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. It's main competitor is Nightline.

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 (1987-1994)
On 6th May, 1987, Eyewitness News rebranded as EyeWitness. It was now hosted on a desk with 3 presenters instead of 2.

ER Tonight (first era) (1994-1998)
On November 17, 1993, Network 2 announced that EyeWitness would leave it's late night slot in 1994 and gave way to ER Tonight, which would focus more on human intrest stories aimed at teens and young adults, whilst EyeWitness would continue, but broadcast earlier in the evening. ER Tonight began on 7th February, 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 1st January, 1995. After being approved by the BSC, NewsNight was officially cancelled by Network Two in October 1997, as part of a reshuffle of it's news output, which saw ER Tonight move to 6:00 pm with the new name of Network News, whilst the late night bulletin would follow a less magazine like format. It ended on 20th February 1998.

Network News Tonight (1998-2000)
On 9th October, 1997, ER Tonight was officially cancelled by Network Two after a four year run. It's replacement was announced on 17th January as Network News, which would keep the presenters & style, but now coming from a rented base in TV3 Centre and would broadcast in widescreen. The first edition of Network News was aired on 23rd February, 1998, at 11:30 pm, and for the first time, was up against TV3's Nightline. It would run for 20-minutes, and be the more serious programme, as the more magazine style news would be seen on the 6pm Network News, which spiritually replaced ER Tonight.

These changes proved to be extremely unpopular with viewers and ratings declined, with the similar magazine style Nightline winning the ratings battle. On 2nd December, 1999, Network News Tonight was axed by Network 2 after less than two years. The final edition of Network News Tonight was broadcast on 19th January, 2001, with only 128,000 viewers.

ER Tonight (second era) (2000-2003)
In December 1999, Network News Tonight was axed by the channel and replaced by a reintroduced ER Tonight in order to halt the ratings loss. The revived 10:30 pm bulletin followed the same 20-minute format as Network News Tonight, and although initially successful, eventually faltered in the ratings due to unsuccessful format, haphazard scheduling and delayed start times. It was axed in 2003.

ETV National News At Eleven (2003-2006)
In 2003, ETV replaced ER Tonight with another all new bulletin, ETV National News At Eleven, which would run in the mould of the news programmes on ETV1, with a greater focus on stocks & business news, than the main show.

Nightwatch (2006-2013)
On May 6, 2006, It was announced that ETV News on 2 would be axed. The replacing show was to be known as Nightline, but was renamed to Nightwatch after EuroMedia threatened legal action, TV3's nighttime bulletin also called Nightline. Nightwatch 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, Nightwatch 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.

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.