10th July 2025
NORTH-WEST REGIONAL TV CONTINUES TO SHORT-CHANGE CUMBRIA, LANCASHIRE AND THE ISLE OF MAN. AND THERE’S DUPLICATION OF NEWS-COVERAGE BETWEEN ITV1 GRANADA REPORTS AND BBC1 NORTH WEST TONIGHT, BOTH MAINLY COVERING THE M62 CORRIDOR
Dear Readers
Viewers of both BBC1 North West Tonight and ITV1 Granada Reports, over a million of whom live in rural and northern Lancashire and in South Cumbria, were treated to their daily dose of news about Manchester and Merseyside yesterday evening. There was one brief mention of Cumbria (with the county getting a rare mention on ITV1 Granada Reports too), but nothing of northern Lancashire on both programmes. It never ceases to amaze one when they want to talk about debilitating disease, youngsters turning their lives around, effects of blood scandals, etc,- all of which were covered this evening- how they seldom manage to find anyone outside of the M62 Corridor.
THERE’S A LACK OF RECOGNITION OF DIFFERENT CULTURAL ROOTS AND TOPICS RELEVANT TO LANCASHIRE AND CUMBRIA
The coverage of sports, which invariably ends up taking up well over five minutes of a 28-minute programme, always focuses on Manchester United, Everton, Manchester City and Liverpool FC. There are football and other sports clubs in Lancashire and Cumbria that folk further north support, but viewers never see and hear much about those.
BBC1 North West Tonight fit in a big piece about Oasis, which is all well and good for Oasis fans along with those who live in Manchester, where Noel and Liam Gallagher were brought up. But how about in-depth coverage of Kendal Calling or Solfest, which are well-known Cumbrian festivals, or even mentioning Appleby House Fair?
For people who reside north of the M62 Corridor they want local news, about their local communities. If there are features about people with health problems, youngsters making a success of their lives, scandals and problems in communities a more northern slant will be greatly appreciated by South Cumbrians and North Lancastrians.
THE ISLE OF MAN HAS CULTURE INFLUENCED BY GAELIC AND NORDIC ROOTS. THIS IS OVERLOOKED
For viewers living on the Isle of Man, a country in it’s own right, they must tear their hair out that their culture, their issues and their Gaelic and Nordic heritage (which has its roots in the old Manx language) is utterly, completely overlooked day after day. Miles out in the Irish Sea, with coastal communities dominated by fishing and the rural island dominated by farming and tourism, Manx viewers have little interest in Oasis, in ethnic tensions in Merseyside or travel congestion on the M6 in Cheshire. If they have cultural interests they might prefer Ruth Keggin singing Arrane ny Niee or Arrane Sooree. Manx folk would attest that the music, the lilted Manx Gaelic tone accompanied by a fiddle and a guitar beats Oasis hands down!
I have not seen any record of BBC North West Tonight or ITV1 Granada Reports covering Manx Gaelic music or culture to any degree whatsoever. However, they are happy to cover Diwali for Hindus living in Manchester, and Ramadan for Asian Muslims living along the M62 Corridor, including the airing of some music in Urdu. But if Regional TV broadcasters can cater for ethnic minority groups living in Manchester and Liverpool, why can they not cater for the 85,000 folk living on the Isle of Man- folk who have always lived there- and recognise their deep cultural Manx Gaelic heritage?
CULTURAL AND TOPICALLY RELEVANT ISSUES VARY MORE FROM SOUTH TO NORTH ACROSS NW ENGLAND COMPARED TO DECADES GONE BY
Returning to North West England, cultural interests, wider local and regional affinities and dialects change markedly from the Mersey to the heart of the Lake District. And with the influx of Arab-Muslim immigration into the main conurbations of Greater Manchester, Merseyside and south Lancashire in recent years, that difference is perhaps starker than in years gone by. Regional TV broadcasters have been quick to adapt to changes in the south of the Region, whilst overlooking the historical and cultural ties that remain strong (or change in different ways) further north.
Cultural and local language heritage aside, the fact remains that both ITV1 Granada Reports and BBC1 North West Tonight continue to short-change, to fail to recognise issues and topics that are relevant to over a million folk who live in northern Lancashire, on the Isle of Man and the parts of Cumbria that receive North West Regional TV programming. There is also the fact that, further north, though they still recognise themselves as part of North West England viewers draw inspiration from, enjoy finding out about, and have affiliations towards locations (and happenings) to the north of them.
