Regional definitions

Well, re: Gloucester that shouldn't be an issue, as Gloucester is officiallty served by Points West, which is the designated region on satellite and cable, and for those who receive from Mendip in the city. The Beeb have already said that on digital switchover those recieving by aerial from Ridge Hill will also get Points West to mirror the West service (not Midlands) that we currently get from ITV.

Sorry, but how on earth do you expect anyone to take you seriously when you use the word "service" when referring to ITV West?

"We understand from the Gloucester Citizen that something happened in that city yesterday. We're afraid we're unable to bring you that report as our satellite truck ran out of petrol at the northern border of Bristol."

I thought they were still using a converted ice cream truck which can hardly be described as a truck.

I would take two things from this:
1; The professor probably said there might be cuts in this area which has come out of the reporter's notepad as 'closing down'
2; Newspaper agendas write stories.

Sorry about calling it a truck, but I AM well known locally for exaggeration.

So if I hang around, somewhere near Cribbs Causeway, do you think I could have a ninety-nine?

The Express have gotten the wrong end of the stick completely. The regional news service will continue to exisit in its present form, it will be the BBC Local service which may suffer from the cutbacks. The service which was trialed in the West Midlands last year was to be rolled out across the country, but this is now under review. This service provided local programmeing and News. No decision has been made as of yet, but the regional news service will remain intact.

And the predictable reader comments about "scrap the BBC, not even North Korea has a TV licence" start on the Express site. Now there's a surprise.

Ignoring the fact that just about every country in Europe has a TV licence or taxation-funded public broadcaster. Yawn.

The above poster has it spot on -- the BBC are considering cancelling the Local TV project, and the Express have blown the whole thing up in typical gutter press fashion.

and where does this all Tie in to the ONE show may i ask?>???

Very good point. Sadly they can't design transmitters that adhere strictly to geographical areas-- although they have some control over things with relay transmitters. Generally though, TV's regional coverage is governed more by topography than geography!

I think it's telling that those areas that correspond tightly to regions with a strong identity (the North East, South West, Northern Ireland) tend to get much higher viewing figures than woolly, artificial areas (East Midlands, "West" etc).

Similar to the way those areas tended to attract very negative reactions when their regional ITV stations appeared threatened.

I don't think it's the size of the regions that is the problem, more as has been said the meaninglessness of some of them.

Very good point.

Things like "Lincolnshire, East Yorkshire (or, at least, the "Humberside" bit), and northern parts of Norfolk" or "Cumbria, the Isle of Man, and southern Scotland" are artificial areas, in which viewers from different parts thereof have sod-all in common with each other.

Okay, so imagine my post said "Worcester" instead of "Gloucester", then. The point you are making about which BBC region Gloucester is or isn't in, is completely besides the point that my post was actually making!

But, picking up your point... I didn't know that N Gloucestershire had moved from BBC Midlands to BBC West on satellite and cable! When did it happen? Shortly after the ITV changes, was it?

Also, with regards to what you say about Ridge Hill on DTT changing after DSO... Will it be split up, like ITV have done??? (i.e. so that Herefordshire still gets BBC Birmingham, and only N Gloucestershire changes to BBC Bristol)??? I can't imagine Herefordshire viewers would be prepared to start regarding themselves as "West of England"-ers!

PS, is N Gloucs now in both MT's and PW's official editorial patch, then?

EDIT: It'd be nice if the final week of MT to officially editorially include N Gloucs marked the occasion with, say, a "best of" feature (i.e. a montage each evening, of different interesting N Gloucs news stories that MT have covered over the years and decades). Perhaps the weather forecast in the final Friday 6:30pm programme could end with Shefali/Simon mentioning the imminent departure of N Gloucs from the MT region, and pointing at the "Gloucester" label on the weather map, as it fades out! And the very final edition of MT (i.e. Sunday teatime) perhaps end with, say, a shot of the Mailbox, with a caption superimposed at the bottom, saying something like:

Midlands Today
GOODBYE GLOUCESTERSHIRE!
(c) [ B ] [ B ] [ C ] Birmingham

...or something.

I can dream. Chances are, nothing about the N Gloucs changes will be acknowledged on-air at all, by either MT or PW.

And most of the countries with a TV license have it far more expensive, and there isn't an ad-free channel in sight!

So it is only possible because of the unique way the BBC is funded by us.