Lucy Meacock announces plans to leave ITV Granada Reports stating: “It’s been the best gig for 36 years”

Lucy Meacock announces plans to leave ITV Granada Reports stating: “It’s been the best gig for 36 years”

Lucy Meacock has decided to leave ITV Granada after 36 years as the main presenter of ITV’s flagship news programme Granada Reports. Lucy began her broadcasting career at Tyne Tees TV with the Miners strike in 1984.  Since then she has become a hugely respected presenter and journalist in the North West.  Audiences have welcomed her into their homes in the region since 1988. 

Lucy says: “This has been one of the most difficult decisions I have ever made.  But the time is right to move on now.  For me it has always been the best job in the world, with the best people in the world, in the best region in the world! I am very grateful that I was given this job so many years ago. I have always tried my hardest to make a positive contribution and I hope I will be remembered with some fondness in the years ahead.

It has been a complete honour and privilege to serve the people of this region and I will always have the interests of the North West at heart. A big thank you to all the people who have appeared on the programme over the years, sometimes when they have been facing some very tough challenges.”

Joining back in the days of Granada Television Lucy worked on a remarkable variety of programmes, including UpFront, The Late Debate, The Main Ingredient, Origin Unknown, Hearts and Minds and This Morning from Liverpool. 

“I’d also like to say a heartfelt thank you to the wonderful people who I have worked with in more than 40 years in TV and thank you to our viewers who have been kind enough to invite us into their homes. We have really appreciated that. I have often been  overwhelmed by the thoughtfulness of our viewers in difficult times, especially when we lost Tony Wilson and Tony Morris. What a joy it was to work with them both – I still hear both of them quoted often and I still have their numbers in my phone! I have certainly been lucky to work with the best of the best.”

Head of News for ITV Granada Reports, Lucy West who’s worked with Lucy on some of the biggest stories in the North West over the last decade says:

“It has been a great honour to work with Lucy Meacock who is a broadcasting icon, her enthusiasm and commitment to the North West has never faltered and we will miss her hugely.   As a team we all have enormous respect for Lucy who we admire for her formidable questioning, great judgement and wise advice.  We’ve been through some very challenging times both on and off screen.  Personally,  I will miss her honesty, integrity and determination to deliver the very best for our audiences and the team.  We wish her all the very best for the future and know Lucy will remain a good friend of Granada Reports.” 

Lucy has been instrumental in welcoming new talent to the team at Granada including her co-presenter Gamal Fahnbulleh, who says:

“Lucy has been a trailblazer, a role model and mentor to hundreds of journalists during her 36 years at ITV Granada Reports. Her warmth and kindness is matched only by her desire for colleagues to be the best version of themselves. Her enthusiasm for the job is infectious and I have learned so much from her in the time that I have been at ITV Granada Reports. I will never forget her reassuring words when I joined the team almost four years ago.  Lucy Meacock's generosity of spirit will be sorely missed in the newsroom and studio.  Wishing my friend the very best with her future endeavours.”

Lucy says: “One of the things I have enjoyed the most in my career is seeing the rising stars arrive in the newsroom and flourish. It is one of the reasons I became Chancellor at Salford University. It is their turn now. It’s been the best gig for 36 years and as I move on I will be the first to congratulate my successor and wish them, Gamal and the Granada Reports team all the very best for the future.  Good night and thank you for watching.” 

The Editor of ITV Regional News, Guy Phillips praised Lucy saying: "Lucy has been at the forefront of Granada's coverage for over three decades. In that time, she brought first class journalism to Granada Reports, and through her outstanding skill and integrity as a presenter has held authority to account on numerous occasions. She's connected with the viewers and interviewees through her warmth and absolute dedication to delivering the very best for the flagship 6pm programme. 

Lucy has presented live in the studio and on location on all the major stories in the North West. Her professionalism shines through, she always asks the questions that the viewers want answering and - as we've seen with her coverage of Hillsborough over many years - is determined to get to the truth. 

She's been a fantastic colleague and friend to many people. We will miss her enormously and wish her all the very best for the future.

Paying tribute, ITV’s Director of News and Current Affairs, Michael Jermey said: “Lucy is a one off. A brilliant, instinctive broadcaster with a profound respect for her audience and a love of the north west. A journalist with a passionate commitment to fairness and justice. Always on the side of the powerless and ready to question the powerful. She represents the very best of regional news and ITV has been lucky to have her at the core of our news service for so many years. We wish her all the very best for the next chapter in her life".

Lucy Meacock's final Granada Reports will be on Thursday 1st August 2024 on ITV1 at 6pm.