PROUD NORTHERNERS LIKE LOCAL NEWS AND PREFER WIDER REGIONAL NEWS TO BE NORTH OF THEM THAN TO THE SOUTH
On both sides of the Pennines, folk who identify as Northerners like to have their Northern identity enhanced, in keeping with their being in the North West (or North East England), by some association with (and getting news about) places further north. This increases pride in community which- in turn- means the community holds together. Receiving news about happenings to the south of them diminishes their sense of Northern pride. This sense of Northern pride is analagous to how a boy who, once he reaches a certain age, feels a greater sense of self-worth in his identity as a “big boy” if he is in with older kids, but he feels diminished if he is with younger children. This desire of Northerners to associate with places further north begins to be felt as far south as Birmingham but gets stronger further north.
This means that North Lancastrians would like to see a bit of news about Carlisle and Cumberland, and even the occasional piece from just north of the Scottish Border to affirm and enhance their “Northern-ness”, even if they may not say it out loud (folk living up on the Scottish Border will be rather less keen to hear about Lancashire for similar reasons- they don’t like news south of them). This is not to say that viewers in Lancashire want 70% coverage of Cumbria and 20% coverage of Scotland; they want local news, a little coverage of the main population centres in the North West (Manchester and Liverpool)- but they want to know what’s happening further north too.
REGIONAL TV IN NW ENGLAND AND ON THE ISLE OF MAN NEEDS RADICAL CHANGE TO MAKE IT GEOGRAPHICALLY, CULTURALLY AND TOPICALLY RELEVANT TO CUMBRIA, LANCASHIRE AND THE ISLE OF MAN.
Above all North Lancastrians and South Cumbrians want to see local news, with much more coverage of Morecambe, Garstang, Chipping, etc. and the issues directly affecting those places. This includes consideration of rural issues like farming and tourism, as well as local cultural or sports issues. When does BBC1 North West Tonight ever cover Cumbrian fell-races, village shows with horse-jumping and traditions like Tossing the Kaber? Never!
That more resources need to be poured into Regional TV -including the creation of a new BBC North West Region covering Cumbria and Lancashire, including northern Greater Manchester where folk more readily identify as Lancastrian- is not in doubt. There also needs to be a bespoke BBC Isle of Man which serves Manx communities better, that properly recognises their culture, and which includes Gaelic and Gallic links with Ireland and Scotland, respectively. But the TV Regions, their areas of coverage and of what is included in them need radical change.
BBC NW AND ITV1 GRANADA REPORTS COVER THE SAME NEWS-ITEMS OVER THE SAME GEOGRPAHICAL AREAS. SUCH DUPLICATION NEEDS TO CHANGE.
Currently, across much of the UK, both the ITV Regional TV and BBC Regional TV cover much the same areas: This increases duplication, and reduces choice for millions of viewers. With a little collaboration, and at no extra cost across both the BBC and ITV.Plc millions more folk could receive much more geographically-appropriate news. BBC1 North West Tonight could focus much more on Lancashire, Cumbria, and northern Greater Manchester,- leaving ITV1 Granada Reports, dependent as it is on advertising revenues and with a transmission area not extending much into Cumbria- to focus on South Manchester, North Derbyshire, Merseyside, Cheshire and into northern Staffordshire (which is transmitted to- and where folk consider themselves to be more “North West” than “Midlands”).
The Isle of Man may be better-served from BBC1 Ulster, as the entire population of that transmission area (with the Isle of Man included) will still be just under two million (compared to sharing a transmission area with a population of over seven million, as today). In terms of Manx cultural and historic roots that could work out. For those who wanted to keep in touch with happenings in North West England they could still watch ITV1 Granada Reports, and viewers would have a real choice.
AND REGIONAL TV IN THE NORTH-EAST AND NORTH YORKSHIRE NEEDS A SHAKE-UP TOO
The same could be done for Regional TV across the Pennines, so that large rural areas such as across North Yorkshire are not effectively ignored. ITV1 News Tyne Tees could be given a brief to cover North Yorkshire better for the benefit of viewers in the central and northern parts of the county whose affiliations are more towards Teesside and North East England rather than Leeds, whilst ITV Calendar (North) could be given a brief to cover North Yorkshire much better- with overlap northwards to Teesside and the Durham Dales for the benefit of viewers in southern North Yorkshire.
The BBC, meanwhile, could also be required to cover Northumberland much better, with strong overlap into Scottish Borders, even recognising cross northern North Sea Nordic links from time to time. This would require additional opt-out programming from within BBC1 Look North (NE/ Cumbria). All of this would be in- keeping with recognition of the fact that proud Northerners like their links and affiliations with places even further north to be covered to affirm their “Northern-ness”.
