BBC NORTH WEST TONIGHT HAS BETTER SERVED COMMUNITIES IN NORTH LANCASHIRE AND SOUTH CUMBRIA IN RECENT DAYS. BUT THE PROGRAMME NEEDS TO LOOK AFTER ITS MORE NORTHERN VIEWERS WELL PERMANENTLY.

RIVER LUNE AT DEVIL’S BRIDGE, NEAR KIRKBY LONSDALE. CLOSE TO THE CUMBRIA-LANCASHIRE BORDER. BRIGHT EARLY AUTUMN AFTERNOON. SEPTEMBER 2004

7th December 2021

Dear Readers

Happily, BBC1 North West Tonight has been covering Cumbria rather better of late. South Cumbrian viewers of the programme have been treated to extensive coverage of power- cuts across South Cumbria last week. Unfortunately, a number of viewers who were suffering from these power cuts could not watch BBC1 North West Tonight, or indeed any other television programme without that vital ingredient of electricity to power their televisions- and they could not go online to get the news either: Neither computers nor the Internet function without electricity either! One hopes that most rural folk would at least have batteries- and a radio- so that they could tune in to BBC Radio Cumbria at such times: If not local folk might decide to buy one so that they can keep abreast of what is happening locally- and further afield too! Either that, or local residents could find BBC Radio Cumbria on their car radios instead: Radio is not television news- with a nice colour picture showing you where news is happening- but it is certainly better than nothing at all.

But credit where it is due, BBC North West Tonight have recently devoted more air-time to Cumbria (even if it has taken mass power-cuts and storm damage in the county to achieve this). This comes on to the subject of the evening of Tuesday 7th December 2021, when BBC North West Tonight covered:

  • Storm- damage in the Lake District, with Keswick (just north of the transmission area),  a railway line just outside Kendal and Ambleside featuring. The news covered the effects of fallen trees following Storm Arwen.
  • Stormy seas on the coast at Blackpool.
  • Stormy conditions on the Isle of Man, where a number of properties have been damaged, with coastal flooding around Douglas.
  • There was coverage of Barrow in Furness, where there was a display of old pictures of the area from the 1940’s.
  • The weather forecast featured a 71-mph wind-gust from St. Bees Head, west Cumbria and a picture of snow-covered fells taken from near Bampton, a village just south of Penrith. Stormy seas at Blackpool again featured.

Some forty percent of the programme was devoted to coverage of Cumbria, the Isle of Man, and the Blackpool area- and if one includes BBC1 North West Tonight covering Preston North End (football club) almost half the programme concerned Cumbria, Lancashire, and the Isle of Man on the evening of 7th December 2021. In view of the large geographical area (and proportion of North West England) that Lancashire and Cumbria cover this is quite appropriate, even if these counties have just under 30% of the population of all of North West England: The population of Lancashire and South Cumbria make up 25% of the population of the BBC North West transmission area, in terms of geographical area it is about 60%.

Thus 40% coverage of Lancashire and South Cumbria is measured and appropriate. The Isle of Man is its own jurisdiction, separated from North West England by the Irish Sea and covering an area the size of Greater Manchester- it too should get decent coverage, 10% of total coverage would be a bare minimum, but it is a wonder that the Isle of Man does not have an opt-out (as do the Channel Islands have from BBC South West), as the Isle of Man is a small nation in its own right in the Irish Sea!

There would be those that complain that this is too much coverage for a low- population part of North West England plus Isle of Man, even if it is one that covers a large geographical area. However, viewers in Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire still got coverage of their counties and at least 50% of coverage between them should they choose to watch BBC1 North West Tonight. Moreover, if those viewers in the urban south of North West England find that is not enough, they would still have ITV1 Granada Reports that virtually never fails to devote at least 70% coverage to Greater Manchester, Merseyside, and Cheshire (it hasn’t failed to deliver that over recent days).

