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BBC Midlands Today | |
---|---|
Theme music composer | David Lowe |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Producers | BBC News BBC West Midlands |
Production locations | The Mailbox, Birmingham |
Camera setup | Multi-camera |
Running time | 30 minutes (main 6:30pm programme) 10 minutes (1:30pm and 10:30pm programmes) Various (on weekends and Breakfast) |
Original release | |
Network | BBC One West Midlands |
Release | 28 September 1964 – present |
Related | |
BBC Midlands Today is the BBC's regional television news service for the West Midlands. It was launched in 1964 and is presented by Mary Rhodes, Nick Owen, Elizabeth Glinka, Rebecca Wood and Shefali Oza. [1]
Midlands Today is produced by BBC Midlands and broadcasts on BBC One seven days a week. The programme is produced and broadcast from the BBC studios in The Mailbox, Birmingham. Journalists are also based at newsrooms in Coventry, Shrewsbury, Stoke-on-Trent, Worcester and Gloucester.
The programme began on 28 September 1964, broadcasting from a small room in the Birmingham Register Office before moving to the custom-built Pebble Mill broadcasting centre in Edgbaston on 10 November 1971. It remained there until the studios closed on 22 October 2004 when the BBC Birmingham operations were switched to the current studios at The Mailbox.
Up until 1991, the programme also served the East Midlands, which has since received its own BBC regional news service. The programme's editorial area consists of the West Midlands, Warwickshire, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire and northern Gloucestershire (even though Gloucestershire is not formally within the Midlands, being in the South West England region - it is also covered by BBC Points West).
Midlands Today is broadcast from the Sutton Coldfield transmitter in the West Midlands and can be watched in any part of the UK on Sky, Freesat and in the rest of Europe via Astra 2E at 28.2° East (10788V 22000 5/6). The latest edition is also available to view again on the Midlands Today website and on BBC iPlayer.
On 6 February 2023, new studio upgrade was revealed resembling that of Studio B at Broadcasting House launched in June 2022 to include a whole new studio presentation, enhanced graphics and additional presentation locations within the studio. The upgrade brings the studio up to full HD capabilities for the first time. [2]
On weekdays, 6 breakfast bulletins air as part of BBC Breakfast around every 30 minutes, between 6:26am and 9:06am. A fifteen-minute lunchtime bulletin airs at 1:30pm, following the BBC News at One . The main edition of Midlands Today is broadcast every weeknight between 6.30pm and 7.00pm. The late night bulletin airs at 10.30pm on weeknights, following the BBC News at Ten .
Midlands Today also airs short early evening bulletins on Saturday and Sunday evenings, although times usually vary. A late night bulletin is also broadcast on Sundays, following the BBC News at Ten .
Person | Duties |
---|---|
Mary Rhodes | Mondays - Fridays main evening programme alternating |
Nick Owen | |
Michael Collie | Cover and Bank holidays |
Joanne Malin | Mondays BBC Breakfast / lunchtime, some late cover |
Nicola Beckford | Tuesdays - Fridays BBC Breakfast / lunchtime [3] |
Amy Cole | Fridays late, Saturdays |
Shefali Oza | Sundays |
Person | Other Notes |
---|---|
Shefali Oza | Main weather presenter |
Rebecca Wood | Weather Presenter |
Sara Thornton | Relief Weather Presenter |
John Hammond | Relief Weather Presenter |
Former presenters have included Tom Coyne (presented the first episode from Pebble Mill studios in 1971), Kay Alexander (the programme's longest serving presenter), Alan Towers (see below), Alastair Yates, David Davies, Richard Uridge, Sue Beardsmore (left to become the public space coordinator at The Mailbox), Nina Nannar (moved to ITN in 2001), Stuart Linnell, Matt Smith, Julian Worricker, Ashley Blake (who was sacked in August 2009 after a criminal court case), Suzanne Virdee (who abruptly left in 2012 after an undisclosed row with management), Steve Clamp (moved to Central ITV in 2005) and Jackie Kabler who is now a regular presenter on QVC UK. Olympic Gold medalist Denise Lewis DBE also guest presented sport briefly during 2005, as did Rob Curling in 2002.
Senior presenter Alan Towers' on-air departure in July 1997 (after 25 years) brought about one of the most controversial moments in the programme's history when he shared indignant views on BBC management, describing them as "pygmies in grey suits wearing blindfolds". [4]
BBC Midlands is the BBC English Region producing local radio and web content for the City of Birmingham, West Midlands, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and parts of Gloucestershire. Although the region has been unofficially called BBC West Midlands since BBC East Midlands became a separate region in 1991, it retains the BBC Midlands name and brand, with its history dating from 1927, for public use.
BBC Birmingham is one of the oldest regional arms of the BBC, located in Birmingham. It was the first region outside London to start broadcasting both the corporation's radio and television transmissions, the latter from the Sutton Coldfield television transmitter.
BBC East Midlands Today is the BBC's regional television news programme for the East Midlands.
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Pebble Mill Studios was the BBC's television studio complex located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England, United Kingdom, which served as the headquarters for BBC Birmingham from 1971 until 2004. The nine-acre site was opened by Princess Anne on 10 June 1971, and in addition to the studios contained two canteens, a post office, gardens, a seven-storey office block, and an outside broadcasting (OB) base.
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Susan Rita Beardsmore is a former BBC television presenter who fronted the regional news programme Midlands Today for twenty years.
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.
BBC East Midlands is the BBC English Region covering Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Rutland, South Kesteven in Lincolnshire and some northern parts of Northamptonshire.
Kay Alexander is a retired British regional BBC television newsreader, best known for presenting Midlands Today.
Hits Radio Black Country & Shropshire is a forthcoming Independent Local Radio station based in Birmingham, England, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Shropshire, Wolverhampton and the Black Country.
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A timeline of notable events relating to BBC Television News.
This is a timeline of the history of Sky News, a British free-to-air television news channel and organisation.
This is a timeline of the history of regional news on the British television network ITV.