3rd January 2022
Dear Readers
Firstly, I would like to wish all my regular readers, and others who read the articles on this Website a very happy, prosperous 2022: I hope that this is the year that we achieve a breakthrough for viewers in northern Lancashire, South Cumbria, and the Isle of Man in terms of the geographic appropriateness of Regional News output that viewers in those areas receive. This Website will play a role in shaping the minds of TV News programmers at Media City, Salford with regards to the output received in much of northern North West England and on the Isle of Man.
Today, I would like to discuss some good news, because the most northerly parts of North West England already has good Regional News services. Firstly, ITV1 News Border Lookaround covers Cumbria extremely well and- in the short-term at least- there is no indication that ITV.Plc is going to scale back this flagship 30-minute Regional News programme that just covers Cumbria, southern Scotland and a bit of Northumberland. There is almost never less than 50% coverage of Cumbria in ITV1 News Border programming, which is the default ITV1 Region for central, northern and West Cumbria. Often, there are six in ten (60%) news-items about Cumbria, sometimes more- and this has certainly been the case over Christmas and the New Year.
However, I am aware that some Cumbrian viewers of Regional News do not wish to have Scottish news-items (even though towns like Hawick, Dumfries and Lockerbie are less than an hours drive from Carlisle): This is understandable, even though it means one misses out on some of the best local and Regional News-coverage for a county anywhere in the UK. However, if that is you and you live in northern and West Cumbria there is still
That
s TV Cumbria, which airs on Freeview Channel 8 at 6.pm on week-days. This is available for all viewers with direct reception from the Caldbeck transmitter, so that means most of northern and west Cumbria. Now,
That
`s TV Cumbria is not the best for quality programming but it provides ten minutes of news just about Cumbria.
The alternative Regional TV News provider is BBC1 Look North (North East/ Cumbria version), which is received in northern Cumbria: That programme typically provides 15 to 20% coverage of Cumbria, but 80 to 85% coverage of North East England and North Yorkshire- so that if you live west of Carlisle and the M6 you would not find Look North to be particularly local or relevant to where you live. At least ITV1 News Border recognises that Cumbria is in the North West of England.
At present, viewers in northern and west Cumbria have two choices as to Regional News that is actually relevant and local to communities there. Thats TV Cumbria (link here: http://www.thats.tv/cumbria/) has been around since 2017 and it will (likely) be around for a year or two yet. Thus, for northern Cumbrian viewers who dont like Scottish news because of Nicola Sturgeon, they have that option to watch Cumbrian news without getting news-coverage from over the Scottish Border. However, these viewers might have to get accustomed to ITV1 News Border Lookaround at some point in the future if they wish to continue to enjoy excellent local news-coverage if
That
`s TV Cumbria goes out of business in future: Either that, or just get news from BBC1 Look North, which has a sparsity of local content for those living in towns such as Workington, Whitehaven or Cockermouth.
Meanwhile, viewers in South Cumbria and northern Lancashire cannot get a direct signal from the Caldbeck transmitter because of the Lakeland fells, so they cannot get That`s TV Cumbria on Freeview Channel 8. Also much of South Cumbria cannot get ITV1 News Border but just ITV1 Granada (which seldom covers Cumbria). South Cumbrian viewers also get BBC1 North West Tonight, which covers Cumbria intermittently rather than every night. Many South Cumbrians therefore have a choice of Regional Television which is much poorer (in terms of what is local) than that enjoyed by viewers just thirty miles further north- at least that is very much so for those without access to Internet from where folk can get ITV1 News Border programming after it has aired live. That is a matter that this Website will campaign to resolve!