It was Tim Curtis's last night presenting Anglia News West. He had presented for 18/19 years. He couldn't quite remember. He said it was a privilege to present the news to us over that time. As everyone has been saying the presenters and in this case, Tim, are acting in a very dignified manner.
Unusual one on Scotland Today this evening - an item was carried about the outcome of a court case in Duns. Not a passing mention, but a full-blown report, vox-pops and all.
Why I say "unusual" is because Duns currently lies in the Border Scotland region, shortly to become part of the enlarged Tyne Tees/Border region. STV cannot be received at all in Duns (unless, like me, you have Sky); the nearest place to here where it can be received normally is thirteen miles away to the north, at Cockburnspath, and in the hills above Duns. If anything, I'd have expected Border to cover the story and send a copy of it to STV. I wonder if this is a sign of things to come?
No it was a case at Duns Sheriff Court relating to a crime in Berwickshire. The guilty man was from Berwick.
Incidentally a local primary school in the Borders contacted Border TV this week about something they were doing. They were told "We don't cover that area any more. You'll have to contact STV"!
No it was a case at Duns Sheriff Court relating to a crime in Berwickshire. The guilty man was from Berwick.
Incidentally a local primary school in the Borders contacted Border TV this week about something they were doing. They were told "We don't cover that area any more. You'll have to contact STV"!
<shakes head in disbelief>
AFAIK Duns is still part of the Border region, that really is bad if the new service won't acknowledge that there's life north of Berwick and Carlisle.
STV have, at least in recent years, made fairly regular visits to the Scottish Borders. They regard themselves as a "national" station for Scotland, even though, regrettably, they aren't readily viewable in most parts of the Borders and Dumfries and Galloway, at least in terrestrial terms. And, of course, back in the old 405 line black-and-white TV days, there were large overlaps in transmission areas because VHF signals travelled much further than UHF. STV on channel 10 and Tyne Tees on 8 were receivable over large parts of the region. The STV signal, from time to time, did suffer co-channel interference from another Channel 10 transmitter at Emley Moor, which broadcast Granada and ABC until 1968, then Yorkshire TV. Sometimes, if STV closed down early, you could get a viewable picture from the more distant transmitter.
The new ITV Tyne Tees & Border bulletins don't launch until February 25th apparently.
And in other news, the Border Television brand has been snapped up by Creative Imagineers.
Obviously buying the name costs a lot less than the station, but that indicates to me if OFCOM did have the balls to put the franchises ITV didn't want up for auction it would have created some local interest to attract rival bids.