BBC Look East

Last updated

BBC Look East
Look East titles.jpg
Theme music composer David Lowe
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
Production
Producers BBC News
BBC East
Production locations Norwich, England, UK
Camera setup Multi-camera
Running time30 minutes (main 6:30pm programme)
10 minutes (1:30pm and 10:30pm programmes)
Various (on weekends and Breakfast)
Original release
Network BBC One East
Release29 September 1964 (1964-09-29) –
present

BBC Look East is a BBC regional television news service for the East of England, produced by BBC East.

Contents

History

St Catherine's House on All Saints Green in Norwich, where Look East was based from its inception until 2003. (Pictured in 2012) St Catherine's House, All Saints Green, Norwich, 2012.jpg
St Catherine's House on All Saints Green in Norwich, where Look East was based from its inception until 2003. (Pictured in 2012)

The first BBC television news bulletins for the East of England began at 6.05pm on 5 October 1959. [1] These new bulletins, launched three weeks ahead of the launch of regional ITV station Anglia Television were initially ten minutes long. [2]

The bulletin was extended to twenty minutes in September 1962 and renamed East Anglia at Six, and then a year later renamed East at Six Ten due to a change in timeslot. Another change in timeslot saw it renamed as Look East from 28 September 1964, [2] although that evening's programme failed to go out due to a breakdown and Look East instead began on September 29.

Look East is broadcast from BBC East's headquarters at The Forum, Norwich. Prior to 29 September 2003, the programme aired from studios in St Catherine's Close, Norwich.

The programme can be watched in any part of the UK (and Europe) on Sky Digital channel 961 "east" and channel 962 for the "west" sub-regional service from Cambridge, or Freesat channels 953 (East) and 954 (West), on the BBC UK regional TV on satellite service. The services were added to the Sky Digital platform on 29 July 2003 and were available on Freesat from launch.

Some areas that are well covered by Look East receive better television signals from other transmitters in other regions on Freeview. Most of Southend and parts of Chelmsford, Luton and Stevenage receive better television signals from the Crystal Palace transmitter which broadcast London News and viewers in King’s Lynn, Hunstanton and Wells-next-the-Sea get better signals from the Belmont TV transmitter that broadcast Look North .

However, those areas are given Look East on Channel 101 through satellite television such as Freesat as default via the towns' postcodes.

In 1997, BBC Look East launched the sub-regional service, Close Up, for viewers covered by the Sandy Heath transmitting station and its relays. The opt-out allowed the two sub-regions to provide, during the main evening programme, around 10 minutes of news relevant to their area.

From 2018 to 2022, there were two separate editions of BBC Look East, for the main programme and the late news bulletin on weeknights:

At the end of the 18:30 programme on 30 September 2021, Stewart White announced his retirement from the BBC after 37 years as a main presenter of Look East. [4]

The West edition was broadcast from Cambridge, originally at the existing Hills Road studios for BBC Radio Cambridgeshire near the city centre and railway station, then from 2009 at the new BBC Cambridgeshire building at Cambridge Business Park near Cambridge North railway station. [5]

On 26 May 2022 it was announced that following BBC cost-cutting measures the separate West edition of the programme would end, which it did in December 2022. The Cambridge TV studio closed, with all broadcasts from that point returning to their pre-1997 region-wide format, broadcast from the existing studios in Norwich. [6] The Oxford edition of South Today was also scrapped.

Broadcast times

On weekdays, BBC Look East broadcasts six three-minute opt-outs during BBC Breakfast at 27 and 57 minutes past each hour. A fifteen-minute lunchtime programme follows at 13:30 before the main 27-minute edition at 18:30. A seven-minute late update is shown at 22:30, following the BBC News at Ten .

BBC Look East also airs three bulletins during the weekend: two early evening bulletins on Saturday and Sunday and a late night bulletin on Sundays, following the BBC News at Ten. The times of these bulletins usually vary.

Historical

From 2008 until 2018, the BBC One 8pm News Summary was a bulletin derived from the BBC Three 60 Seconds format, delivered across all BBC regions including BBC Look East with a separate set of paired presenters. [7]

It was significant for younger audiences according to the BBC: "For 1.7 million viewers the 8pm summary was the only BBC TV News they saw in that week with nearly 600,000 in the 16-34 year old bracket." [8]

The regular 8pm presenters included Janine Machin, [9] Claudia Liza-Armah, [10] and Mike Cartwright, [11] with the last 8pm broadcast from Cambridge and all BBC regions on Wednesday 30 May 2018. [12]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ITV Anglia</span> East of England branch for ITV

ITV Anglia, previously known as Anglia Television, is the ITV franchise holder for the East of England. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional news bureaux in Cambridge and Northampton. ITV Anglia is owned and operated by ITV plc under the licence name of ITV Broadcasting Limited.

<i>BBC South East Today</i> BBC television news programme for the South East of England

BBC South East Today is the BBC South East regional television news programme, serving Kent, East Sussex, part of West Sussex and a small part of Surrey. Prior to its launch on 3 September 2001, most of the viewers in the region received Newsroom South East, though some had been receiving South Today.

