Yle News Sunday begins – how the presenters prepare for the first broadcast

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Yle News Sunday begins – how the presenters prepare for the first broadcast

The first broadcast of the new affairs programme starts on Sunday at 18.45. The programme will be hosted by Anna Lehmusvesi and Ilkka Lahti.

It’s an exciting time in the Yle news studio, as the first broadcast of Yle News Sunday is about to begin. On Friday and Saturday, the broadcast was rehearsed several times.

The programme anticipates and discusses the upcoming news week based on previous topical issues and events with a gentle touch.

Dress rehearsal of Yle Uutiset Sunday program.
Yle News Sunday’s other presenter Ilkka Lahti says that good things can also meet the criteria for news.

– Based on our own editorial work, we think about what kind of topics could be raised in the news and current affairs climate.

– After all, Anna is doing the first broadcast. I myself have stirred in the background and tried to help a little, Lahti states.

Dress rehearsal of Yle Uutiset Sunday program.
The programme’s co-host, Anna Lehmusvesi, also wants to offer hope in the midst of bad news.

Anna Lehmusvesi says that making a brand new program involves a lot of filing of all kinds towards the end.

Robot cameras must obey the control, backgrounds and graphics must be in order. The presenters are literally adjusting their footsteps.

– Of course, that also creates a bit of stress for the content work side. Happy, but stressed feelings, Lehmusvesi admits.

Dress rehearsal of Yle Uutiset Sunday program.
Saturday was the last practice before Sunday’s h-hour.
Dress rehearsal of Yle Uutiset Sunday program.
Presenters have to stand in exactly the right places when the robotic cameras are filming. Presenter Anna Lehmusvesi.

News about ants may be of interest in your spare time

The presenters of the program are big consumers of news just because of their work.

Lehmusvesi says that in his free time he reads features and personal stories, among other things.

– Those that have gone a little deeper.

Lahti says that at work you can familiarize yourself with world politics and crises.

– If in my free time I come across, for example, spring news that an ant was seen in Alahärmä on March 6, I will click on it and read it, he laughs.

Dress rehearsal of Yle Uutiset Sunday program.
The current affairs programme will be hosted alternately by Ilkka Lahti and Anna Lehmusvesi, two journalists familiar from Yle Morning.

Venla award-winning Osmo Peltola charms

The success of the Sunday program does not depend on the experience or professional skills of the presenters, although the magic of live broadcasts, i.e. unpredictability, is involved.

Lehmusvesi made the first live broadcast about the consequences of the tsunami in 2004. Lahti remembers Yle’s morning shift on February 24, 2022.

– It was found that it is now a real case, and the broadcast changed to a special broadcast. All pre-prepared topics were left out.

Dress rehearsal of Yle Uutiset Sunday program.
The Sunday programme will be broadcast live, with each episode lasting 45 minutes. Guests will be present and contacts will be made from around the world.

The presenters agree that every little thing hurts and happens all the time. Most often, the question is, for example, whether the interviewee can get there on time.

– I always wonder how the tight spots are arranged at the last minute. The guest arrives at his place or the sound problem can be solved a few seconds before the broadcast. And in the broadcast, everything looks as if nothing had happened, Lahti muses.

So what is the most exciting thing before the first broadcast?

– Yes, it excites me how the 12-year-old Osmo from the *Peltsi ja Osmo* program charms us there in the studio, Lehmusvesi advises.

*Yle Uutiset Sunday from 19.1.2025* *in Yle Areena* *and live on Yle TV1 on Sundays at 18:45.*