The Yorkshire and Lincolnshire Thread

John, there IS a 'h' in that John.

You never know what John's going to say next.



Regarding plus 1, who knows, maybe someone in London picked the first one alphabetically, or maybe does Belmont cover a larger area geographically?

On a separate note, I wonder why Calendar never do much at the Great Yorkshire Show, besides the era when they had an OB every night, I'm not sure if they ever have for years.

A new weather face this morning on Look North Breakfast, Owain Wyn Evans presumably broadcasting from Cardiff.

I always assumed it was an attempt to allow people in the larger sub region to see the other news if they so desired, albeit an hour later. It certainly boosts the reach of the Belmont adverts.

But equally reduces the potential reach of the (presumably) more profitable Emley ads.

I don't know why ITV from Sheffield shows the Belmont version instead of Emley Moor as BBC1 does. Sheffield has more in common with West Yorkshire and the rest of South Yorkshire than with Lincolnshire. I appreciate the Belmont version does cover Sheffield stories, but as for non-Sheffield stories, personally I prefer to hear about news from say Huddersfield rather than Boston, considering it's only up the road. Luckily I am in one of the few areas of Sheffield that can receive Emley Moor.

I think you've answered your own question with your final sentence. The majority of Sheffield use either Belmont, or the Crosspool (aka Sheffield) relay ? In which case, to cover the city ITV have opted to use Belmont, and tie Crosspool to it. If you look at it that way, it's the BBC who perhaps have the wrong logic, by tying Crosspool to Emley, and thus have to feature Sheffield on both the Leeds and Hull versions of Look North ?

However, as you say, ITV's method doesn't help when it comes to learning of news in the towns surrounding Sheffield !

No Look North from Hull doesn't tend to feature Sheffield at all. Only the weather map!

The majority of Sheffield who aren't on/can't get Emley are on Sheffield/Crosspool though. I've seen a quite a few aerials in Sheffield that appear to be pointing at Belmont (apparently there are even some on Waltham!) but it's definitely few and far between (I've seen far more on Emley) and in most cases it would appear reception from Crosspool is perfectly possible. I've even seen a row of terrace houses with one aerial on Belmont and all the others on Crosspool. Belmont is over 50 miles away from Sheffield so I've always been surprised when I've seen an aerial directed at Belmont around here, maybe it was a better Channel 5 analogue (on C35) than Crosspool (on C67 compared to the other four in group A)?

So if ITV from Crosspool changed from the Belmont to Emley version, and Calendar only covered Sheffield news on the Emley version then the only parts of Sheffield that miss out so to speak are the few who are on Belmont and not able to receive Crosspool (or Emley Moor). I suspect it's not that many.

Isn't it also to even out the news patches. We hear frequently how Look North Hull seems to struggle for content due to covering a large mostly rural area, at the same time Sheffield viewers always complain about perceived Leeds bias to Look North Leeds.

Hence by having Sheffield in Belmont they are likely to receive more extensive coverage and a more prominent part of the coverage than fighting for space on the Emley version?

The Sheffield landscape does indeed mean that different houses on the same street can only receive signals from different transmitters. Once you get out towards Halfway, Belmont is easy to pick up, Crosspool basically impossible and Emley variable depending on your house number. It's the opposite around the city centre. No chance of getting Belmont, and Emley is hit & miss, Crosspool is easy though. Once you get into the south of the city the Chesterfield relay starts becoming popular too.

Is it just the ongoing result of the merger of the ITV Yorkshire East and ITV Yorkshire South sub-regions last decade? Prior to the south-opt being created (1990?) didn't Sheffield get ITV Yorkshire West?

Crosspool traditionally was a Emley relay for BBC and ITV, and also for ITV VHF (when the ITA quickly set up a relay there (along with the existing BBC 1 VHF relay of Holme Moss) when Emley's mast collapsed in 69.

Of course back then, and until 1974, Belmont carried Anglia TV (but always BBC 'North')