18th October 2025
Dear Readers
As folk reading this website will realise, this Website majors upon the adequacy, or otherwise of Regional TV in the northern half of North-West England and on the Isle of Man, and how viewers can campaign effectively, write to MPs etc., to bring pressure to bear upon broadcasters to produce geographically and topically relevant news-coverage for their communities. The only snag is that in North-West England, both ITV1 Granada Reports and BBC1 North West Tonight prioritise the populated areas along the M62 Corridor, not the large rural areas north of Preston which will always play second-fiddle to the Manchester-Warrington-Liverpool axis.
So how, in the face of likely little change at the Media City, Salford HQ of NW England’s mainstream Regional TV broadcasters, of do viewers and others in their local community actually ensure they get the best mix of local and wider Regional TV news that suits them? The answer is to look at what there is available, and to find and watch the programming that provides the most local and topically-relevant news-coverage for you. For viewers living north of Preston, and along the Fylde Coast that might not be ITV1 Granada Reports and may not even be BBC North West Tonight.
Just Boycotting- or Switching?
Simply switching off and stating you will not watch a certain programme is not a credible way of inducing News Broadcasters to provide news that is more relevant to one’s area. It has to be credible, and broadcasters can suss out when a person (or a group in a community) is bluffing because they have independent means of verifying who watches their programming. A major happening somewhere, and if one is inclined to switch on the Regional News, and one’s bluff is called: A signal goes from your set-top box or computer IPN address back to BBC North West Tonight or ITV1 Granada Reports.
So switching from BBC1 North West Tonight or ITV1 Granada Reports has to be to switch to a combination that provides better local news-coverage. It has to be a Regional TV news-service, or combination thereof, that serves the needs of your community that can be argued to be all-round better. Then once you switch broadcasters will discover what you are watching (be sure to tell them) and stick with it.
Just switching off and not switching to another local news channel, were enough folk were to actually do that would just convey a message to broadcasters that there’s less demand for Regional TV. And that would lead to amalgamation of the already oversized TV Regions into huge TV regions that would serve the existing population even worse. Broadcasters take their cues from viewer trends and habits, and if a particular part of North West England is trying hard to source news about Cumbria and Lancashire, not the M62 Corridor (and enough viewers do this) that will have a bigger impact on broadcasters for Regional News in the North West than writing lots of letters.
Proud North Lancastrians Like Association with (and News about) Locations to the North of Them and More Local News that Enhances Their Sense of Northern-ness
Another point worth making here is that proud North Lancastrians would, other things being equal, like to have affirmed or bolstered their proud Sense of Northern-ness, which is something that Lancastrians have (as that affirms a major part of their identity that they have pride in, i.e., being tough Northerners). Association with more northerly locations (to some extent), along with more localised news-coverage is likely therefore to be appreciated but lots of coverage of places well to the south that can barely be considered local (and forced association with such places) is more likely to grate.
This means that Regional TV news about Cumbria- as far north as Carlisle along with news about northern Lancashire is likely to be more appreciated by a viewer in Carnforth or Morecambe than majority-coverage of the M62 Corridor: That is particularly so given that news about Manchester and Liverpool often covers ethnic groups (and their issues) that are perceived to be quite foreign to folk living in more rural parts of northern North-West England. If viewers would watch it, they would discover that the geographical and topical coverage from ITV Border’s Lookaround bests that of ITV1 Granada Reports (if watched in combination with That’s TV Lancashire and/ or BBC North West Tonight)- for folk as far south as the northern outskirts of Preston.
Switching Regional TV Programming has to be Credible- and Sustainable
In the absence of clear direct choices, it is up to viewers to find a combination of news and topics that suits them. Folk living in locations like Garstang, Fleetwood and Galgate are unlikely to switch from BBC North West Tonight to watch BBC Look North (NE/ Cumbria) because the news-coverage overall from BBC Look North – mostly about Tyneside and Teesside- is even less relevant to North Lancastrians than what is offered by BBC North West Tonight– in spite of the latter’s’ tendency to focus on the M62 Corridor. That would not, therefore, be a credible switch and local viewers would not even contemplate such a move let alone stick with it- even if they did have strong connections with Cumbria.
