BBC Regional News

Glad to see TV Home Forum back in some sort of way.

I live in Scotland and as you can guess my local news programme is Reporting Scotland. Recently I have been very curious to what the other BBC regional news programmes are like. I would be very grateful if anyone could give me details of astons and graphics, how the presenting teams work, if their are sub opt-outs of the main programme, the opening titles and are the programmes in widescreen or 14:9 or whatever.

I have done a bit of research and managed to watch one or two of the shows on the web. But they aren't very good quality. In doing this I watched Spotlight South West and saw a new location aston. Is this the same in all regions.

I would also welcome information from not only English regions but also Northern Ireland and Wales. I try get as much as I can from the short bullitins on BBC2 at 3.20 but they are useless.
I am also Interested in short bullitins. Do they come from a studio or the local newsroom as they do in Scotland.

Any information is much appreiated.

theres so much variation throughout the regions. i hope that the tv home forum is back soon so you can trawl through the archive threads.

i put together my first attempt at graphics regarding the regions here:

http://gavinscott.5u.com

cheers, gav.

Well I get BBC North West. There are two programme titles, North West Today and North West Tonight.

The main presenter, is Gordon Burns (of The Krypton Factor) and he presents the 1330, 1525 and 1830 bulletins during the week. Nigel Jay has been at BBC North West for many years, and he does the breakfast bulletins and occasionally weekends. Similarly, Martin Henfield is a long standing North West presenter, who does the 2225 bulletins and Bank Holiday bulletins. The weekend ones are done by Julia Sharp. Other presenters include Tony Morris, Stuart Flinders, Julie Taylor and Tina Bangs.

The weather presenters are Dianne Oxberry and Heather Stott.

Sport was done by Gordon Burns. But, earlier this year, North West Tonight recruited a sport presenter, Phillippa Mole. However, she disappeared without mention, and was replaced by a correspondent, Sally Newgent.

The programme's astons have changed a few times this year. At the start of 2001, they were cyan. Then they went to a transparent orange colour. The current ones are cream, similar to Breakfast's.

The 1330, 1525, 1830 and 2225 bulletins come from the main studio. The weekend and Breakfast bulletins come from the self-opt studio.

Our region have no opts as we are only served by one transmitter, Winter Hill.

All regions are 'widescreen' but are not broadcast as widescreen. The only widescreen ones are Newsline, Wales Today and Newsroom South East. When NSE splits next month, London Live will be in widescreen.

Hope this helps. For some pics I would suggest going to The TV Room (www.thetvroom.com) and selecting the 'Over To You' section. Open the two pages by Robert Cunningham for North West material from May/June 2001.



(Edited by itsrobert at 8:37 am on Aug. 15, 2001)

I'm on holiday with Spotlight at the moment,so I could tell you that if you ask me.

But I usally live in london and get Newsroom south east. All billetins are broadcast from the NSE Studio,and no changes are made all day.

The astons are cyan.

A morning-lunchtime presenter I have seen is kay James (sp?) No ops,obviously!!

Newsline is based in Belfast.

The main 1830 bulletin is fronted by two presenters, a man and a woman. The slections are as follows:
Noel Thompson, Rose Neill, Mark Carruthers and Donna Traynor. Donna sometimes presents weekends, as does Rose Neill. Mark Carruthers presents the 2225 bulletin.
The breakfast, 1330 and 1525 bulletins are presented by Karen Patterson and Sarah Travers.

The Breakfast, 1330, 1830 and 2225 come from the studio. AFAIK, the 1525 and weekend bulletins come from a small studio in the newsroom, like Reporting Scotland.

Newsline still has the origional Aston from the relcaucnh of the programme. It has its own, in green and blue style, as does the opening titles.

After the main BBC News bulletins, at 1300 and 1800, Newsline comes straight on, without any trailers. The presenters say 'You're watching BBC ONE Northern Ireland, this is Newsline, I'm <Noel Thompson>.'
'And I'm <Donna Traynor>. The main stories this evening' This is followed by the headline bed, and titles.

The weather is done by Angie Phillips or Cecilia Daly. Sport is presented by either Jackie Fullerton, or Stephen Watson.

Wales Today is broadcast from Cardiff.

The Breakfast bulletin is usually presented by either Jayne Case or Jason Mohammad. The 1330 bulletin is mainly presented by Jayne Case, but Jason, Jammie Owen and Sara Edwards fill in at some time. The main 1830 bulletin is presented by the main Wales Today presenters, Jamie Owen and Sara Edwards. However, they never present together - each bulletin only has one presenter. The 2225 bulletin is presented by the 1830 presenter. The 1525 is by a correspodent. The Saturday bulletin is with Frances Donovan, and Sunday by Sian Lloyd.

Wales Today do the headlines ina different style. After the main BBC News bulletins, like Newsline, there are no trailers etc. The presenter says 'I'm <Jamie Owen>, this is BBC Wales Today' This is followed by the titles, and the headline bed. There is then a short sting to lead into the programme.

Sport is presented by Bob Humphrys. The weather is done by Derek Brockway. During the 1330, the weather is presented from the newsroom, but the 1830 is from the studio.

The 1330 and 1830 come from the main studio. The breakfast, 1525, and weekend ones come from a small studio (possibly self opt).

Wales Today is in widescreen.

That'll be Lou James! The main presenters are Mike Embley, Gillian Joseph and Tim Donovan, and the other daytime presenters are Nina Hussain and Jules Botfield.

The main 6.30 programme used to be a double header, but since about May it's only had a single presenter.

There hasn't been a dedicated sports presenter since the start of the year when Rob Curling left, and weather comes from the national weather forecaster. The programme moved into their new central London studio last Monday and is in full 16:9, and I think all bulletins come from there.

This will no doubt be all completely out-of-date in a few weeks when the new London programme starts!

I'm putting together a BBC South East page when my website relaunches, at http://www.users.nascr.net/~rgwill/southeast.htm but beware, it's not finished yet as at the moment I'm waiting to get a TV card so I can put some images on!

(Edited by RW at 9:21 am on Aug. 15, 2001)


(Edited by RW at 9:22 am on Aug. 15, 2001)


(Edited by RW at 9:27 am on Aug. 15, 2001)

I would presume the main differences between the BBC Nations' and English Regions' news programmes are:

1. The color scheme of the region shape in the titles (bright red & orangey-yellow for English regions; dark blue & regal purple for Scotland; mid-blue & 'shamrock' green for NI; and dark(ish) red & dark blue for Wales). I the case of Wales Today, the background is also different - ivory rather than sky blue like all other regions.

2. Different mixes of the BBC News theme music (four in total - one for Scotland, another for NI, another for Wales, and another used by each and every English region).

Sorry to be picky! But there are actually 5 variations - UK Today uses a variation of the main English regional ones. Also, the sting is a mixture of the two types of English stings