41-575: BBC London is the BBC English Region producing local radio, television, teletext and online services in London and parts of the surrounding area. Its output includes the daily BBC London news bulletin and weekly Sunday Politics on television, the BBC Radio London radio station and local coverage of the London area on BBC Online and BBC Red Button . The region's headquarters are situated in
82-576: A London-biased programme. The area created for the BBC London programme to broadcast to now covers a much more tightly-defined area, chiefly Greater London but still including parts of Bedfordshire , Essex , and Hertfordshire in the East of England region and parts of Berkshire , Buckinghamshire , Hampshire , Kent , Oxfordshire , Surrey and West Sussex in the South East England region. There
123-569: A radical review of the BBC's network radio and non-metropolitan broadcasting structure – published on 10 July 1969. Before this the structure of regional broadcasting in England had remained virtually unchanged since the late 1920s, when the establishment of four regional radio transmission stations covering England had led to a regional structure on similar lines. BBC North was based in Manchester and covered
164-767: A raft of closures, restructures and cost-cutting measures and one of these was the decision not to renew We Are England for a third series. Home Counties Sometimes included: The home counties are the counties of England that surround London . The counties are not precisely defined but Berkshire , Buckinghamshire , Hertfordshire , Essex , Kent and Surrey are usually included in definitions as, except Berkshire, they all border London. Other counties slightly further from London – such as Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire , Hampshire , Oxfordshire , East Sussex and West Sussex – are not always regarded as home counties, although on occasion may be thought of as such due to their proximity to London and their connection to
205-402: A region as it acted as the sustaining service for the other regions. These regions (alongside the national regions BBC Scotland , BBC Wales and BBC Northern Ireland that performed a similar role outside England) were well-suited to delivering the pre-war BBC Regional Programme and the post-war BBC Home Service that replaced it. By the 1960s, though, the growth of television, the birth of
246-402: A regional BBC television news service for many decades, but the boundaries of the region have always been somewhat nebulous due to the coverage areas of the transmitters used, as television signals do not tend to stick neatly to administrative or historical boundaries. Therefore, while the main focus of "regional" news coverage for this area has always been on the capital itself, it has for much of
287-529: A small television news studio, the latter to enable local ( opt out ) programming. As a result of the latter, Plymouth -based BBC South West and Southampton -based BBC South were split from BBC West in Bristol; Norwich -based BBC East separated from BBC Midlands in Birmingham; a new smaller BBC North West was created from the existing Manchester -based region, with the old BBC North name being taken by
328-437: Is also some overlap with the editorial areas of other BBC regions in this part of England. Oxfordshire (excluding Henley-on-Thames ), most of Buckinghamshire , north Berkshire , north east Wiltshire , south east Gloucestershire and south west Northamptonshire , took an opt-out of South Today for some years before coming to an end on financial grounds in 2022. Most of Kent and East Sussex continues to be covered by
369-525: Is also wholly outside, and Berkshire almost wholly outside, the route of the M25 motorway , which is often treated as an unofficial perimeter of Greater London , and some definitions mention that those counties are not always included amongst the home counties, or that the term has been extended to include them. The home counties have been characterised as being "inhabited on the whole by 'nice', comfortable, and conformist middle-class people " (1987) exemplified by
410-922: Is one of the BBC's four "nations" – the others being BBC Cymru Wales , BBC Northern Ireland , and BBC Scotland . The division is made up of 12 regions. Many of the names of these regions are similar to those of the official government Regions of England , but the areas covered are often significantly different, being determined by terrestrial transmission coverage rather than administrative boundaries. BBC English Regions has its headquarters at The Mailbox in Birmingham (West Midlands) and additional regional television centres in Norwich , Nottingham , Broadcasting House (London), Newcastle , MediaCityUK (Salford), Southampton , Tunbridge Wells , Plymouth , Bristol , Leeds , and Kingston upon Hull as well as local radio stations based at 43 locations across England. Overall,
451-401: Is themed around a different subtitle, with the first being Mental Health . Aisling O'Connor, the head of TV Commissioning for BBC England, commissioned 120 episodes to be broadcast in 2022, with the first being shown on 26 January 2022 at 7:30pm. In-addition to being shown on BBC One , select episodes are also repeated on BBC News and on BBC Three . In May 2022, the BBC announced
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#1732852510469492-584: The BBC Home Service was to be replaced by BBC Local Radio . The report stated that the local radio experiment, started in 1967 "has proved that there is a demand for local radio" and that the BBC should "put forward to the Postmaster General a provisional scheme for expanding our local network to about forty stations" . This structure has largely survived since the 1970s. Local news services were developed on Ceefax from 1997 and were extended onto
533-592: The Look North branding for Yorkshire , East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire and the North East and Cumbria , with national bulletins for Scotland , Wales and Northern Ireland . All follow the national UK-wide BBC News bulletins. In May 2022 the BBC announced the cessation of the Cambridge and Oxford sub-regional television news bulletins as part of plans to move to a digital-first BBC. The last bulletins aired at 18:30 on
