ER Tonight

ER Tonight is a Euro Republican television news and current affairs program, airing on Network Two (with a delayed airing on Mix and TV1) on its current form since 1994, although it had several predecessors before its establishment.

It is designed for a younger audience than the one of ETV News, taking on a more laid back approach than it’s more serious counterpart, airing on a daily basis at 10:30pm, mostly lasting between 45-75 minutes.

Eyewitness News (1983-1988)
When ERTV 2 was announced in late 1982, it was to include a late night news programme called “Eye Witness News” which planned to take in in-depth look into the day’s headlines.

The programme began on April 1, 1983.

EyeWitness (1988-1994)
On May 6, 1988, Eyewitness News rebranded as EyeWitness. It was now hosted on a desk with 3 presenters instead of 2.

Newsnight (MK I) (1994-2003)
On November 17, 1993, Network 2 announced that EyeWitness would end in 1994 and gave way to Newsnight, which would focus more on human intrest stories aimed at teens and young adults. Newsnight began on Febuary 7, 1994, after EyeWitness ended the Friday prior and was an immediate success and gained a huge cult following, and high ratings often gaining the No. 1 most watched slot. A graphics refresh was launched on January 1, 1995, and would stay with the show until 2002. In 1997, the studio was upgraded to a full blown newsroom, shared with ETV News. In 2002, for the first time in 7 years, Newsnight rebranded with an urban theme.

ETV News on 2 (2003-2006)
On January 4, 2003, the controller of Network 2, Marcus Riley, announced that Newsnight was cancelled and was to be replaced with a new nightly news programme called ETV News on 2. There was outcry from Newsnight fans about the change, to the point where even a petion was launched to save the show, to no avail. ETV News on 2 began on May 12, 2003.

Nighline (2006-2013)
On May 6, 2006, It was announced that ETV News on 2 would be axed. The replacing show, Nightline, was to be faithful to Newsnight, having a similar feel, a remix of the Newsnight theme, and most former presenters were brought back. Nightline launched on June 1, 2006. It’s final episode was on April 1, 2013, because it was the 30th year of the channel, it included a studio audience and included flashbacks to Eyewitness, Newsnight and ETV News on Two, while also including a sneak peek of ETV Tonight.

ETV Tonight (2013-2016)
On March 9, 2013, Nightline was to be axed as part of the rebranding of Network 2 to ETV 2. It’s replacement was to be ETV Tonight, which would aim at a broader audience, while keeping it’s youth focus. It officially launched on April 2, 2013, a day after the 30th anniversary of ETV 2.

ER Tonight (2016-present)
On March 3, 2016, almost three years after the announcement of Nightline’s cancellation, it was announced that ETV Tonight would be renamed as ER Tonight, and the audience once again was limited to teens and young adults.

Future
In July 2020, ETV along with various ex-Newsnight presenters, reality TV stars and Euroish YouTubers from popular youth shows began talks about a revival of Newsnight. On 29th August 2020, it was offically announced by ETV that Newsnight would return, starting in October 2020.

International
In the UK, it was broadcast on BBC 2 from 1988 to 1997 and BBC News 24 from 1997 to 2012. It was briefly shown on BBC One in 2001 as Newsnight Euro Republics.