BBC South

BBC South

BBC South's area within the UK
TV transmitters	Hannington Midhurst Oxford Rowridge
Radio stations	BBC Radio Berkshire BBC Radio Oxford BBC Radio Solent BBC Radio Wiltshire BBC Radio Surrey BBC Radio Sussex BBC Radio Three Counties
Headquarters	Broadcasting House,Southampton
Area	Oxfordshire Berkshire Hampshire Isle of Wight West Sussex(majority) eastern and centralDorset easternGloucestershire southernNorthamptonshire Buckinghamshire(parts) Surrey(parts) Wiltshire(parts)
Nation	BBC English Regions
Regions	Southand parts ofSouth West
Key people	Jason Horton (Head of Regional & Local Programmes)
Launch date	1961
Official website	news.bbc.co.uk/local/hi/default.stm

BBC Southis theBBC English Regionserving Hampshire,Isle of Wight,Dorset,West Sussex,Oxfordshire,Berkshireand parts ofGloucestershire,Buckinghamshire,Northamptonshire,Surrey,andWiltshire(including the city ofSalisburyandSwindon), with geographic coverage varying between digital, television and radio services.

The region is headquartered inSouthamptonand has smaller offices inBrighton,Dorchester,Oxford,Reading,SwindonandGuildford.

Services

Television

BBC South's television output (broadcast onBBC One) consists of its flagship regional news serviceBBC South Todayand includes the current affairs programmeInside Outand a weekly half-hourSunday Politicsshow dedicated to the region.

The region covers television services forHampshire,Isle of Wight,Berkshire,Oxfordshire,most ofDorsetandWest Sussexand parts ofBuckinghamshire,Wiltshire,Surrey,NorthamptonshireandGloucestershire.

The television output also produces occasional regional documentaries, the such asTitanic – Southampton RemembersandSea City.The former, broadcast in April 2012, looks at the impact of the disaster on Southampton, where most of the ships staff were recruited whileSea Citylooks behind the scenes atSouthampton Docksand was broadcast in January 2013 with a second series in March 2014.

Radio

The region is home to local radio stationsBBC Radio Oxford,BBC Radio BerkshireandBBC Radio Solent.

Radio Solent, BBC Radio Oxford and Radio Berkshire broadcast between 5am and 1am with local programming broadcast between 5am and 7pm on weekdays. The three stations carry networked programming with the two stations in theBBC South Eastregion every evening. The stations also simulcast overnight programming fromBBC Radio 5 Liveeach night afterclosedown.

Digital

BBC Southproduces online articles and video for Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Oxfordshire, Dorset and Berkshire which featured on BBC News Online, as well as producing content for the region's social media accounts.

Text-based red button services come from the articles produced for the BBC website.

History

The BBC's television news operation in Southampton began on 5 January 1961 with the launch ofSouth at Six,presented by Martin Muncaster, who had defected fromSouthern Television.The programme was later renamed asSouth Today.In 1967,Bruce Parkerjoined BBC South and went on to become its longest-serving presenter, anchoringSouth Todayfor over 30 years.

In 1969,South Todaybecame part ofNationwide,with its own opt-out section of the main programme for local news. In 1984, following the end of the short-livedNationwidereplacementSixty Minutes,South Todaybecame a standalone programme, competing heavily ever since with the long-defunctSouthern Television's news programme Day by Day,TVS'sCoast to Coastand the present incumbentITV News Meridian.

The region itself has changed in size and shape on a few occasions. On 16 October 2000, areas served by theOxford transmitterwere transferred from the large formerBBC South Eastregion, served by news programmeNewsroom South East,and transferred to an opt out of the BBC South region served bySouth Today.Additionally, following thedigital switchoverof the Whitehawk Hill transmitter on 7 March 2012,Brighton and Hovetransferred to the coverage ofBBC South East.

Studios

BBC South's studio centre at Broadcasting House on Havelock Road, Southampton

BBC South's regional broadcasting centre is based inSouthampton,with local radio and television studios also inBrighton,Dorchester,Guildford,Oxford,ReadingandSwindon.

Prior to moving to the current studios in 1991,BBC Southwas based next to the disusedSouthampton Terminus railway stationat South Western House, a former grand hotel set up to cater for first class passengers using the transatlantic liners from Southampton and latterly used as a military HQ during the planning of theD-daylandings. The building was famed for its clear views of Southampton docks, making events such as the departure of the Queen Mary easy to film, as cameras only had to set up on the roof of the building, though the technology used at South Western House was famed for its unreliability, as most of this equipment was second hand and brought in from other BBC buildings.The introduction of colour television in the early 1970s led to a major reconstruction of the building, which had a main studio (used largely forSouth Today) and a small presentation studio for news bulletins and continuity – unusually, the camera for the small studio was situated in the outside corridor and looking into the room.

In 1991, BBC South moved into new, purpose-built facilities at Havelock Road in Southampton. The new studios were built on to the side of the hill at the top of the city with the railway tunnel running directly underneath. This slope meant that the new television studios were far larger than the previous ones, as they could take up vast amounts of space on a lower level. The new facilities also included brand new equipment and technology, radio studios forBBC Radio Solentand editing suites.

The extra space was because BBC South, at the time, was one of the new regional production centres. Previously production centres had been in the large regions with studio facilities, these being the nations,BBC Midlands,BBC North WestandBBC West.However, some smaller production centres were being trialled in the South andthe North East.As a result, the new studio was made slightly larger so that it could accommodate a network production.

The complex has two studios.

• Studio A – a 1,929.6 sq ft (179.27 m²) multi-purpose production studio used primarily forSouth Today.A is audience capable and has a separate dedicated scene-dock.

• Studio B – a smaller studio originally used for theOxford opt-out.It is occasionally used by South Today during maintenance in the larger studio A.

A small studio atGunwharf QuaysinPortsmouthwas closed in June 2020, as part of a wider programme of cost reduction acrossBBC English Regions.

See also

• BBC English Regions
• BBC South Today
• BBC Radio Berkshire
• BBC Radio Oxford
• BBC Radio Solent
• BBC Radio Wiltshire

External links

• BBC Local NewsatBBC Online
• BBC South TodayatBBC Online