BBC South East

BBC South East

BBC South East's area within the UK
TV stations	BBC One
TV transmitters	Bluebell Hill Dover Heathfield Whitehawk
Radio stations	BBC Radio Kent BBC Radio Surrey BBC Radio Sussex
Headquarters	The Great Hall, 16 Mount Pleasant Rd,Tunbridge WellsTN1 1QU
Area	Kent East Sussex West Sussex(part) Surrey(part)
Regions	South East
Key people	Quentin Smith
Launch date	September 2001
Freesat/Sky	984

BBC South Eastis theBBC English regionservingKent,East Sussex(including the City ofBrighton and Hove), parts ofWest SussexandSurrey.

The BBC region was created in September 2001 by the joining of theHeathfieldtransmitter (formerly part of theBBC Southregion) with theBluebell HillandDovertransmitters (from the then BBC London and South East region) to form a new regional TV service. UnlikeITV Meridian(East), it does not provide local news for southernEssex(received from aBluebell Hilloverlap), this area being part of theBBC Londonregion instead.

Services

Television

BBC South East's television output consists of the flagship regional news serviceSouth East Todayand its main programme is broadcast weeknights at 6:30 pm, with short bulletins throughout the day and during the weekend. A half-hour opt-out duringSunday Politicsis produced by an independent production company. In 2020,South East Todayjoined forces withBBC London Newsduring theCOVID-19 Pandemicto keep viewers in both regions informed with the developments about the virus in their areas, although it didn't affect their separate main evening programmes. The joint venture happened again in January 2021.

Radio

The region is the controlling centre forBBC Radio Kent,BBC Radio SurreyandBBC Radio Sussex.

Radio Kent carries local programming between 6am and 7pm from the Tunbridge Wells studio, then simulcasts networked programming along with stations in the BBC South and South East regions until 1am every night. Radio Sussex and Radio Surrey each carry three hours a day of local programming for each county from 6am to 9am, sharing the remainder of their output between 9am and 7pm, then joining with other stations in the BBC South and BBC South East regions at 7pm.

Online and Interactive

BBC South East also produces regional news and local radio pages forBBC Red ButtonandBBC Localwebsites for each county. It also provided regional information for the BBCCeefaxservice until its closure in October 2012.

History

Prior to 2001, London, and the whole of the South East had been considered part of the same editorial region by the BBC, and as a result, received a single regional service, including news programmesLondon Plus(1984–1989) andNewsroom South East(1989–2001). London had not been afforded the same 'regional' status as the other BBC regions as the bulk of the national content was produced in the capital. This was reflected in the fact that since the launch of regional TV news bulletins in 1957, there was no specialist division within the BBC tasked with producing South East opt-outs.

As a result, the region had fewer local bulletins.Town and Around,the BBC's first attempt at a South East news programme, was gradually integrated intoNationwide,whose production team produced the local bulletins, presented for many years byBob Wellings.This issue was addressed to a degree with the launch ofSouth East at Sixon Monday 4 January 1982 and later, on Monday 3 September 1984, byLondon Plus– which saw the introduction of short daytime bulletins of the type seen in other BBC regions. Production teams based within the BBC's Current Affairs department continued to produceLondon Plusuntil a dedicated South East operation was finally introduced on Tuesday 28 March 1989 with the launch ofNewsroom South Eastfrom a dedicated news centre at theBBC Elstree Centrein Hertfordshire. Despite the changes throughout the decade, the large region and fewer regional operatives meant the service was still far from ideal.

The size of the region was gradually reduced in stages, starting in 1993 when theHeathfield transmitterserving East Sussex was switched from BBC South East to BBC South. On 16 October 2000, the areas served by the Oxford transmitter were transferred from BBC South East to a newopt out servicefrom BBC South'sSouth Today.This service was concluded on financial grounds in December 2022.

Following the BBC's South East Review of 2001, the London and South East arrangements changed, withBBC Londonsplit off as a separate entity andHeathfieldviewers rejoiningBluebell HillandDoverin a new smaller BBC South East region, launched on Monday 3 September 2001 and based inRoyal Tunbridge Wells.

Following digital switchover in the south on 7 March 2012, theWhitehawk transmitterinBrightontransferred from the BBC South region to BBC South East.The network had been broadcasting around the fringes of Brighton and Hove prior to switchover and has always been part of the region's remit since 2001; BBC South East now broadcasts terrestrially to the whole city extending along the coast into West Sussex as far asWorthing.

Studios

The Great Hall, Tunbridge Wells

The regional broadcasting centre is based inTunbridge Wells,Kentwith local radio studios and television bureaux located inBrightonandGuildford.BBC South East is the only one of the BBC regions not based in a major city.

The Tunbridge Wells studios are located in The Great Hall, a historic building previously used as public rooms, photography studios, a performance venue, a cinema, a dancing school and until 1980, a nightclub calledCarriages.In 1980, the building was severely damaged by fire. It was renovated and bought and now contains an arcade of shops, a hidden car park and the headquarters of BBC South East andBBC Radio Kent.The studios, as is now the trend with most modern developments, can be viewed by the public through tours or through the display windows into the offices from the public areas. Until late 2015, the complex contained a BBC Shop.

See also

• BBC Radio Kent
• BBC Radio Sussex
• BBC Radio Surrey
• BBC Radio London

External links

• BBC Local NewsatBBC Online
• BBC South East TodayatBBC Online