Bob Warman, the veteran Central News presenter, celebrated 30 years of working at ITV this week, making him one of British regional television’s longest-serving news anchors.
“Altogether at ITV, I’ve been through nine screen wives, eight editors, nine producers, 10 directors and five controllers of news,” he told Press Gazette.
Warman, born in the Midlands in 1946, got into broadcasting in 1971, when he joined BBC Radio Birmingham for two years. He began his career on the Walsall Observer in 1966. He moved to ITV in 1973 as a roving reporter for ATV Today, before presenting the programme.
Between 1976 and 1979, Warman presented Calendar, the evening regional news magazine programme for Yorkshire.
While in Yorkshire, he became the first presenter for the precursor to breakfast television in a pilot that led to the permanent franchise secured by TV-am, then moved on to documentaries, which included a medical series filmed with pioneering surgeon and presenter Lord Winston.
“After moving from the BBC, I’ve stayed at ITV because I relish the ITV culture. I regarded it as having more of an edge to it as a regional broadcaster. And the West Midlands has to be one of the most exciting regions of the country,” Warman said.
Warman is chairman of his own PR company, the Warman Group, and is also chairman of newsTALK 105.2FM, an ongoing bid for a West Midlands licence in conjunction with the Wireless Group (see page 8).
By Wale Azeez
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