New Meridian, BBC South & South East Thread

Not just How, and local news though. He was Dickie Davies's primary stand in for World of Sport in the 70s and 80s, and also an ITV Sport presenter in his own right, plus quiz master for part (full?) networked Anglia show Gambit.
Along with Richard Whitely, probably the best known nationally known regional presenter !

SET's weather presenter Rachel Mackley had to leave mid-bulletin on Friday evening during the 1830 due to a fainting incident. Dealt with professionally and quickly switched back to Rob and Polly who did a round up of the headlines.

Here's a better video:



Glad she's okay. It's good that the operator was quick on their feet.

Must be something in the water in the Tunbridge Wells newsroom as Natalie Booker nearly fainted on air once too!

There was a brief mention about Rachel Mackley falling ill on Friday by Rob on the 1830, Eleanor Roper is covering.

A fully separate half-hour from South Today Oxford at 18:30 last night, with the Didcot power station disaster dominating the agenda.

A rare outing then, for a full-length sub-regional weather forecast (pre-recorded at the Southampton CSO, of course).

I've always found it odd that the "Oxford" weather map labels High Wycombe and Henley-on-Thames (rather than, say, Wallingford and Thame). I'm sure that neither of these places can receive the Beckley transmitter signal, and therefore aren't/shouldn't be treated as part of the strict/official editorial patch?

Also, they never even put any temperature/wind symbols (let alone any place name labels!) in central south Oxfordshire. So it's as if the southern border of the sub-region is an inverted U shape, with nothing east-of-Swindon/south-of-Oxford/west-of-Henley being acknowledged.

This massive disservice to viewers in the likes of Abingdon, Didcot, Wallingford and Wantage is bad enough at the best of times, but is particularly jarring when the actual news agenda is dominated by a Didcot story!

No, both towns are served by their own relay stations, both of which carry BBC (and ITV) London.

I recall BBC Oxford partially presenting an edition of South Today from the Henley Regatta, which
was a bit odd too.

There were no end of similar anomalies with the 2012 Olympic Torch procession when it zigged zagged
its way through Dorset, (which is spilt across three TV regions) South Today had coverage of events in Bridport and Lyme Regis, (where it's impossible to receive South Today terrestrially), and I think Points West covered something Weymouth (where only Spotlight or South Today are receivable). I suppose the arguments for all the above is that the events are of interest to the wider area, irrespective of actual regional service

Why the "no"?

You've stated that those two towns get relays of BBC London, not BBC South (the "Oxford" (a.k.a. Beckley) transmitter). You are therefore agreeing with what I actually said...



As we all know, those terrible "aggregate" items on ITV plc regional news programmes are often just a plug for a major ITV show, such as Downton Abbey, and not even remotely a "news" story (regional or otherwise).

Such an item plugging Broadchurch's 2nd series (made in/near Bridport) once appeared on both sub-regions of ITV News West Country, despite the south coast of Dorset most definitely not being in the "HTV" version's patch.

I think that item(s) about Broadchurch have also appeared on Meridian, despite Bridport being firmly beyond the westernmost boundary of the region (Weymouth & Portland). I hope that the Kent/East Sussex edition of Meridian didn't run the Broadchurch item, as that would've been really ridiculous.

Ha, yes, I meant no they (Henley and HW) shouldn't be included in the Oxford patch, anyway, yea but no but yea but, I was indeed agreeing with you !

Much the same as two (or maybe even all three) Look Norths and at least 3 local radio stations covering the Great Yorkshire Show, it's an event that attracts visitors from a much wider area than the patch it happens to take place in.

Am I correct in thinking that Look Levy does (or used to do?) something that's the exact opposite of that?

I understand that they don't/didn't editorially include stuff about Yorkshire County Cricket in their sports news, because the team's ground happens to be firmly in the Look Leeds patch? (Therefore failing to comprehend that it's not specifically a "West Yorkshire" team, but a whole-of-Yorkshire team, and therefore equally relevant to cricket fans in the East Riding).

Ah, well, Broadchurch's coastal and beach scenes were shot at West Bay, which is more or less Bridport's southern fringes, but the town scenes, the housing estate, and some of the coastal stuff was shot at Clevedon, firmly 'HTV land'.

In series one the AM transmitter masts at Clevedon were often in shot, and very annoyingly, there were glaring continuity errors with sunsets and sunrises being in the wrong direction (for Dorset)