No, not at all - they make space for BOTH by having a 'serious' half for those that want news before the weather and a 'light-hearted' half of the show for those that want banter after the weather..... It isn't endemic of dumbing down - it's a sign of Look North listening to and providing a style that the viewers want.....
Leeds just gave us a nice widescreen Ballet ident at 10pm
Don't all of the regions show it? NE&C seem to show all the original idents (including Ballet), and even Salsa for some reason - hardly the most newsy ident...
Only Skate, Acrobat, Capoeira and Tai Chi (short) should run into news bulletins.
Nope - I made a written note of the entire programme's content tonight and it was NOT 5, 6, or even 7 minutes - it was 15. There was no mention of men biting dogs or vice versa and there weren't any free-for-all inanities until after the first 15 minutes. I will continue to make notes of content too.....
I can't understand why you're attacking an element of the show that the viewers like.... of the majority like it, what's the problem?
I'm far from that which you describe; a lot of the longer-staying patients I see on my ward rounds for hospital radio (mostly those undergoing cardiac, respiratory and joint operations) say that I am cheerful, friendly and pleasant.....
Yes, I am fiercely loyal not only to Look North but to the BBC in general. After someone criticises Look North, I can't be expected to sit back and not react if I feel someone's doing it an un-necessary dis-service.... it's helped me in many ways and it's the only show I make a special effort to watch....
Kat, saying, "IT'S WHAT THE VIEWER WANTS" rather flies in the face of those of us who say we don't; and just because Harry Gration says so, it doesn't make it true.
The Six O'Clock News and Reporting Scotland is billed as "the News Hour" up here - and we get just that. That doesn't mean we don't get a glimpse of the team's personalities; but it is kept swift, and in its place.
I don't think regional news programmes should be overly concerned with the placing of "light after the shade". That's what schedulers are there for.
There is room for a giggle, sure. But its fair for people to comment that the balance is wrong in LN. Whilst your timings of the show is useful within the context of this debate, it doesn't resolve the patent discomfort that Alf feels about Look Norths output - and rather than trying to persuade him he is wrong, you could try to accept it.
He is surely that same licence paying viewer with an opinion you are?
BBC Breakfast is a comparison to draw here (depending on who is presenting). They manage to fit in a bit of "banter" between the presenters just to, hopefully, put a bit of a smile on your average viewer's face. We don't all want to be laden down with the troubles of the world, and I see no reason why a "regional magazine" (as they were once known, and might still be, for all I care) shouldn't include a bit of lightheartedness as well.
As far as I can tell, Look North has the balance off to a fine art. Peter and Helen are two excellent presenters, both extremely competent at their jobs - and aren't mismatched in working together, like many pairings of presenters you get these days.
I think one fundamental point has been overlooked here, and that is that the EY&L Look North doesn't cover a particularly news-rich patch and so can afford to be 'lighter' than other regional programmes.
Of course BBC London News can fill half an hour with 100% news - it's covering a capital city where loads goes on. The same can be said for Reporting Scotland which is covering a whole country. Look North covers a mainly rural area where comparatively not a lot goes on.
When the second item in the LN running order is some people kicking off at a picnic site, you realise that if you were to fill the whole hour with news, you'd end up running stories on old ladies dropping their shopping by the end of the show.
I always thought it was a bit of a strange area to make into its own region, as I didn't think it was that badly served by Leeds in the first place. There are certainly a lot of other areas of the country worse served by BBC regional news.
I always thought it was a bit of a strange area to make into its own region, as I didn't think it was that badly served by Leeds in the first place. There are certainly a lot of other areas of the country worse served by BBC regional news.
I think it's an odd hybrid - if there's a major news story of concern to the whole county of Yorkshire/Humberside like the Yorkshire Assembly, those reports will get shown on both programmes, as will stories from Doncaster and Sheffield (where a lot of western Lincs is in the 'economic hinterland' of those two places), and other places along the transmitter boundaries of the two programmes. I think it was Look North's idea to include more local stories in between those major news articles, which is where the coverage on the old setup didn't do justice to areas like Lincolnshire.
When I went to tour Woodhouse Lane two years ago, Kate Watkins (big cheese in Leeds) said that Look North had had a lot of complaints from viewers in the east of the region, particularly in Lincolnshire, who said that they didn't cover Lincolnshire enough to do the county justice. I know my dad for example would get very annoyed when Leeds omitted Boston United from the sports reporting.
I don't think that Look North Hull and London can be compared effectively anyway - the demographics of population, along with cultural, and ethnic profiles in the two places are chalk and cheese. LDN serves the capital and nearly all of its broadcast area is urban. Look North however isn't like that - virtually all of the region is rural, with towns that are many miles apart (it's about an hours' drive from Boston to Lincoln, 20 minutes from Boston to Sleaford and about 40 minutes to Grantham). Of course the pace of news will be different. Perhaps it's all come as a culture shock - seeing LDN for the first time on Sky was for me.