However, if BBC North West Tonight just ape ITV1 Granada Reports in areal coverage, it is viewers in Lancashire, South Cumbria and the Isle of Man who lose out: Just where are South Cumbrian, Manx and North Lancastrian viewers to turn for good coverage? As I have covered in other posts, many South Cumbrians and North Lancastrians cannot get ITV1 News Border’s Lookaround on their televisions. Lancastrians consider that ITV1 News Border mainly covers southern Scotland and would be even less relevant locally, which is not actually true because ITV1 News Border’s Lookaround has 50% coverage of Cumbria- often more. But local viewers don’t know that and are unaware of other local news outlets like That’s TV Lancashire or Lancs Live, which often has lots of local news clips.

It is only fair that at least one of the two mainstream Regional TV News services for North West England provide a decent degree of geographic-appropriate coverage for viewers who happen to live north of Preston or on the Isle of Man.  And BBC1 North West Tonight is better-placed than ITV1 Granada Reports to cover the northern North West and the Isle of Man better, not least because BBC North West’s transmission area extends some 20 miles further north than ITV1 Granada’s and the programme has to satisfy an additional 100,000 Cumbrian viewers (for whom the alternative choice is ITV1 News Border- which covers Cumbria extremely well).

LOOKING NORTH FROM THE A684 NEAR SEDBERGH. VIEW OF THE HOWGILL FELLS. (AUGUST 2020). VIEWERS OF REGIONAL TELEVISION IN SEBBERGH CAN WATCH BBC NORTH WEST TONIGHT BUT ARE ALSO IN THE ITV1 NEWS BORDER TRANSMISSION AREA. VIEWERS CAN SWITCH TO ITV NEWS BORDER’S LOOKAROUND IF BBC1 NORTH WEST TONIGHT DOESN’T COVER CUMBRIA. THIS HELPS PUT SOME PRESSURE ON BBC NORTH WEST PROGRAMMERS TO COVER CUMBRIA REGULARLY, EVEN THOUGH THE BBC IS LESS EXPOSED TO COMMERCIAL PRESSURE OF VIEWER NUMBERS THAN ITV.

HOWEVER, THE BBC CHARTER STIPULATES THAT ALL PARTS OF THE COUNTRY SHOULD GET HIGH-QUALITY LOCAL NEWS-COVERAGE RELEVANT TO LOCAL COMMUNITIES. ON THE WHOLE, THE BBC IS UNDER MORE PRESSURE TO PROVIDE LOCAL NEWS FOR SOUTH CUMBRIAN VIEWERS THAN ITV1- BECAUSE OF THE BBC CHARTER COMBINED WITH THE PRESENCE OF ITV1 NEWS BORDER.

Secondly, the BBC is less directly impacted financially by viewer figures for Regional news- which the BBC Charter stipulates must be provided for all parts of the country. So BBC1 North West Tonight can afford- to some extent to cover the most populous areas of the North West a little bit less in order to cover the northern North West of England- and the Isle of Man- better. ITV1 Granada Reports cannot afford to disappoint 75% of its viewers (who live in Greater Manchester, Merseyside, and Cheshire) to please the other 25% (who live in Lancashire, South Cumbria, and the Isle of Man) because ITV1 would lose advertising revenue: At least that’s what ITV1 Granada Reports Programmers think, but they would sharp wake up if they lost most viewers from north of Preston should these viewers find more local alternatives!

It helps that, for BBC1 North West Tonight the programme is- with potentially 100,000 Cumbrian viewers actually in competition with ITV1 News Border’s Lookaround: However, if the remaining South Cumbrians and North Lancastrians (who are by default in the ITV1 Granada Region) discover that ITV1 News Border covers Cumbria extremely well- that would put additional pressure on BBC1 North West to serve their Cumbrian and North Lancastrian viewers better. The BBC Charter also puts a legal obligation on BBC1 North West Tonight programmers to cover all parts of their transmission area- including South Cumbria, North Lancashire, and the Isle of Man. This Website will, of course, also educate South Cumbrians and North Lancastrians as to what ITV1 News Border actually covers in its bulletins- most of it is about Cumbria, typically just under 50% is Scottish coverage (with the odd bit of news about northern  Northumberland). If viewers in northern North West England want to know what is happening locally just to the north of their community, then ITV1 News Border is their go-to Regional News service (which these viewers may have to watch from the ITV1 News Border website if they cannot get ITV1 News Border on their televisions). The Isle of Man does not have a dedicated local TV News service (it gets programming from BBC1 North West and ITV1 Granada Reports), but Manx viewers may not be aware of the You Tube based Isle of Man TV, which just covers the Isle of Man- a computer with Internet will, however, be a requirement to watch it.

