A question, has the loss of the split news service on Tyne Tees been a big issue?
Unlike some other areas, the North/South split came and went even in the pre ITV plc regional days, and besides people on Teeside maybe getting a bit riled up by too much news being about Newcastle, the whole north east region seems to be connected by the same issues, same former industries, same mix of urban and rural. There isn't even that many football teams. Did a split news service seem a bit over the top, particularly when the BBC has never thought about doing such a service, even in the days when they had money spare, and doesn't even match the size of the Tyne Tees region in the first place?
Were a lot of news stories shared when there were separate Bilsdale and Pontop Pike editions?
From someone looking in from outside, if there was ever a time when the old structures were ever reinstated, I would say many other regions, particularly the East Midlands would be much further in front in the queue.
Were a lot of news stories shared when there were separate Bilsdale and Pontop Pike editions?
There's a large overlap northwards of Bilsdale into Tyneside, though not so much of Pontop in the other direction.
The achilles heel of many split regions, is the underestimation of overlap. Meridian were caught out (despite TVS having operated a lower key split for three years previously) with their north/south split, so much that they ended up building three relay transmitters (they ran out of cash for a forth (to serve Cowes) !
Having dipped back in here for the first time in months I feel it is my duty to point out what a flipping magnificent set and theme tune North East Tonight had back then.
Having dipped back in here for the first time in months I feel it is my duty to point out what a flipping magnificent set and theme tune North East Tonight had back then.
If anyone has the MP3s... xx
It's a shame really there were many good local itv news themes around, I travelled a lot with work an often stayed away from home in Essex and loved the variety of theme tunes, London Tonight's were great over the years as were Lookarounds, TVS coast to coast and TSW Today's were quite good going back a bit. Westcountry Live had several good tunes surprisingly for Carlton they introduced a really catchy up beat one in the 2000's
Colin Briggs all over the studio on Look North at lunchtime which was unusual. Usually sat at desk throughout. Tweeted him to query. He's confirmed that the left side screen was being replaced and couldn't be shown as nothing there at the moment. Hopefully they'll do the centre screen too as both look a little washed out on screen.
LS
Lou Scannon
Tonight in the West Country we were treated to TT&B's Ross Hutchinson presenting our weather forecast, presumably pre-recorded in Gateshead.
I'm not aware of him ever appearing here in the West Country before.
Having dipped back in here for the first time in months I feel it is my duty to point out what a flipping magnificent set and theme tune North East Tonight had back then.
A question, has the loss of the split news service on Tyne Tees been a big issue?
Unlike some other areas, the North/South split came and went even in the pre ITV plc regional days.
That really is not true. Tyne Tees had a commitment to split-region news continuously since the late 1970s, which became a franchise requirement in 1982. The
presentation
came and went, with Tyne Tees alternating between a dedicated studio and a taped section presented from Newcastle (and they lacked facilities to present anything live until 1993), on several occasions, but the news itself was always separate for a portion of the broadcast.
Pre-1993 the eagle-eyed viewer of the Bilsdale service could tell where the taped section kicked in. The picture quality would dip slightly, there would be a slight additional hum on the audio and sometimes a slightly awkward jump as the switch kicked in. The channel also had split Crimestoppers and adverts, and occasional full programmes.