The Newsroom

New Meridian, BBC South & South East Thread

(July 2006)

This site closed in March 2021 and is now a read-only archive
MA
Markymark
London Lite posted:
Cold Open posted:
I would advocate Meridian SE news being made the official designation for Brighton & Hove on all platforms, including Whitehawk Hill TX.


The issue with that is that viewers, especially in Worthing which is editorially in South Today's patch have aerials pointing towards Whitehawk Hill, so would lose their only alternative to South East Today which seems to think the signal ends on the Brighton & Hove/Adur border.

There will be some that use the Findon relay which has BBC One South and ITV Meridian (South Coast macro), or even Rowridge, but Whitehawk's coverage matches that of the BBC Sussex/Heart Sussex FM areas which include Worthing and the Adur district which includes Shoreham and Lancing.


Yes, Whitehawk's DTT coverage goes a long way west, but not very far east, so it's understandable why Meridian keep it tied to the South.

I don't watch Meridian very much, but BBC South Today still includes Brighton stories, which makes sense, because a lot of people along the coast westwards commute there (or did !) for work (and leisure).
LL
London Lite Founding member
Markymark posted:
London Lite posted:
Cold Open posted:
I would advocate Meridian SE news being made the official designation for Brighton & Hove on all platforms, including Whitehawk Hill TX.


The issue with that is that viewers, especially in Worthing which is editorially in South Today's patch have aerials pointing towards Whitehawk Hill, so would lose their only alternative to South East Today which seems to think the signal ends on the Brighton & Hove/Adur border.

There will be some that use the Findon relay which has BBC One South and ITV Meridian (South Coast macro), or even Rowridge, but Whitehawk's coverage matches that of the BBC Sussex/Heart Sussex FM areas which include Worthing and the Adur district which includes Shoreham and Lancing.


Yes, Whitehawk's DTT coverage goes a long way west, but not very far east, so it's understandable why Meridian keep it tied to the South.


Alas the Lewes relay is from Heathfield.
MA
Markymark
London Lite posted:
Markymark posted:
London Lite posted:

The issue with that is that viewers, especially in Worthing which is editorially in South Today's patch have aerials pointing towards Whitehawk Hill, so would lose their only alternative to South East Today which seems to think the signal ends on the Brighton & Hove/Adur border.

There will be some that use the Findon relay which has BBC One South and ITV Meridian (South Coast macro), or even Rowridge, but Whitehawk's coverage matches that of the BBC Sussex/Heart Sussex FM areas which include Worthing and the Adur district which includes Shoreham and Lancing.


Yes, Whitehawk's DTT coverage goes a long way west, but not very far east, so it's understandable why Meridian keep it tied to the South.


Alas the Lewes relay is from Heathfield.


There is no proper topological path from Whitehawk Hill to the north east. Years ago a bloke from the BBC told me they'd much rather had fed Whitehawk from Heathfield rather than Rowridge, because the Rowridge off air feed suffered badly from fading (because of the long oversea path) In the 90s the BBC fed WH via a microwave mid point at Findon, and Meridian gave it a fibre feed (that allowed it to sit in a different ad region I think? ) I think C4 persisted with the crappy off air Rowridge route until the bitter end of analogue.

Anyway, that's also why Lewes is fed from Heathfield, but much of the town uses Newhaven (also a Heathfield relay) anyway
Last edited by Markymark on 20 October 2020 1:28pm
MarkT76 and London Lite gave kudos
LL
London Lite Founding member
Markymark posted:
London Lite posted:
Markymark posted:

Yes, Whitehawk's DTT coverage goes a long way west, but not very far east, so it's understandable why Meridian keep it tied to the South.


Alas the Lewes relay is from Heathfield.


There is no proper topological path from Whitehawk Hill to the north east. Years ago a bloke from the BBC told me they'd much rather had fed Whitehawk from Heathfield rather than Rowridge, because the Rowridge off air feed suffered badly from fading (because of the long oversea path) In the 90s the BBC fed WH via a microwave mid point at Findon, and Meridian gave it a fibre feed (that allowed it to sit in a different ad region I think? ) I think C4 persisted with the crappy off air Rowridge route until the bitter end of analogue.

