The Yorkshire and Lincolnshire Thread

Indeed and also from that website it says that the phone-in number is changing to 0845 303 33 33 which is strange as its only fairly recently changed to 0845 300 5 924 (you see what they did there, 92.4 being the main FM frequency of Radio Leeds)

And to mark this momentus occasion, here's the current Radio Leeds Top of the hour jingle, that will probably be heard for the last time at 7am tommorow morning (presumably live from Bradford) Click Here (754KB 47secs)
and here's the quick 'Today's West Yorkshire is changing' trail, its a bit quiet as it caught me unawares Click Here (170KB 10secs)

Oh and talking about Look North for a minute, Ian White's Sunday bulletin ended with the long theme music again, one of these days it'll reach the end before its gets cut off at the opt in point!

Clare Frisby often gets cut off as well. I have a feeling that the timing of the opt switch in the self-op isn't quite right, particularly on DSat

Seems to me that they're going to be playing much more on the West Yorkshire side of things which admittedly they have been doing for some time - it's just got more prominent under the new editor and, I suspect, this is the big relaunch which he's certainly been working towards.

Oh and I actually really like the news jingle now - which has been very shortlived - although there has been a tendancy to play it in the wrong place and I think I agree with you, Andrew, that the toth sequence often can sound too long and clunky (especially at the weekend - often a case of mind the gap).

So yes will be interesting to hear the sound - will presumably be more 'youthful' as that's the direction the station is definitely going - even though all the phone-ins are full of those over 60.

A station with a split personality...?

The date, I have, for the first Look North from Quarry Hill is 27th September.

Now, i'm just back from the states where TV really is trashy and the news is actually sponsored by a multi-national, but I see that Katherine is still defending the BBC regardless of the poor quality of the programme and the expense involved.

Splitting regions does not give a better quality of programme. People recognise Yorkshire as an entity. People in the East of the region frequently get major decisions and most of the communication from the West of the county. Simply splitting it up reduces the amount of information given.

A programme does not become good by virtue of snazzy graphics or wonderful studio design, it's the quality of the report/O.B. that matters - simply reading the papers on the programme and filling it with meaningless stories about Mrs Ackbourn's socks doesn't make 27 minutes watchable.

Quite frankly, the BBC is quite happy filling posts with people who should have jobs in Burger King and spending lots of money doing it. I uphold that the BBC should have up to date facilities, just less of them.

May I suggest to Mr Garnett a quality programme called Calendar on ITV1. Cost cutting there may be (they don't have the benefit of milions of pounds of tax payers money you know) but at least YTV can afford more than one O.B. a programme and the presenters actually appear friendly and knowledgeable.

Now, we all know Kat only watches Look North for Paul Hudson (who she seems to fancy the pants off) if he was to transfer to ITV would she still be so exciteable about Look North with the ever miserable Christa?

Now, i'm just back from the states where TV really is trashy and the news is actually sponsored by a multi-national, but I see that Katherine is still defending the BBC regardless of the poor quality of the programme and the expense involved.

Splitting regions does not give a better quality of programme. People recognise Yorkshire as an entity. People in the East of the region frequently get major decisions and most of the communication from the West of the county. Simply splitting it up reduces the amount of information given.

A programme does not become good by virtue of snazzy graphics or wonderful studio design, it's the quality of the report/O.B. that matters - simply reading the papers on the programme and filling it with meaningless stories about Mrs Ackbourn's socks doesn't make 27 minutes watchable.

Quite frankly, the BBC is quite happy filling posts with people who should have jobs in Burger King and spending lots of money doing it. I uphold that the BBC should have up to date facilities, just less of them.

May I suggest to Mr Garnett a quality programme called Calendar on ITV1. Cost cutting there may be (they don't have the benefit of milions of pounds of tax payers money you know) but at least YTV can afford more than one O.B. a programme and the presenters actually appear friendly and knowledgeable.

Now, we all know Kat only watches Look North for Paul Hudson (who she seems to fancy the pants off) if he was to transfer to ITV would she still be so exciteable about Look North with the ever miserable Christa?

Actually most of their "OBs" are just normal reports that start with a few seconds at the top to make it seem like they're "crossing over" *live* to the reporter.

It's something they've been doing for years, so in actual fact they just have one a programme...

