ITV wants to axe some regional news services

There's a relay on the Wirral (Storeton) that's receiveable across most of the Wirral and the river level areas in Liverpool itself that cant see Winter Hill. I'm just thinking that if you are in Merseyside, technically it must be nearer, though I do know there are a few areas of poor reception across the Wirral.

No, I meant the nearest Welsh transmitter to me is Moel-y-Parc. My point was that I know that transmitter carries Wales Tonight, so all of North Wales is supposed to watch that programme, however some people have to, or choose to, watch Granada Reports as they feel more affinity to the NW than Cardiff which is a lot further away. That's why Granada provides coverage of major news from North Wales.

Storeton is a relay of Winter Hill and from where I am, I don't think I could get a good signal. It doesn't matter anyway, as I get a brilliant signal from Winter Hill itself. I can receive the Moel-y-Parc stations, but they aren't brilliant quality. Surprisingly, my grandparents receive the Welsh stations a lot better than I do, despite them living only about 2 miles away (albeit nearer to Wales).

South East Today covered the story this evening on the news about Meridian 4mins, 12.4mb, mp4 merged with a report on an increase in free newspapers in the area.

Bloomin' 'eck.

Talk about being shot because you're guilty of just being the messenger.

Try a bit harder and you could really be an obnoxious pedant.

I DID quote my original source, so please take your obvious unhappiness up with them, NOT me.

You're the sort of idiot who must think 100% of everything on Wikipedia is the truth.

People like you make me want to stop posting in this place.

Interestingly Anglia Tonight did cover these changes, with lots of behind the scenes shots too. I'll capture it and upload here when I get the chance.

It won't be as easy to switch DTT transmitters between two different off-air rebroadcast sources as it is with analogue - so the Winter Hill / Caldbeck switch may have to be replaced by a fibre circuit or a more resilient solution, particularly if the BBC plan to ditch constant bit rate BBC One "drop ins" for the opt is replaced by a "code and statmux it all in London" approach.

The ITV plc 17 to 9 reduction doesn't include Scotland, Northern Ireland or the Channel Islands (they are not part of ITV plc)

In equivalent regional terms the BBC currently have 15 regional or sub-regional centres : Cardiff, Plymouth, Bristol, Southampton, Oxford, Tunbridge Wells, London, Cambridge, Norwich, Nottingham, Birmingham, Leeds, Hull, Manchester, Newcastle.

The BBC have quietly been expanding and splitting their regional operations - and since they trailled ITV regional news in the early-to-mid 90s they now comfortably beat them in most regions. In fact the BBC 1830-1900 regional news slot is usually the most watched news slot in the UK - but because the BARB ratings are by programme and not by slot, they are divided into separate regional ratings.

This excludes Belfast, Glasgow and Jersey - as they are not in patches covered by ITV plc.

(By the way - I hear rumblings that the BBC have quietly parked the new BBC regional centre in Milton Keynes... Presumably a result of the licence-fee renewal not being everything that had been hoped. Again BBC East gets the raw deal - when Southampton and Plymouth got major upgrades, Norwich was due to be next. The foundations for an enlarged studio had apparently already been dug at All Saints Green when it was cancelled)

Anyone noticed a distinct irony in all of this?

The areas where ITV have continued to match or beat the BBC in the ratings for regional news are precisely the ones that are being shut down. Westcountry, Tyne Tees and Border have been stronger than the BBC for years.

The only one that is being (relatively) unaffected of the popular ITV shows is YTV (and even there there are cutbacks).

A cynical person might say that ITV are deliberately getting shut of their more popular regions in order to strengthen their resolve to shut the lot.

What is it with tv companies and making cuts and savings these days! Everyone seems to be at it.

Err - licence fee reduction that doesn't cope with the cost of broadcast inflation will be the BBC reason, falling audience share will be the ITV reason.

If you paid a bigger licence fee and watched more ITV there would be fewer cuts...

The point about you only being a messenger is a fair one and I apologise, though I dont think for one moment that 100% of Wikipedia is true (though its sometimes fun reading whats there!).

I think you were a little over the top your reaction though, pendantry has become a pejorative term that it shouldn't be; there was a point to my posting, in that coverage of both BBC and ITV News on the Isle of Man will be affected by digital switchover.

Even new labour become fed up with the BBC's inability to excercise cost control; that is why the licence fee was less than requested.

The cuts are going in the wrong places becouse the BBC managemnt are employing a % reduction rather than eliminating a function. Frontline staff & freelancers arebeing screwed far to much.

The BBC still has the highest administative,building and (non-broadcast) capital expenses of any public body in the UK; Per member of staff it has the highest general expense budget of any broadcaster in europe - That is taxis, airfare, meals hotels and entertaining (even excluding news) Hunt on parliament website for the DCMS select com report on this for more handy facts.

So no, i'd rather NOT pay a bigger licence fee until the mess is sorted out.

Back to ITV, I hear that its not as simple as it appears - Whilst eliminating splits from a licence region (eg meridian, anglia) was on the Ofcom radar; merging whole regions may be a sticking point.

Border & Westcountry may yet live until after DSO for the merging area (which for Tyne Tees is 2011, west is 2010)....if the regulator grows some balls.