BBC South
is the
BBC English Region
serving
Hampshire
,
Isle of Wight
,
Dorset
,
West Sussex
,
Oxfordshire
,
Berkshire
and parts of
Gloucestershire
,
Buckinghamshire
,
Northamptonshire
,
Surrey
, and
Wiltshire
(including the city of
Salisbury
and
Swindon
), with geographic coverage varying between digital, television and radio services.
The region is headquartered in
Southampton
and has smaller offices in
Brighton
,
Dorchester
,
Oxford
,
Reading
,
Swindon
and
Guildford
.
Services
[
edit
]
Television
[
edit
]
BBC South'
s television output (broadcast on
BBC One
) consists of its flagship regional news service
BBC South Today
and includes the current affairs programme
Inside Out
and a weekly half-hour
Sunday Politics
show dedicated to the region.
The region covers television services for
Hampshire
,
Isle of Wight
,
Berkshire
,
Oxfordshire
, most of
Dorset
and
West Sussex
and parts of
Buckinghamshire
,
Wiltshire
,
Surrey
,
Northamptonshire
and
Gloucestershire
.
The television output also produces occasional regional documentaries, the such as
Titanic ? Southampton Remembers
and
Sea City
. The former, broadcast in April 2012, looks at the impact of the disaster on Southampton, where most of the ships staff were recruited while
Sea City
looks behind the scenes at
Southampton Docks
and was broadcast in January 2013 with a second series in March 2014.
[1]
[2]
Radio
[
edit
]
The region is home to local radio stations
BBC Radio Oxford
,
BBC Radio Berkshire
and
BBC Radio Solent
.
Radio Solent, BBC Radio Oxford and Radio Berkshire broadcast between 5
am and 1
am with local programming broadcast between 5
am and 7
pm on weekdays. The three stations carry networked programming with the two stations in the
BBC South East
region every evening. The stations also simulcast overnight programming from
BBC Radio 5 Live
each night after
closedown
.
Digital
[
edit
]
BBC South
produces online articles and video for Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Oxfordshire, Dorset and Berkshire which featured on BBC News Online, as well as producing content for the region's social media accounts.
Text-based red button services come from the articles produced for the BBC website.
History
[
edit
]
The BBC's television news operation in Southampton began on 5 January 1961 with the launch of
South at Six
, presented by Martin Muncaster, who had defected from
Southern Television
. The programme was later renamed as
South Today
. In 1967,
Bruce Parker
joined BBC South and went on to become its longest-serving presenter, anchoring
South Today
for over 30 years.
In 1969,
South Today
became part of
Nationwide
, with its own opt-out section of the main programme for local news. In 1984, following the end of the short-lived
Nationwide
replacement
Sixty Minutes
,
South Today
became a standalone programme, competing heavily ever since with the long-defunct
Southern Television
's news programme Day by Day,
TVS
's
Coast to Coast
and the present incumbent
ITV News Meridian
.
The region itself has changed in size and shape on a few occasions. On 16 October 2000, areas served by the
Oxford transmitter
were transferred from the large former
BBC South East
region, served by news programme
Newsroom South East
, and transferred to an opt out of the BBC South region served by
South Today
. Additionally, following the
digital switchover
of the Whitehawk Hill transmitter on 7 March 2012,
Brighton and Hove
transferred to the coverage of
BBC South East
.
Studios
[
edit
]
BBC South's regional broadcasting centre is based in
Southampton
, with local radio and television studios also in
Brighton
,
Dorchester
,
Guildford
,
Oxford
,
Reading
and
Swindon
.
Prior to moving to the current studios in 1991,
BBC South
was based next to the disused
Southampton Terminus railway station
at South Western House, a former grand hotel set up to cater for first class passengers using the transatlantic liners from Southampton and latterly used as a military HQ during the planning of the
D-day
landings. The building was famed for its clear views of Southampton docks, making events such as the departure of the Queen Mary easy to film, as cameras only had to set up on the roof of the building, though the technology used at South Western House was famed for its unreliability, as most of this equipment was second hand and brought in from other BBC buildings.
[3]
The introduction of colour television in the early 1970s led to a major reconstruction of the building, which had a main studio (used largely for
South Today
) and a small presentation studio for news bulletins and continuity ? unusually, the camera for the small studio was situated in the outside corridor and looking into the room.
[3]
In 1991, BBC South moved into new, purpose-built facilities at Havelock Road in Southampton. The new studios were built on to the side of the hill at the top of the city with the railway tunnel running directly underneath. This slope meant that the new television studios were far larger than the previous ones, as they could take up vast amounts of space on a lower level. The new facilities also included brand new equipment and technology, radio studios for
BBC Radio Solent
and editing suites.
The extra space was because BBC South, at the time, was one of the new regional production centres. Previously production centres had been in the large regions with studio facilities, these being the nations,
BBC Midlands
,
BBC North West
and
BBC West
. However, some smaller production centres were being trialled in the South and
the North East
. As a result, the new studio was made slightly larger so that it could accommodate a network production.
The complex has two studios.
- Studio A ? a 1,929.6 sq ft (179.27 m
2
) multi-purpose production studio used primarily for
South Today
. A is audience capable and has a separate dedicated scene-dock.
- Studio B ? a smaller studio originally used for the
Oxford opt-out
. It is occasionally used by South Today during maintenance in the larger studio A.
A small studio at
Gunwharf Quays
in
Portsmouth
was closed in June 2020, as part of a wider programme of cost reduction across
BBC English Regions
.
[4]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
Services
| |
---|
Management
| |
---|
Departments
| |
---|
Nations and
regions
| |
---|
Commercial
subsidiaries
| |
---|
History
| |
---|
Key
properties
(
full list
)
| London
| |
---|
Birmingham
| |
---|
Cardiff
| |
---|
Other locations
| |
---|
|
---|
Finance
| |
---|
Projects
| |
---|
Technical
| |
---|
|
|
---|
|
UK channels
| |
---|
UK nations
and regions
| |
---|
Services and
programming
blocks
| |
---|
UKTV
channels
| |
---|
International
channels
and
joint ventures
| |
---|
Defunct
channels
| |
---|
|
|
---|
|
UK stations
| |
---|
International stations
| |
---|
Defunct stations
and services
| Local services
| |
---|
Relays
| |
---|
National services
| |
---|
|
---|
Related topics
| |
---|
|