AND IT REQUIRES LOCAL AND NATIONAL GOVERNMENT INVOLVEMENT TO BRING ABOUT THE REQUIRED CHANGES
However, none of this is likely to happen without pressure from local and national government, initiated by the very communities affected. Writing to BBC1 North West Tonight and ITV1 Granada Reports is a waste of time. Broadcasters do not change their output on the basis of one, two, even ten people writing in complaining about news-coverage of their area, not when most of the viewers in the transmission area live in Greater Manchester and Merseyside, and they are quite happy with getting the lion’s share of coverage both on ITV1 Granada Reports and on BBC1 North West Tonight!: Believe you me, I’ve been there, done that, and worn the T-shirt: You get nowhere!
However, folk living in Widnes, Warrington or Altrincham do not need two Regional TV services both providing 80% of coverage within a 25 mile radius of where they live, when one would do. Meanwhile folk living on the Isle of Man are lucky to get one mention a night of their own little country out in the Irish Sea, and folk living near the Lancashire- Cumbria border get less than 20% of coverage coming within an hour’s drive of their home (and usually just to the south of them).
The unfairness of this, and the concentration of Regional TV resources and coverage along and south of the M62 Corridor (over two Regional outlets) is a basis for much stronger political pressure to be bought to bear on regional TV broadcasters in NW England. It is this that will encourage collaboration so that places further north get better coverage.
PARTS OF NORTHERN NW ENGLAND, ALONG WITH THE ISLE OF MAN ARE IN THE WRONG TV REGION
The situation remains dire for folk living north of Preston, in terms of the topical, geographic and cultural relevance of the output they get. There is a wholesale need not just for collaboration of resources, but the area from north of Preston (and including the northern Fylde Coast) would probably benefit more from a change of TV Region: Viewers in North Lancashire and South Cumbria would get more geographic- appropriate news-coverage if the entire area was taken out of ITV1 Granada’s transmission area and put into ITV Border’s transmission area.
For sure, viewers would get some news about southern Scotland, but ITV1 Border’s Lookaround (as is) has about 50% coverage of Cumbria, often more. Since even northern Cumbria is more accessible to places like Garstang and Lancaster than Merseyside and central Manchester (and northern Lancashire would get more local news as part of a transmission area with just 1.5 million folk, compared to seven million with ITV Granada), that would be of benefit to local viewers.
The Isle of Man would probably benefit from a shift to the BBC Ulster TV Region, given it’s cultural Gaelic roots. It would also benefit from being part of a TV Region with less than two million inhabitants altogether, and Manx folk would stand a chance of getting deeper local coverage and in-depth cultural coverage.
LOCAL COMMUNITIES MUST GET INVOLVED
None of this is likely to come about without the involvement of communities across south Cumbria, northern Lancashire and the Isle of Man. This will involve folk collaborating with friends and family to write to their local MPs at: House of Commons, LONDON. SW1A 0AA. Write to explain that Manchester and Liverpool has two TV Regions that serve them very well, but that North Lancashire and South Cumbria effectively have none as the area is poorly covered by both Regional TV broadcasters. Urge your local MP to bring pressure to be bought to bear on BBC North West, whose transmission area extends further north, to cover Cumbria and northern Lancashire better. Request consideration of a transfer from ITV Granada to ITV Border, on the basis that northern Lancashire has stronger links with Cumbria than Manchester/ Liverpool, that folk like to travel north for days out, etc.
Always write to your MP. A first class letter might cost almost £2.00 these days but such a letter, marked “URGENT” is more likely to be received- and read by your MP than an e-mail (which may be free, but he/ she gets thousands of those). If enough folk get involved and write in like this, MPs will then contact broadcasters directly and bring about political pressure for change.
THE POWER OF PROTEST
The power of protest can be persuasive too: A peaceful protest with 50 or more folk outside the Media City offices of ITV1 Granada or BBC1 NW will draw negative attention to broadcasters. A simple message on a banner like “MANCHESTER HAS TWO NW TV SERVICES, NORTH LANCASHIRE HAS- EFFECTIVELY- NONE!”, and “NORTH LANCASTRIANS VISIT THE LAKES MORE THAN LIVERPOOL. SO TAKE US OUT OF THE GRANADA AREA AND GIVE US BORDER TV!” make the point loud and clear. Simple messages that explain directly what’s wrong with Regional TV for viewers north of Preston. If this is combined with written letters posted in first-class envelopes to MPs, it will amplify a long-overlooked fact. North Lancastrians and South Cumbrians don’t enjoy the good Public Service of excellent, localised Regional TV coverage that locations further south enjoy.
The involvement of local MPs representing constituencies in northern Lancashire and South Cumbria (and threatened legislative changes), combined with Public protests is what will suffice to move the NW England Regional broadcasters to collaborate and do what they can to improve Regional output for northern North West England.