain	Presenter (Sunday)
2021–present	Martine Croxall	Relief Presenter
2002–present	Jane Hill	Backup Relief Presenter
1999-present	Huw Edwards
2014–present	Ben Brown

Former presenters

If there is no position before the years of being a presenter, then this newsreader was either a relief presenter or occasional guest stand-in presenter.

• George Alagiah (1999–2002)
• Matthew Amroliwala (2001–2014 and 2022)
• Michael Aspel (Main presenter, 1964–1972)
• Richard Baker (1954–1982)
• Jennie Bond (Main presenter, 1988–1999)
• Fiona Bruce (Main presenter, 1999–2005)
• Michael Buerk (Main presenter, 1988–2003)
• Jill Dando (Main presenter, 1988–1999)
• Robert Dougall (Main presenter, 1964–1973)
• Chris Eakin (2013–2015)
• Gavin Esler (2002, Main presenter, 2015–2017)
• Joanna Gosling (2008–2011)
• Andrew Harvey (Main presenter, 1984–1999)
• Philip Hayton (Main presenter, 1984–1993, 2005)
• John Humphrys (Main presenter, 1981–1993)
• Darren Jordon (2001–2006)
• Kenneth Kendall (1954–1981)
• Sue Lawley (Main presenter, 1983–1988)
• Jan Leeming (Main presenter, 1980–1987)
• Chris Lowe (Main presenter, 1988–1999, 2006-2007)
• Jon Sopel (2003)
• Martyn Lewis (1988–1999)
• Emily Maitlis (2006–2013)
• Maxine Mawhinney (Main presenter, 1999–2017)
• Laurie Mayer (1985–1993)
• Louise Minchin (2006–2012)
• Clarence Mitchell (1999–2005)
• Christopher Morris (1984–1993)
• Riz Lateef (2008-2013)
• Sophie Raworth (2002–2006)
• Angela Rippon (1975–1983)
• John Simpson (1981–1988)
• Peter Sissons (Main presenter, 1993–2009)
• Julia Somerville (2011–2012)
• Edward Stourton (1993–1999)
• Moira Stuart (Main presenter, 1981–1998, 2006)
• Carole Walker (2012–2017)
• Richard Whitmore (Main presenter, 1972–1988)
• Sian Williams (1999–2013)
• Nicholas Witchell (Main presenter, 1981–1999)
• Peter Woods (Main presenter, 1964–1981)
• Nicholas Owen (2007-2018)
• Sophie Long (2010-2013, 2017)
• Rebecca Jones (2015-2017)
• Karin Giannone (2017)
• Simon McCoy (2008-2021)
• Tina Daheley (2018-2020)
• Kate Silverton (Main presenter, 2008-2021)
• Joanna Gosling (Main presenter, 1999-2023)

Sports News

During the late programme on each day a round up of the days sports news is presented from the BBC Sport Centre at MediaCityUK, Salford. This is usually presented by one of the BBC News channel sports presenters: Olly Foster, Karthi Gnanasegaram, Lizzie Greenwood-Hughes and Katherine Downes.