Edwards: moves from 6pm news
The BBC has named Huw Edwards and Fiona Bruce as successors to Peter Sissons and Michael Buerk as presenters on the Ten O’Clock News.
The top job has gone to Edwards, while Bruce, currently his colleague on the Six O’Clock News, will be second presenter on the Ten.
Their move up to the later bulletin in January will also usher in a new format for the 6pm programme, which will be co-presented by George Alagiah and Sophie Raworth.
Edwards was said by industry insiders to have been "pretty confident" he would get the plum job following Buerk’s resignation in June.
Sissons announced at the weekend that he was moving to News 24. He will also stand in for David Frost on his BBC1 Sunday morning programme.
The departure of the senior newsreaders from the 10pm bulletin has been expected for months by insiders, who believed that BBC1 controller Lorraine Heggessey and head of television news Roger Mosey wanted to bring in younger presenters and a woman to broaden its appeal.
"Huw has done really well on the Six and is a tremendous journalist," said Mosey, who denied that a new editor might be brought in to replace Mark Popescu.
The decision to bring Alagiah and Raworth together is also strategic, given that ITV is expected to move its early evening bulletin to 6pm.
The BBC said that both Alagiah and Raworth would "play an integral part in the journalism of the Six".
"We think they are a very warm and good team," said Mosey. "There’s been a lot of focus on the Ten, but the Six is going to be a hot area because that’s right in the heart of the competition."
By Julie Tomlin
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