Reposted from The Guardian
Local TV channel London Live has unveiled a team of four to anchor its news and current affairs coverage, with presenting backgrounds that include France 24, This Morning, the BBC and the Jewish Chronicle. The channel, backed by London Evening Standard and Independent owners the Lebedevs, said that it worked through 5,000 applications to pick "multicultural and multi-talented individuals" to reflect the diversity of the capital.
The team consists of Marc Edwards, a presenter on France 24 and EuroSport who also voiced Danny Boyle's London 2012 opening ceremony; Louise Scodie, a broadcaster and writer with credits including Marie Claire, the Jewish Chronicle and shopping channel bid-up.tv; Claudia Liza Armah, who has presented BBC3's 60 Seconds news update and BBC News Interactive; and Gavin Ramjaun, who has worked on ITV's This Morning and Daybreak as well as CBBC Newsround and BBC Sport.
"Our presenter team is a fantastic mix of multicultural, multi-talented individuals who reflect the audience they'll be talking to every week," said Vikki Cook, London Live's head of news and current affairs. The former Sky News executive says that the aim is to give the channel, which is billed as the biggest launch since Channel 5 in the 1990s, a "very distinctive look" compared with rivals BBC London News and ITV's London Tonight.
The team will front London Live's five-and-a-half hours of news a day. There will also be at least one hour of original current affairs programming and a documentary strand to showcase digital film-makers. London Live said it is close to announcing a number of on-screen video journalists.
In October, London Live announced that it was recruiting 50 people, including on-air talent and producers, to fill its as-yet-unfurnished studios in Derry Street, west London. The 24-hour channel has a slimline programming budget of £15m a year – a third of the cost of the BBC News Channel. From 2014, London Live can also bid for £5m a year in licence fee money from the BBC until 2017.
For regular news, updates and opportunities, follow us on Twitter at @Scene_TV and 'Like' the Facebook page: www.facebook.com/SceneTV
