BBC News at Ten to extend by 10 minutes

Huw Edwards in the BBC newsroom studio

The BBC's News at Ten is to run 10 minutes longer in the New Year, with the bulletin set to end at 22:45 GMT on every weekday except Friday.

According to the corporation, "the extended Ten will give audiences even more news analysis and explanation".

With additional news from the Nations and Regions, the programme will be 45-minutes long from Monday through to Thursday, starting from 11 January.

The move follows a five-month trial in the run-up to the General Election.

"Along with its sister programme at 6, The BBC's 10 o'clock News is already the most popular news bulletin in the UK and, in the New Year, it will offer even more," said Gavin Allen, controller of daily news programmes.

"Viewers will continue to see the fullest range of stories - and now we'll have still more scope to explain the events that impact the country and help to make sense of the changing world around us."

Analysis - David Silito, media correspondent

It's always been a bit odd that the BBC's highest profile news bulletin (if not highest rated - the audience for the Six o'clock News is bigger) has also been the shortest.

Of course, the official duration hasn't always been stuck to. People who tune in just for the weather at the end of the bulletin will already know this - the news is sometimes two, three or even five minutes longer than it says on the schedules.

It is, though, an interesting symbolic move. ITV's News at Ten presenter Tom Bradby has questioned the BBC scheduling its main news at 10pm, and so too has the culture secretary John Whittingdale. This certainly makes clear the BBC isn't planning on vacating the spot, but is digging in even deeper.

Yet it does present a quandary for those who like to tuck in to Newsnight after the Ten. Newsnight's start time is usually around 22:32. In future, if you stay with the News at Ten until the end of the weather, you will have missed the first 13 minutes of the programme.

And finally, for fans of the red chair and the celebrity sofa, this is a Monday to Thursday-only change. Question Time on Thursday can be shunted, but Graham Norton, it appears, is sticking to his 22:35 slot.