So to today's Radio Leeds relaunch...

Andrew Edwards and Liz Rhodes did the first hour of the Breakfast show from Woodhouse Lane, then between 7 and 8am they did the show live from the streets of Leeds walking from Woodhouse Lane via the Merrion Centre where Radio Leeds began broadcasting from in 1968, all this part so far using the old jingles and then finally arriving at Quarry Hill just before 8am, just in time for the new top of the hour jingle for today's West Yorkshire - BBC Radio Leeds.

The new jingles are very fancy in my opinion and the one at the TOTH is still done with the same idea as the old one, with the news headline, weather headline, entire traffic bulletin and then the news. Not sure about including the travel in the headline sequence myself

Apparantly the presenters at the radio desk are surrounded by 6 computer screens now as opposed to just one in the old set up

photos of the new studios are on bbc.co.uk/leeds

The TOTH seems to work well when used properly - the handover from DriveTime to the news to Martin Kelner at 6 was a bit of a shambles, screwed up backtiming on the TOTH, and out of the news into what I assume was the Connections programme on AM!

Still teething troubles were inevitable I guess, and I would have thought that getting used to faders that are the other way up will take some time too

Sounds like a nice touch - I wish I'd heard it.

I can't help wondering if Radio York tried to steal the limelight by going off air during breakfast today!

What happenned at York? A protest that they're the only one of the BBC North stations not to get a new building?

People in the East of the region frequently get major decisions and most of the communication from the West of the county. Simply splitting it up reduces the amount of information given.

Nonsense - issues affecting Yorkshire as a whole, as well as sports reporting about the Yorkshire Cricket Team for example get put on BOTH PROGRAMMES (you'll see if you flick between them), so where's the reduction in information?

Now, we all know Kat only watches Look North for Paul Hudson (who she seems to fancy the pants off) if he was to transfer to ITV would she still be so exciteable about Look North with the ever miserable Christa?

I find your assertion that I watch Look North for Paul Hudson extremely laughable indeed! I will watch even when Lisa Gallagher is on or other forecasters when both are unavailable. I can even get banter out of the non-Lisa stand-ins, as Tom Schafernaker found to his misfortune most comprehensively the last time he stood in!

As for Paul switching sides, I know of two comments at least that firmly suggest that he's not likely to change for a good while to come, if at all. In an interview he did for the 'this is Bradford' website on 14 July 2003, he says:

"I feel extremely lucky to be paid to do something that I've always enjoyed and always wanted to do. I'm really, really happy where I am. I can never say never but I can't see myself giving it up , unless of course I get sacked for calling the main presenter a big, fat snake!"

And why would he? He's the first regional weather forecaster (AFAIK) that does the weather for two different regional news programmes, he often describes the current Look North team as the best group of people he's ever worked with and how he's really settled where he is, he's said that he can never envisage moving up to national forecasting as it's a 'Bill Giles Sausage Factory' where there's not much room to show your personality.

And my only answer to the 'moving to Calendar' question (which I think will not appear for many years yet) is this: brand loyalty will always be paramount in any viewing I do. The BBC would retain me as a viewer. That is a certainty.

There's still a great many number of people I would still enjoy watching immensely like Helen Fospero, Peter Levy, Harry Gration, Christa Ackroyd, Clare Frisby, Ian White, Charlotte Leeming, Tom Ingall, Cathy Killick, Matt Richards (Hi Matt!), Kevin Keen (Hi Kev!), John Cundy (will he ever get a happy story?) Helen Philpot (who has shown to be better than I first thought) and the new guns like Nicola Hudson (would Paul want to move to a rival company while his wife stays put at the BBC? A big incentive to stay?) and Hannah Moffatt to see develop. And then there's presenters in other regions like Nick Owen at Midlands Today, Dominic Heale and Anne Davies at East Midlands Today (another pairing I like enormously), Sally Taylor of South Today and Stewart and Susie at Look East . I don't live by Look North alone, you know!

Look North in Hull serves me excellently for stories north of me, but as I'm in a triple overlap area on the edge of two other regions, I would also like to hear of events to my west and south and East Midlands Today and Look East fulfil my needs there entirely. You lot really must get rid of this entrenched, foundationless and tired opinion that I'm only in it for Paul Hudson...... but if you like to think that then go ahead, stay with your delusions....