'Up here', there seems to be little desire in our presenters to make the move to the 'smoke'. Paul Hudson in particular says he doesn't want to make the change from regional to national forecasting, where character and personality has to be sacrificed for the sake of seriousness. He says it's like a 'Bill Giles sausage factory'! Peter Levy doesn't want to make the switch either. He's happy and settled where he is. Much as Helen Fospero liked her New York-based job, the time difference between London and the eastern Seaboard made her hours very unsocial.
I think the Hull Look North is a 'regional magazine' in some respects; they frequently run mini-series of articles about the history and geography of the area, for example, the articles about the region's coastline (Scarborough to the Wash) and Jenny Hill's articles about stately homes. It's news before the weather and magazine-esque items after it, which include news about what celebrities are doing in the region. A good balance.
I for one was VERY sceptical about this new show but having seen it in action now for nearly two years, am very pleased as to how it's gone.
I always thought it was a bit of a strange area to make into its own region, as I didn't think it was that badly served by Leeds in the first place. There are certainly a lot of other areas of the country worse served by BBC regional news.
I think it's an odd hybrid - if there's a major news story of concern to the whole county of Yorkshire/Humberside like the Yorkshire Assembly, those reports will get shown on both programmes, as will stories from Doncaster and Sheffield (where a lot of western Lincs is in the 'economic hinterland' of those two places), and other places along the transmitter boundaries of the two programmes. I think it was Look North's idea to include more local stories in between those major news articles, which is where the coverage on the old setup didn't do justice to areas like Lincolnshire.
When I went to tour Woodhouse Lane two years ago, Kate Watkins (big cheese in Leeds) said that Look North had had a lot of complaints from viewers in the east of the region, particularly in Lincolnshire, who said that they didn't cover Lincolnshire enough to do the county justice. I know my dad for example would get very annoyed when Leeds omitted Boston United from the sports reporting.
I don't think that Look North Hull and London can be compared effectively anyway - the demographics of population, along with cultural, and ethnic profiles in the two places are chalk and cheese. LDN serves the capital and nearly all of its broadcast area is urban. Look North however isn't like that - virtually all of the region is rural, with towns that are many miles apart (it's about an hours' drive from Boston to Lincoln, 20 minutes from Boston to Sleaford and about 40 minutes to Grantham). Of course the pace of news will be different. Perhaps it's all come as a culture shock - seeing LDN for the first time on Sky was for me.
'Up here', there seems to be little desire in our presenters to make the move to the 'smoke'. Paul Hudson in particular says he doesn't want to make the change from regional to national forecasting, where character and personality has to be sacrificed for the sake of seriousness. He says it's like a 'Bill Giles sausage factory'! Peter Levy doesn't want to make the switch either. He's happy and settled where he is. Much as Helen Fospero liked her New York-based job, the time difference between London and the eastern Seaboard made her hours very unsocial.
I think the Hull Look North is a 'regional magazine' in some respects; they frequently run mini-series of articles about the history and geography of the area, for example, the articles about the region's coastline (Scarborough to the Wash) and Jenny Hill's articles about stately homes. It's news before the weather and magazine-esque items after it, which include news about what celebrities are doing in the region. A good balance.
I for one was VERY sceptical about this new show but having seen it in action now for nearly two years, am very pleased as to how it's gone.
hate to be cynical katherine, but i think you'd be on the other side of the fence if paul hudson and peter levy weren't involved in the hull programme.
i guess in time bbc hull might develop its own weather dept, it'll be interesting to see how "loyal" you stay after that.
hate to be cynical katherine, but i think you'd be on the other side of the fence if paul hudson and peter levy weren't involved in the hull programme.
i guess in time bbc hull might develop its own weather dept, it'll be interesting to see how "loyal" you stay after that.
No need to see - I'll always be loyal to the BBC. No change in personnel will alter that.....
Ah, sanity has finally prevailed on the forum and somebody else has twigged this ridiculous waste of money!
The region is too small to sustain a sub news region. If it's taking 200 people to put the show on in Leeds, just how many is it taking in Hull?
At this point, Katherine will whittle on about how good the BBC is. But let's face it. She is a BBC junkie. Unable to communicate with anyone else who has a different view to hers, unwilling to listen to reason and prehaps, more worryingly, one of those people who pesters people with meaningless questions regarding the miniscule details of the programme, unnaturally swooning over the (married) presenters. Let's get a grip here, find something else in your life, or even, get a job!