<i>BBC East Midlands Today</i> BBC television news programme for the East Midlands

BBC East Midlands Today is the BBC's regional television news programme for the East Midlands.

<i>BBC North West Tonight</i> BBC television news programme for North West England

BBC North West Tonight is the BBC's regional television news programme covering North West England and the Isle of Man. Produced by BBC North West, the programme broadcasts from the BBC's MediaCityUK studios at Salford Quays, with district newsrooms based in Liverpool, Blackburn and Chester.

<i>BBC Look North</i> (East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire) BBC television news programme

BBC Look North is the BBC's TV news service for East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, produced by BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. The programmes are produced and broadcast from the BBC Broadcasting Centre at Queens Court in Kingston upon Hull, with reporters also based in Lincoln.

<i>BBC South Today</i> British TV news programme (since 1961)

BBC South Today is the BBC's regional television news service for the south of England, covering Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, West Sussex, much of Dorset and parts of Surrey and Wiltshire. The service is produced and broadcast from the BBC South's Broadcasting House on Havelock Road in Southampton with district newsrooms based in Brighton, Dorchester, Guildford, Oxford, Reading, and Swindon.

<i>BBC Look North</i> (Yorkshire and North Midlands) British TV news programme (since 1968)

BBC Look North is the BBC's regional television news service for West, South and North Yorkshire and northern parts of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. The service is produced and broadcast from the BBC Broadcasting Centre at St. Peter's Square in Leeds with district newsrooms based in Bradford, Sheffield and York.

<i>BBC Look North</i> (North East and Cumbria) British TV regional news programme (since 1959)

BBC Look North is the BBC's regional television news service for North East England, Cumbria and parts of North Yorkshire. The service is produced and broadcast from the BBC Broadcasting Centre on Barrack Road in Newcastle upon Tyne with district newsrooms based in Carlisle, Middlesbrough and York.

<i>BBC Points West</i> British TV regional news programme (since 1957)

BBC Points West is the BBC's regional TV news programme for the West of England, covering Bristol, the majority of Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, northern, eastern and parts of western and southern Somerset, and northern parts of Dorset.

<i>BBC Spotlight</i> (BBC South West TV programme) British TV news programme (since 1962)

BBC Spotlight is the BBC's regional TV news programme for the South West of England, covering Cornwall, Devon, Isles of Scilly, southern and western Somerset, western Dorset and the Channel Islands.

<i>ITV News Tyne Tees</i> British regional television news programme (since 1959)

ITV News Tyne Tees is a British television news service produced by ITV Tyne Tees & Border and broadcasting to the Tyne Tees region.

<i>ITV News Anglia</i> British television programme

ITV News Anglia is a British television news service for the East of England, broadcast and produced by ITV Anglia. Also available via ITVX.

<i>About Anglia</i> British ITV news programme (1960–1990)

About Anglia is a regional news magazine programme produced by Anglia Television in the east of England, broadcast for over thirty years from 2 June 1960 to 6 July 1990.

BBC English Regions is the division of the BBC responsible for local and regional television, radio, web, and teletext services in England, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands. It is one of the BBC's four "nations" – the others being BBC Cymru Wales, BBC Northern Ireland, and BBC Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BBC East</span>

BBC East is one of BBC's English Regions covering Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire and parts of Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire. It is headquartered in The Forum, Norwich since 2003. It was also separated into two areas, one with the East area covering mostly in Norfolk, Suffolk & Essex, and another from the West area which covers from Cambridge, serving mostly Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and the three counties.

<i>Calendar</i> (British TV programme) British regional TV news programme (since 1968)

ITV News Calendar is a British television news service broadcast and produced by ITV Yorkshire.

This is a timeline of the history of the British television network ITV.

This is a timeline of the history of Anglia Television, the ITV franchise holder for the East of England.

A timeline of notable events relating to BBC Television News.

This is a timeline of the history of regional news on the British television network ITV.

References

  1. ↑ "News in Brief". The Times . 6 October 1959. p. 7.
  2. 1 2 "New home for Look East at the Forum". BBC Norfolk. 1 October 2003. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
  3. ↑ Paul Linford (20 April 2018). "Regional TV news programme to be editionised, BBC announces". Hold the Front Page.
  4. ↑ "Stewart White leaves BBC Look East after 37 years". BBC News. 30 September 2021. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  5. ↑ Kane, Chris. "BBC - Spaces & Places: BBC Cambridge going live!". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  6. ↑ "Cambridge-based BBC Look East news broadcast to end, says corporation". BBC News. 26 May 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  7. ↑ "Silverton to anchor new BBC1 bulletin". The Guardian. 7 December 2007. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
  8. ↑ Oliver, Craig. "BBC - The Editors: 8pm summary stats". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  9. ↑ Atta, Fareid (17 December 2022). "BBC presenter gives emotional farewell on final BBC Look East evening show". Cambridgeshire Live. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  10. ↑ "Book Claudia-Liza Armah". Champions Speakers. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  11. ↑ "Mike Cartwright". TV Newsroom. 2 December 2009. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  12. ↑ "BBC One - BBC News and Regional News, 30/05/2018". BBC. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.