It is to be hoped that the current pressures on the BBC in the North West of England, plus viewers living in the parts of South Cumbria and northern Lancashire (in the ITV1 Granada transmission area) discovering the joys of ITV1 News Border’s Lookaround (of which this Website will play a vital role)- will lead to a permanent increase in BBC1 North West Tonight’s news-coverage of Lancashire, Cumbria, and the Isle of Man so that there is 40 to 50% coverage (as on 7th December 2021) every night of the week. Lancashire and Cumbria comprise almost 70% of the geographical area of North West England- which programmers need to know stretches up to the Scottish Border- it is fitting that these areas- with the Isle of Man- get 40 to 50% coverage on at least one of the two main North West Regional TV News- services.

This is entirely possible if ITV1 Granada and BBC1 North West collaborate on their programming, with ITV1 Granada majoring on Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire whilst BBC1 North West commit to better coverage of geographical North West of England and the Isle of Man: The North West Region stretches north of the BBC1 North West transmission area right up to Carlisle and the Scottish Border. It does not matter that North Cumbrians don’t watch BBC1 North West Tonight, North Cumbria is still part of the English North West and a Regional News- programme advertising as covering all of North West England should cover happenings there (as BBC1 North West Tonight covered fallen trees in Keswick this evening). Folk living in South Cumbria (some of whom cannot get ITV1 News Border’s Lookaround) still want to know what is happening in the north of their own county, and they should be able to obtain such coverage from at least one readily-accessible Regional TV News- provider.

Hopefully, the greater choice, the ability of folk to find localised news- sources online and to watch another BBC1 or ITV1 Regional News via the Internet creates an environment where Regional TV News Producers feel constantly under pressure to make sure they please all their viewers with plenty of news that is relevant to all parts of their transmission areas. If it means splitting some larger BBC or ITV Regions, or providing opt-outs to achieve this result, that is something BBC and ITV bosses must consider.

