The Newsroom

New Meridian, BBC South & South East Thread

(July 2006)

This site closed in March 2021 and is now a read-only archive
MA
Meridian AM
London Lite posted:
Gravesend to be fair is a conflicting part of Kent. The relay in the town has London content, yet BBC South East claim it as theirs (and was a relay of Bluebell Hill until 2012 for BBC1/2) and Sky/Freesat postcodes in Gravesend and Dartford have LCN 101 as BBC One SE with ITV London on 103.

Crawley also has editorial issues. BBC SE claim it as theirs, most aerials point to Reigate and Crystal Palace with has BBC/ITV London, Meridian cover Crawley Town FC matches, ITV London don't. You can't switch Reigate to BBC SE/ITV Meridian as it's a SFN with Crystal Palace. A nightmare for the M23 corridor which BBC SE covers editorially, yet the majority of viewers with DTT are stuck with the 'wrong' news that has a Londoncentric skew.


Crawley news features a lot on Meridian South too.
Its just cheaper and easier for them to use the same reports region to region, and they can get away with it, as most viewers won't know or care what the official editorial regional boundaries are.
MA
Meridian AM
Just how far in advance does ITV regional news film the bulletins before broadcast?
Watching Meridian South now and there is a reflection of a monitor visible above Sangeeta which is showing Tipping Point.
I thought they filmed them closer to 6pm, like at 5.15 or 5.30. Tipping Point finishes at 4.55.
There is something I hate about news programmes not being live!
Last edited by Meridian AM on 2 December 2020 6:21pm - 2 times in total
MA
Markymark
Meridian AM posted:
Markymark posted:
London Lite posted:

Meridian reporter.

Incidentally just before the last lockdown, ITV London sent a reporter to Grays which is on the north side of the Thames to Gravesend when Thurrock stayed in a lower tier compared to the rest of Essex. Meridian have been known to go across to the Essex side to report.


BBC South last week suddenly decided to report about Slough, it happens once or twice a year. This time it was because Slough is the only area in the region in Tier 3


Yeah there was no need to report from Slough on South. It was just to add some drama, as the region is otherwise all Tier 1 and 2.
It was the BBC London politics editor. He recorded a report for South, shown 'as live', while appearing live on London at the same time.
No doubt there will be more of this sort of thing. It is cheap to do, and 99% of viewers wouldn't even know or notice that the town isn't officially in the region.

As we know, ITV regional news already makes generic reports, which are shown in several regions, often without mentioning particular places.


Well, I've just heard on Meridian's Thames Valley news, quote, "everywhere in the Meridian Thames Valley region, is in Tier 2"
London Lite and Cold Open gave kudos
MA
Meridian AM
Meridian AM posted:
Just how far in advance does ITV regional news film the bulletins before broadcast?
Watching Meridian South now and there is a reflection of a monitor visible above Sangeeta which is showing Tipping Point.
I thought they filmed them closer to 6pm, like at 5.15 or 5.30. Tipping Point finishes at 4.55.
There is something I hate about news programmes not being live!


EDIT: The Chase is now on the monitor being reflected above Sangeeta.
Also interesting that South hasn't been live this week so far, only South East.
CO
Cold Open
In most cases (Gateshead, Leeds, Birmingham, Norwich, and Bristol), where only two sub-regions are produced at a single location, there would be no excuse (in my opinion) to do the pre-recorded sub-region any earlier than the 5pm hour.

I guess that with Meridian having "three" (well, two-and-a-bit!) sub-regions, it'd be a bit of a stretch. 40 minutes worth of pre-recording are required, regardless of which iteration of the programme will be 100% live at 6pm. To cram that all into the 5pm hour, with only 2 x 10-minute breaks between each edition, is perhaps a bit tight.

I do hope that the earliest pre-recorded edition doesn't start any earlier than 4:30pm though. Or, better still, 4:45pm. If we're gonna have pre-recorded news at all, then it should be recorded the least far in advance that is practically possible.
Last edited by Cold Open on 2 December 2020 9:22pm
LL
London Lite Founding member
I would have thought the 10 min segment on Meridian Thames Valley is always recorded, it's just easier to either have West or East live, which allows Thames Valley to opt into Meridian West via a bumper.
Meridian AM and Ballyboy gave kudos
MA
Macalolo
The opt is decided on a daily basis based on the news agenda. Recording timings as suggested above are pretty much right.
MA
Meridian AM
Macalolo posted:
The opt is decided on a daily basis based on the news agenda. Recording timings as suggested above are pretty much right.


What is happening in Kent or E. Sussex that means the South East edition has to be the live one every night?
Again tonight's South bulletin has Tipping Point reflecting behind Sangeeta!
Is South going to see a live programme this week??
SP
Steve in Pudsey
Could the monitor be showing ITV+1?
MA
Meridian AM
I don't think so, as when I flicked over to South East the monitor was showing them (with a couple of seconds delay).

Also, this tweet shows the monitor. It must be set on a live feed of Meridian South East.



CO
Cold Open
Meridian AM posted:





Amazing how little space there is between the furthest-forward part of the set's side wall and the wall of the studio itself. Barely enough space for the cameras, and even an anorexic camera operator would literally have their back against the wall. Such is the state of most news studios (converted office space) nowadays.

I note that the Thames Valley version of the programme logo is on the side monitor in that photo (the collage in the programme logo is the Kennet riverside entrance of the Oracle shopping centre in Reading).

The collage for both South Coast-only and pan-"West" is The Needles and Alum Bay lighthouse, at the western tip of the Isle of Wight. Not a clue what location the SE logo's collage depicts. Looks like some sort of road traffic interchange. Is it the approach to the ferry terminal in Dover, or something?
BA
Ballyboy
i think the SE Logo is the Dartford Crossing
Alfie Mulcahy and Cold Open gave kudos

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