Anyway, that's also why Lewes is fed from Heathfield, but much of the town uses Newhaven (also a Heathfield relay) anyway


According to MB21, the BBC A and B muxes are now line fed to the Newhaven tx. Heart 96.9 is a relay of Whitehawk Hill as it's a legacy of being part of the original Brighton service of Southern Sound. (Heathfield 102.4 didn't open until 1989.)
Last edited by London Lite on 20 October 2020 2:26pm
MA
Markymark
London Lite posted:
Markymark posted:
London Lite posted:

Alas the Lewes relay is from Heathfield.


There is no proper topological path from Whitehawk Hill to the north east. Years ago a bloke from the BBC told me they'd much rather had fed Whitehawk from Heathfield rather than Rowridge, because the Rowridge off air feed suffered badly from fading (because of the long oversea path) In the 90s the BBC fed WH via a microwave mid point at Findon, and Meridian gave it a fibre feed (that allowed it to sit in a different ad region I think? ) I think C4 persisted with the crappy off air Rowridge route until the bitter end of analogue.

Anyway, that's also why Lewes is fed from Heathfield, but much of the town uses Newhaven (also a Heathfield relay) anyway


According to MB21, the BBC A and B muxes are now line fed to the Newhaven tx. Heart 96.9 is a relay of Whitehawk Hill as it's a legacy of being part of the original Brighton service of Southern Sound. (Heathfield 102.4 didn't open until 1989.)


Yes and FM radio from WH makes it to Newhaven well enough for rebroadcast use. Newhaven puts a good signal northwards up the valley and into Lewes.
The Lewes relay itself is only designed to serve a few difficult streets in the town, and is interference limited by signals from Hastings and Crystal P
MarkT76 and London Lite gave kudos
MA
Macalolo
London Lite posted:
Incidentally I think Brighton stories are covered on both the East and South Coast bulletins due to Brighton being geographically on the border of those two regions.

I lived briefly in Brighton in the late 80s in Kemptown where South Today and the Southampton editon of Coast to Coast were the norm, but I remember going past an electrical shop in the town where tv sets were showing the regional news, one had South Today on and the other had Newsroom South East. Presumably this was cable fed as the town was clearly being covered as a relay of Rowridge then terrestrially, compared to the current situation.


The same goes for lots of stories with Shoreham and Worthing appearing in the South East and Newhaven appearing in the South. The same goes for Mid-Sussex and Horsham/Crawley where some viewers even get London. One day last week Meridian South East even went as far as Arundel for a story about a dual carriageway bypass. It’s all very fluid when it comes to Sussex

8 days later

MA
Meridian AM
Meridian announced on tonight's bulletin that cable viewers via Virgin Media will have the correct sub-region on 103 in HD from next Tuesday.
ST
South Today
Don't forget it's Rob Smith's departure from South East Today at 6.30 tonight. I think he will be the only main presenter in the programme's history to have a decent on screen farewell!
LL
London Lite Founding member
South Today posted:
Don't forget it's Rob Smith's departure from South East Today at 6.30 tonight. I think he will be the only main presenter in the programme's history to have a decent on screen farewell!


Yes, Geoff Clark didn't get it! I'm recording tonight's bulletin.
ST
South Today
London Lite posted:
South Today posted:
Don't forget it's Rob Smith's departure from South East Today at 6.30 tonight. I think he will be the only main presenter in the programme's history to have a decent on screen farewell!


Yes, Geoff Clark didn't get it! I'm recording tonight's bulletin.


He made it cracking though... ‘‘the bosses told to me go so I’m going!’’
NYTV, watchingtv and London Lite gave kudos
MA
Markymark
South Today posted:
London Lite posted:
South Today posted:
Don't forget it's Rob Smith's departure from South East Today at 6.30 tonight. I think he will be the only main presenter in the programme's history to have a decent on screen farewell!


Yes, Geoff Clark didn't get it! I'm recording tonight's bulletin.


He made it cracking though... ‘‘the bosses told to me go so I’m going!’’


Although this still remains the best retirement sign off

https://youtu.be/es7K3LnVtW4?t=18
LL
London Lite Founding member

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