574-515: The web in 1999. The decreasing costs of television production and improving technology also enabled the gradual development of even smaller regions. In 1991, BBC East Midlands was finally created in Nottingham , BBC London (separated from BBC South East) became a region in 2001 and BBC North was split into BBC Yorkshire and BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire in 2004 – with the new millennium seeing several BBC regions moving into new premises. In
615-527: The "maps of the home counties". In reviewing S. P. B. Mais 's The Home Counties (Batsford The Face of Britain series, 1942), Norah Richardson noted that "the home counties" was a term in constant use but hard to define, but that Mais's definition of "the five counties around London County – Middlesex, Hertfordshire, Essex, Kent and Surrey" could not be improved upon. The term is sometimes understood to mean those counties which, on their borders closest to London, have been partly subsumed into London. Indeed,
656-416: The 16th December 2022. Programmes made for BBC English Regions include Walking with... and Winter Walks , two series produced by Cy Chadwick , where presenters take solitary walks along scenic paths, filming themselves and their surroundings with a 360-degree camera on a selfie stick . All the episodes from a series get a regional slot on BBC One where they are broadcast at all the same time, before
697-702: The BBC South East region based in Tunbridge Wells , which produces South East Today . The previous news services for the area, in the old BBC South East region, were variously based in Shepherd's Bush , White City and Elstree in Hertfordshire. Following the launch of BBC London, the region moved into facilities in Marylebone High Street , where the news service was based alongside BBC London News and
738-457: The BBC's Governance Unit. The arrangement was only a temporary one, as at the time the BBC was trying to consolidate its London portfolio into a few properties. This included, most notably, the planned closure of BBC Television Centre and the extension and renovation of Broadcasting House , stage one of which would construct a huge wing, mirroring Broadcasting House in shape, size and structure named Egton Wing. The wing has recently been renamed
779-513: The BBC's life had to offer coverage of other parts of the Home Counties as well. There were many incarnations of regional news programmes in this area before the current programme was introduced in 2001. These included the London segment of the Nationwide from Lime Grove Studios ; in this case, the regional presenters for London were also usually the main presenters of the national sequence of
820-572: The East, South and South West regions, sub-regional opt-outs during local news programmes have also been created (similar to those on ITV regional news programmes), based respectively in Cambridge, Oxford and Jersey. In total, the BBC has produced the regional news bulletins for London , the East , South East , South , South West , West , the West and East Midlands , and the North West regions of England, with
861-648: The London regional economy. The origin of the term "home counties" is uncertain. Marcus Crouch , writing in 1975, thought that it derived from the Home Counties Circuit of courts that had surrounded London since at least the 18th century. Looking further back, he suggested that it included the counties in which, since the Tudor period , it has been possible for civil servants and politicians to have their country homes and still be able to travel into London without excessive delay when they were needed. The earliest use of
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#1732852510469902-449: The News service, a dedicated travel news service is operated by BBC London on TV, Radio and Online using information supplied by Transport for London , National Rail and National Highways . The travel news on BBC Radio London is updated at 31 and 58 minutes past each hour during off peak times, and every 15 minutes, starting at the top of the hour, during evening and morning peaks. It is one of
943-656: The Peel Wing after John Peel and is the home of a number of BBC services including BBC London, who moved there in 2009 following the structure's completion and fitting. BBC English Regions 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
984-549: The area from Cheshire and Sheffield northwards, BBC Midlands and East Anglia was based in Birmingham covering a swathe of central England from the Potteries to Norfolk , and BBC South and West was based in Bristol covering the area south and west of a line from Gloucester to Brighton . The London area, though it had regional transmission infrastructure of its own, produced only national programming and wasn't considered to be
1025-593: The county of Surrey which has been described as possessing quintessential home counties characteristics of "a comfortable plasticised commuterland with respectable villas and neatly mown lawns interspersed with patches of mild scenery". In fiction, the character of Margot Leadbetter in the BBC sitcom The Good Life , set in Surbiton , formerly in Surrey, has been described by The Spectator as "a Home Counties Conservative to her fingertips". Marcus Crouch , however, has made
1066-435: The coverage areas of BBC transmitters allowing for the establishment of new editorial areas. The main result was a reorganisation of the BBC's South East region; the London area was to break away entirely, while a new programme, South East Today was to be created for the new South East region. BBC London, as it came to be called, replaced the long-running Newsroom South East . Greater London and its environs have had
1107-559: The division produces over 70% of the BBC's domestic television and radio output hours, for about 7% of the licence fee. Since April 2009, the English Regions division has been aligned with the BBC News department to "maximise co-operation in the BBC's news operations". The current BBC English Regions division was the product of the controversial Broadcasting in the Seventies report –
1148-582: The end of the BBC News at Six and is presented by Riz Lateef . Comparisons are inevitably made to the commercial TV regional competition, in this case ITV News London , which is produced for ITV by ITN . BBC London can be viewed in any part of the UK (and Europe) on digital satellite channel 954 on the BBC UK regional TV on satellite service. BBC London also produces current affairs, features and sports programming for
