Delivering Quality First

If Sky do that, then my respect for that company will rise.

I actually think that satelite & cable companies should be subject to 'must carry' rules when it comes to PBS stations. This is in place in America. The main thing it does over there is ensure that the company shows the local station of any network, instead of possibly circumventing it by just showing a network service from New York.

I was in there eariler this year. They were really helpful and happy to show me around. It was a bit depressing to find out that most editorial choices for what music is play come up the line from Birmingham (er, local radio?) and it really is 'small unimportant town' scale compared to cities of a similar size.

I think the 'particularness' of the station is merely a reflection on the region it serves. Liverpool and the wider region really is quite distinct. There really is a sense of place. A lot of us really don't get the whole 'North West' thing. We don't hate Manchester, or East Lancashire towns but it's a separate part of the country and no more relevant than much the rest of the country; certainly when North Wales and what are considered Midland counties are just as close.

Poorly written article. Sky do not 're-transmit' any BBC channels. The BBC (well Siemens actually) uplink themselves from W12 and pay Astra directly for the rental of the satellite transponders (those same transmissions also serve the Freesat platform)

What the Beeb do pay Sky 10 million a year for is the EPG inclusion on Sky's platform, and the regionalisation of BBC 1 and 2 based upon the viewers' subscription card postcode registration.

So the question is, whether maintaining a mapping against a postcode database for the most popular channels on the platform is worth £10m a year?

I would agree on a central North West station. On the risk of sounding like Tumble Tower, I immediately thought of a name and some 90s-style JAM jingles to go along with it! The BBC's North West SuperStation (to the tune of BBC Radio 1 FM). With opt-outs on weekends for Merseyside, Manchester and Lancashire. It'll never happen though.

As someone who comes from Merseyside, I do enjoy some of the programming on Radio Merseyside, however I much prefer the banter and music choice of Real Radio North West - comes out of Manchester, but isn't biased to it at all when it comes to news/sports reporting. Anyone who moans about what order their team is listed out needs to have a good think about themselves! Everton may come on at the very end of every Match of the Day, but you don't see me moaning about it.

Well, if you're happy with Mancunian media and Everton being last on Match Of The Day, good for you.

Personally, I feel Liverpool should have its own TV & radio, like it would have if it was in most other developed countries.

So 'no' to BBC Radio North West.

I am only saying yes to Radio North West if cuts are needed. However, Radio Merseyside is the most popular local radio station, and I believe it should stay. And even so, I'm sure that as soon as plans to scrap it would be announced, people would probably sign up to any petition very very quickly. It's a much loved station, and I'm sure a lot of people would be sad to see it go. That's why I put "But it'll never happen".

I however would not, I prefer Real Radio, and I don't really mind when Everton is on Match of the Day. But others do. I'm not so narrow-minded that I believe just because I don't like one thing means everything else doesn't either.

Has the idea of a Liverpool sub-region on either ITV or BBC ever been floated? (I'd guess we'd be going back to the last century if it was!)

Music is a very minor part of local radio, outside of specialist music programmes. On most daytime programmes it seems to be just something to punctuate the speech in the blandest most mainstream way possible.

BBC Local Radio has had a music policy for years, and of course it's by no way unusual in that

Yes, in the early 80s by the IBA. Rejected because of the complication that Winter Hill is the main transmitter for both cities. Liverpool is also served by the Storeton relay, but its use is by no means universal. Also complicated by the proximity to Wales, and the resulting shortage of spare frequencies to carry a service anyway.

But that seems to be acceptable on TV?

It's not so many years ago that in the evenings Radio Leeds would originate Nightsport with John Boyd that was also taken by York, Sheffield and Humberside. Each station would opt out of it if they had local commentaries, or put the commentary on one frequency and leave Boydy on the other.

Generally, did footy go on AM or FM?

Here in the Midlands(well WM) until a few years ago, it was footy on FM with Asian Network programming on AM.

This was back in the days when WM still had it's AM frequencies, before Asian Network took them over full time.