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BBC Look North(North East and Cumbria)

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For other regions of "Look North" seeBBC Look North.

BBC Look North
Title card used since April 2022
Theme music composerDavid Lowe
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducersBBC News
BBC North East and Cumbria
Production locations
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running time30 minutes(main 6:30pm programme)
10 minutes(1:30pm and 10:30pm programmes)
Various(during weekends andBreakfast)
Original release
NetworkBBC OneNorth East and Cumbria
Release5 January 1959(1959-01-05)–
present

BBC Look Northis theBBC's regional television news service forNorth East England,Cumbriaand parts ofNorth Yorkshire.The service is produced and broadcast from the BBC Broadcasting Centre on Barrack Road inNewcastle upon Tynewith district newsrooms based inCarlisle,Durham,MiddlesbroughandYork.

Reception[edit]

The programme can be watched in any part of the UK (and Europe) fromAstra 2EonFreesatchannel 956 andSkychannel 955. It no longer broadcasts on analogue, since the digital switchover in September 2012, and digital terrestrial from theBilsdale,Caldbeck,Chattonand thePontop Piketransmitters. The latest edition ofLook Northis also available to watch on theBBC iPlayerfor 24 hours after broadcast, like the BBC's other news bulletins.

Coverage area[edit]

The Newcastle programme covers the editorial areas ofRadio Newcastle,Radio TeesandRadio Cumbria.Due to the size ofNorth Yorkshire,the listenership ofRadio Yorkis covered by the geographically multitudinousLook Northprogrammes from bothNewcastleandLeeds.

The programme is available online throughBBC iPlayer.In some (but not all) areas ofNorth Yorkshirehave their aerials point toBilsdaleTV transmitter that broadcast theNewcastleedition ofLook North,however most viewers in the county point their aerials to either theEmley Moor[2]orOliver's Mounttransmitters to watch theLeedsedition of Look North. Viewers inWhitbyreceived theNewcastleedition from the local relay transmitter[3]which is transmitted from theBilsdaleTV transmitter whileScarboroughandFileyviewers receive theLeedsedition from the relay transmitter atOliver's Mount.[4]

For viewers on Freesat, northern areas of North Yorkshire (DL, TS, and YO21/22 postcodes) are allocatedLook Northfrom Newcastle on BBC1 andITV News Tyne Tees.YO7 and YO62 postcodes are allocated BBC Yorkshire and ITV Tyne Tees news services.

Viewers in the southern parts of Cumbria such asBarrow-in-FurnessandSouth Lakelandreceive theBBC North WestprogrammeNorth West Tonightwhich broadcast fromSalford.The areas receive their TV aerials from theWinter HillTV transmitter and other relay transmitters.

History[edit]

The "Pink Palace" - the studio and office complex of BBC Look North andBBC Radio Newcastle

Prior to the start ofLook North,the BBC television region for the North East and Cumbria launched at 6.10pm on Monday 5 January 1959 from studios at 54 New Bridge Street in Newcastle City Centre. The region began receiving its own nightly news bulletins, originally presented by George House and Tom Kilgour.

Previously, the area was served by a pan-regional bulletin from Manchester entitledNews from the North,broadcast across the whole of Northern England from 30 September 1957 onwards.

The new local bulletins from Newcastle were launched ten days before the opening of rivalITVstationTyne Tees Televisionin the North East (Border Television,serving Cumbria, opened in September 1961).

Three years after the launch of the television service, the bulletins were expanded to 20 minutes and relaunched as a daily magazine programme,Home at Six,presented byFrank Bough.

After Bough left to joinBBC Sportin 1964,Home at Sixwas relaunched with a new name and a new presenter -Mike Neville,an actor and continuity announcer forTyne Tees Televisionwho had been anchor ofNorth East Newsview,a nightly regional news programme, for only a few months. Neville soon became a household name and spent the next thirty-two years at the BBC in Newcastle, presentingLook Northas well as making regular appearances onNationwide.

For a short period in the late 1980s, Cumbria was switched to theBBC North Westregion and began receivingNorth West Tonightinstead ofLook North,along with a short lunchtime news opt-out. Look North returned to Cumbria on 27 September 1992.[5]

The North East and Cumbria region was reformed after campaigning by viewers in Cumbria that they were being overlooked in favour of news from the more populous areas of thenorth west,such asGreater ManchesterandMerseyside.

It was during this time that on 16 January 1988, BBC North East moved to brand new purpose built studios nicknamed 'The Pink Palace' on Barrack Road inSpital Tongues,along withRadio Newcastle.

In 1996, Mike Neville left the BBC after 32 years to re-joinTyne Tees Televisionto present their flagship evening news programmeNorth East Tonight.Look Northunderwent major changes with new presenters Carol Malia and John Lawrence (both former reporters for Tyne Tees) introduced to the programme. Malia is now the main presenter, alongside co-presenters Jeff Brown (retired 2024) andDawn Thewlis.

Broadcast times[edit]

On weekdays, Look North broadcasts six three-minute opt-outs duringBBC Breakfastat 27 minutes past and 3 minutes to each hour.[citation needed]A ten-minute lunchtime programme follows at 1:30pm with the main half-hour edition at 6:30pm and a ten-minute late update is shown at 10:30pm, following the nationalBBC Newsbulletins at1pm,6pmand10pm.

Look Northalso airs three bulletins during the weekend: early evening bulletins on Saturday and Sunday and a late night bulletin on Sundays. The times of these bulletins usually vary.[citation needed]

Presenters[edit]

Former on air team[edit]

Person BBC Look Northposition(s) Current position(s)
Mike Neville Newsreader Neville died in 2017
Chris Eakin Newsreader Became a newsreader on theBBC Newschannel until he left the BBC in 2015
Chris Jackson Newsreader Went on to present regional current affairs show Inside Out[6][7][8]
Hannah Bayman Weather presenter Became a reporter forBBC Newschannel
Owain Wyn Evans Weather presenter Became a weather presenter atBBC North West Tonight

See also[edit]

BBC North East and Cumbria's rival regional news programmes.

References[edit]

  1. ^Tyne Tees move to WatermarkGateshead Government
  2. ^"Emley Moor (Kirklees, England) Full Freeview transmitter".UK Free TV.1 May 2004.Retrieved5 January2024.
  3. ^"Freeview Light on the Whitby (North Yorkshire, England) transmitter".UK Free TV.1 May 2004.Retrieved5 January2024.
  4. ^"Olivers Mount (North Yorkshire, England) Full Freeview transmitter".UK Free TV.1 May 2004.Retrieved5 January2024.
  5. ^"Cumberland 756 (UHG 756R)".18 September 1992.
  6. ^"BBC One - Inside Out North East and Cumbria - Chris Jackson".
  7. ^"Chris Jackson".
  8. ^"Chris Jackson - Presenter and Senior Producer @ BBC One North East & Cumbria - Inside Out (North East & Cumbria) - Monday (".

External links[edit]

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