1189-409: The few radio stations to have access to TfL traffic cameras. Sport is a major part of the radio schedule, with a three-hour sports based programme each weeknight evening and four-hour sport specials on Saturdays and Sundays. This is more than most other BBC local radio stations and reflects London's large number of sporting teams and events. The bulletin launched on 1 October 2001 following changes to
1230-709: The former county of Middlesex has been almost wholly within London since 1965 as have parts of Kent, Hertfordshire and Surrey, although the county continues to exist as a cultural and historic entity. The third edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (2010) defines the term as "the English counties surrounding London, into which London has extended. They comprise chiefly Essex, Kent, Surrey, and Hertfordshire." Parts of all of those historic counties are, since 1965, officially within London, although no part of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire or Sussex is. The county of Sussex
1271-540: The mid morning phone-in show is presented by Vanessa Feltz . The Breakfast and Drivetime shows feature a wealth of local London news and comment with roving reporters out and about. Other programmes such as JoAnne Good or Robert Elms include varied speech and music with local news bulletins every half-hour. News bulletins on BBC Radio London at the top of the hour are traditionally longer than other BBC radio services at 5 minutes to fit in international, national and local stories with local sport and weather. In addition to
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1312-487: The more locally based ITV franchises in 1955 and the development of smaller BBC Local Radio stations (made possible by the development of FM radio ) were making the structure look increasingly anachronistic. The effect of Broadcasting in the Seventies was to separate the two different roles of regional BBC offices into different organisations: Each of the production centres also had network radio studios ( BBC Birmingham , for instance, producing The Archers ) plus
1353-399: The new eastern extension of the BBC 's Broadcasting House . The staple of the local television service is BBC London bulletin which broadcasts daily on BBC One , appearing with short bulletins during BBC Breakfast , after the BBC News at One , the BBC News at Ten and BBC Weekend News . The flagship programme is broadcast between 18:30 and 19:00 each weekday evening, following
1394-600: The newly created region based in Leeds ; and the existing Newcastle -based BBC North East separated from the old BBC North Region in this process. In addition, London and the surrounding area was finally recognised as a region with the creation of BBC South East although the region was not to get a dedicated regional programme of its own until 1982 and regional news bulletins for the area did not launch until September 1985. These new regions produced local news programmes and opt-outs on television, but regional radio programming on
1435-429: The perception that South East England, the official region of England in which most of the home counties are located, was universally wealthy as inaccurate and noted that 500,000 people in the region lived in areas that were within the 20% most deprived areas in the country with deprivation concentrated in coastal areas such as Margate (Kent) and Hastings (East Sussex). Significant areas of deprivation were also found in
1476-564: The point that the home counties have been more affected by migration from within and without the United Kingdom than any other region of the country, making them the most cosmopolitan region of England and meaning that there is no typical home counties inhabitant. One result of this diversity, he argues, is that local loyalties are shallower in the home counties than in, for instance, Yorkshire or parts of Scotland where there has been less population mobility. Marcus Crouch has identified one of
1517-502: The principal characteristics of the home counties as being a shared chalk geology that is broadly mirrored north and south of the Thames . The home counties are some of the wealthiest in Britain with the towns of Virginia Water , Esher and Weybridge , all in Surrey, ranked in one 2019 survey as having some of the highest average house prices in the country. However, a 2011 report described
1558-605: The programme which followed. Other identities for the London area coverage were London Plus , and finally Newsroom South East . Originally, the BBC London and the South East region took in the whole of Greater London , together with parts of Essex , Hertfordshire, Kent , Surrey, Hampshire , Buckinghamshire, Berkshire , Sussex, Bedfordshire and Oxfordshire . This meant that sizeable communities which probably deserved dedicated programming of their own – such as Oxford , Luton , Crawley and Medway – were often ill-served by
1599-607: The region including the topical magazine series Inside Out , a 20-minute opt-out during Sunday Politics . BBC Radio London combines speech and music based programmes 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Broadcasting across London on 94.9 FM , DAB , Virgin Media Channel 930, Sky Channel 0152 (in London area only), Freeview Channel 721 and also online. The station was previously known as BBC London Live , GLR (Greater London Radio) and BBC London 94.9 . The current Breakfast show presenters are Penny Smith and Paul Ross and
1640-877: The term cited in the Oxford English Dictionary is from 1695. Charles Davenant , in An Essay upon Ways and Means of Supplying the War , wrote, "The Eleven Home Counties, which are thought in Land Taxes to pay more than their proportion, viz. Surry [ sic ] with Southwark , Hertfordshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire , Kent , Essex , Norfolk , and Suffolk , Berks , Bucks , and Oxfordshire ." Later definitions have tended to be more narrow and Bacon's Large Scale Atlas of London and Suburbs (revised edition c. 1912) includes Berkshire, Buckingham, Essex, Hertford, Kent, Middlesex and Surrey in
1681-405: The whole series gets a national repeat on either BBC Two or BBC Four . In 2022, a new regional documentary strand titled We Are England was launched, as a replacement for the current affairs show Inside Out . A notable change is that episodes represent large, new, combinations of English regions, based in six main bases (Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, London, Newcastle and Norwich); each week