Published by northwestisnorthwest

My name is Ian Pennell and I am a freelance Book-keeper: I live near Alston, in the North Pennines in north-east Cumbria. I have friends who live in northern North West England - near Lancaster (which is where I went to University and used to live until 17 years ago) and in other parts of Cumbria. I have two Website Campaigns that seek to promote more localised Regional TV coverage for large rural areas across the North of North West England and North East England. . A big problem is that the Regional Television Bulletins for the North West covers the southern third of the Region about 90% (plus a part of Derbyshire which is NOT the North West of England), covers the middle third of North West England poorly and covers the northern third of North West England not at all! When I was studying at Lancaster University, I used to watch BBC1 North West Tonight because it covered areas up around where I was brought up- in northern Cumbria as well as more immediately locally around Lancaster. Then I came home one day, turned on BBC1 North West Tonight wondering why they were silent on Cumbria and discovered why: Most of Cumbria had been chopped off the weather-map! . People living in the westernmost part of North West England (around St. Bees Head) have local BBC news on their televisions which is 90% about North East England! In rural and northern Northumberland too, Regional TV, as is received by viewers, tends too often to be Tyneside/ Wearside/ Teesside- focussed with little news locally. Communities in North Northumberland have strong links across the Border into south-east Scotland and towards Edinburgh but none of the Regional TV News- services serving Northumberland today ever goes across the Scottish Border for significant happenings of interest to North Northumbrians. I have also done walking in the area, including around the Cheviots in the past- and the Northumberland/ Scottish Borders/ East and Mid Lothian area is vast- but it is largely overlooked by mainstream Regional TV! . North Yorkshire, the largest county in England also falls in the gaps between coverage from BBC Look North (NE/ Cumbria) or ITV1 News Tyne Tees in the north of the county, and the Leeds-based BBC1 and ITV1 Regional TV- services in the south of the county: North Yorkshire is a huge, yet beautiful county, which I have visited and explored in the past, yet is poorly covered in Regional TV. . Based near Alston, near the Cumbria/ Northumberland boundary I am well-placed to discuss Regional TV in all these large rural areas, in which collectively some two million folk live, yet they are poorly covered by the Regional TV News- services set up to serve them. These huge areas are an hour to two hours' drive from where I live: North Lancashire and South/ West Cumbria are to the south-west, Northumberland and the Scottish Borders and Lothian are to the north and north-east, and North Yorkshire is to the south-east of my home near Alston. I am well-placed to draw attention to deficiencies in Regional TV coverage for folk in all these areas. The North Pennines, where I live, is arguably another large area that touches on the other three where Regional TV coverage falls through the gaps completely (and that is despite the North Pennines running north to south down the middle of the BBC1 NE/ Cumbria Region). . In two websites, one for northern North West England and the Isle of Man (a country in it's own right that does not have it's own TV service!), and another Website focussing on Northumberland, North Yorkshire and the North Pennines I make the point that Regional TV that informs viewers of important things in their local area is a Public Service, funding for which should be given a higher priority (and if necessary via statute through the BBC's Charter), than funding for Soaps, Films or Sport- which are for leisure. I also give viewers the tools to fight effectively for better- and more geographic-appropriate Regional TV where they live- and to seek it through alternative (often little-known) local TV services, some of which may only be available on the Internet.

One thought on “BBC NORTH WEST TONIGHT HAS BETTER SERVED COMMUNITIES IN NORTH LANCASHIRE AND SOUTH CUMBRIA IN RECENT DAYS. BUT THE PROGRAMME NEEDS TO LOOK AFTER ITS MORE NORTHERN VIEWERS WELL PERMANENTLY.

  1. Happy Christmas and a Good New Year or in Manx Nollick Ghennal as Blein Vie Noa

    One agin this month be big news and Sport and politics and big events that not be covered on bbc or itv

    Yes no bbc Isle of Man output yet we over Isle of Man side still fight for that did Kwon some big story that not make on Tv for Isle of Man because of Uk big news

    Isle of Man Press conference not make on bbc live

    Isle of Man COVID19 stuff not any news on that some thing be there all time as lot watch tv get confused with Uk and Manx rule on it because of bbc and itv

    Tynwald big Law and debates not been even live streamed or even talk or show the BBC or itv

    Not even story on fight of Douglas V Peel on get be first city on Isle of Man talk about

    Ween have big storm here I’m Isle of Man manx radio and The local radio and online media done of way better coverage than bbc

    Fc Isle of Man match be play lot game on Island and off Island and there match not even talk when they do the sport results more talk on manx radio then bbc

    Not even Christmas events like the Christmas tractor and Santa bikes and the Christmas switch on Douglas & Ramsey & Peel Castletown not even show

    It time Isle of Man bbc have it own bbc output and

    we work on it have new campaign start December and new year

    I Kown that Isle of Man government media reports on its way done every 5 Year done look at all Isle of Man media public media and independent

    last time it done bbc say go do something 5 yaer later nothing happened so hope the Committee look in that will be take on bbc this time more last one if not I keep on them

    So yes lot still not happened with the bbc on Isle of Man let hope 2022 be yaer that bbc Isle of Man

    or own Isle of Man public tv and radio service if bbc not do anything

    Marry Christmas and happy new year form Isle of Man

    Poos Nollick ghennal as blein vie noa voin Ellan Vannin

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