It has been reported that the launch date for the new region has been delayed, and the number of job cuts has been reduced. Full story below:
Quote:
The launch of ITV's new Thames Valley region has been delayed as the number of jobs expected to be axed has been halved.
The region in south-east England will launch a month late after engineering work could not be completed in time.
The creation of Thames Valley out of two of ITV's smallest regions, Meridian West and Central South, has caused controversy, with up to 45 job losses expected.
The two regions, based in Newbury and Abingdon, employ 90 staff between them.
But the number of jobs expected to be lost through the merger has fallen to just under 20 after ITV managed to find further roles elsewhere for some staff.
It is hoped the number of job losses will continue to fall as the broadcaster continues the staffing process for the new region.
The National Union of Journalists broadcasting representative, Paul McLaughlin, said: "There is a lot of concern but we are making progress. Talks continue and we have reiterated the ambition to have zero compulsory redundancies."
Staff had been working towards a launch date of November 4, but have been told it will not go live until December 4.
One source said the delay was to allow for unspecified engineering work to be completed.
Work is well under way to equip the region's new headquarters at Meridian's digital studios in Whiteley in Hampshire, with specially commissioned equipment for the sales team being installed.
An spokesman for the network denied there was a delay, saying a launch date had never been announced publicly.
"There is no delay. We have been very clear we would have these changes in place by the end of the year and we are sticking to that timetable," he said.
Because as a Gloucestrian born and bred, I see myself as living in the West, like most people here. At least half of the county already gets West from Mendip, Bristol used to be in Gloucestershire, and I want to see sports reports of Bristol and Bath rugby as well as Gloucester. BBC Radio Gloucestershire recently held an on air poll of which region its listeners felt we are in. Not one said Midlands; nobody mentioned the artificial region that is Central South, and all callers/interviewees said Gloucestershire is in the South West.
I rest my case......
Because as a Gloucestrian born and bred, I see myself as living in the West, like most people here. At least half of the county already gets West from Mendip, Bristol used to be in Gloucestershire, and I want to see sports reports of Bristol and Bath rugby as well as Gloucester. BBC Radio Gloucestershire recently held an on air poll of which region its listeners felt we are in. Not one said Midlands; nobody mentioned the artificial region that is Central South, and all callers/interviewees said Gloucestershire is in the South West.
I rest my case......
Gloucestershire is also in the Government/European region of South-West England
On the current BBC Midlands Today weather map, there is very little sea visible. Only a little bit to the north of Wales, and a bit of the river Severn.
Yes, I know that major place names are labelled. But that virtually uninterrupted beige/sand colour they use for the land (why the hell don't they use green? The UK is not a desert!), gives little sense of the region's relative position within England/the UK.
If the BBC moves northern Gloucestershire to Points West, then presumably little/none of the Severn will be visible on the revised MT weather map, thus meaning even less total blue/sea on the map. So the beige will be even more uninterrupted. So the labelled place names will look pretty meaningless, with little sense of their position within the UK.
On ITV Central's (west) weather map, most/all of Wales is visible, so the realtive position of the west midlands region is nice and clear. This is mainly because the map is FLAT.
The "curve of the earth" jaunty angle of the BBC weather maps is all very swish and clever-clever (and for most regions/the national UK forecast, it's not a problem), but it's rather crap for the land-locked west midlands region, and will be even worse if/when we lose northern Gloucestershire.