However, local viewers might be able to switch to watching ITV Border’s Lookaround (which covers Cumbria very well) followed by looking at the Lancs Live website (for news about Lancashire- link here: https://www.lancs.live/). In the Blackpool area it is also to get good signal reception for That’s TV Lancashire (Freeview Channel 7, 6.pm week-days) which provides very local news. Another strategy is to continue watching BBC North West Tonight, but watch ITV Border’s Lookaround when the programme is loaded onto their website about 8.pm on a weekday (link to ITV Border website here: https://www.itv.com/news/border): This latter option would retain the sit-down-and-watch-the-local-news habit for a North Lancastrian viewer whilst sharply improving the number of news-features happening within an hour’s travel-time of one’s abode that the viewer would hear about, with ITV Border providing the Cumbrian coverage of interest and BBC North West providing the Lancashire and northern Greater Manchester coverage of interest.
Such strategies would give local folk living in places like Garstang credible alternatives for the local and regional TV news-coverage they get. This is in no small part because the “Centre of Gravity” of the news-coverage featured would- geographically- be somewhere near the Lancashire-Cumbria border rather than around Warrington. This inevitably increases the likelihood of finding out about extra happenings within an hour of where one lives.
Wider regional affiliations across North-West England are important too. Northern Lancashire has stronger ties to Cumbria and the Lake District than Liverpool or South Manchester (as mentioned above, association with places even further north enhances the Sense of Northern-ness, which North Lancastrians appreciate), this would feed into what Regional TV programming one would watch- stick with BBC North West Tonight to get news about Lancashire and more southerly parts of North-West England but watch ITV Border Lookaround for Cumbrian news-coverage. If you watch ITV Granada Reports its news-coverage is even less local to northern Lancashire than BBC North West Tonight: For one- you will get plenty of news about Port Sunlight, Bebington, Chester and Stockport- but not the Lakes!
Enough Viewers North of Preston discovering the Joys of ITV Border and/ or That’s TV Lancashire
In order to bring pressure to bear upon broadcasters based in Salford Quays, viewers of Regional TV who live in northern NW England need to switch over in sufficient numbers. This is only ever likely to happen when enough North Lancastrians discover for themselves different combinations of Regional TV news that- on aggregate- work for them. And they then tell friends and family who live locally. Broadcasters who measure these things will discover what viewers are switching over to- and where. And it is that, if combined with feedback from these viewers- i.e., I’ve found Someone Else To Provide My Needs…And It Ain’t You! If viewers demonstrate they can find other, better ways of getting the news that they want to the traditional broadcasters, it is then these broadcasters are forced to take notice.
That will lead to broadcasters- at local and regional level- coming under pressure to change coverage to satisfy viewers. This may even lead to changes to the transmission areas covered by the BBC and ITV Regions (as happened in northern Cumbria thirty-five years ago with BBC Regional TV)- with less duplication of the same areas and coverage and more of an effort to ensure there is something for all parts of northern England. However, that is not going to happen overnight, even if 1,000 North Lancastrians suddenly started watching ITV Border’s Lookaround.
Regional TV Marketing and Customer Choice
In 2025, viewers of local and Regional TV have far more choice, ability to change channels and watch the local and Regional TV for areas that suits them. The advent of the Internet has resulted in a significant increase in viewer choice; folk are no longer restricted by the traditional Regional TV channels and the transmission areas thereof. They can cast their net wider, and they can find the local and Regional TV services that suits them. Viewers just need to know where to look, and which combo of Regional News services would provide them with a more relevant, geographically- appropriate and topically-appropriate news-service. A farmer on the edge of the Bowland fells in northern Lancashire could ditch ITV Granada Reports and watch ITV Border’s Lookaround instead simply because the topics covered for this huge rural transmission area just to the north of where he farms – about country life, farming, etc- is likely to be more relevant to him and his family than the inner-city problems of Manchester and Liverpool.
Of the local and Regional TV services available in 2025, not all provided by the BBC or by ITV.Plc, there will be a combination from which the average location of the news-coverage that provides the most local- and topically relevant coverage for specific areas of North West England and the Isle of Man. These are as follows for specific parts of North-West England:
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Northern Greater Manchester, South and East Lancashire, Southport area.
BBC North West Tonight in combination with That’s TV Lancashire provides the best mix of all round coverage. BBC North West Tonight has a mean centre of gravity for it’s news coverage slightly south of Wigan, whereas news coverage from That’s TV Lancashire is close to Preston on average. Communities around Rochdale and Burnley can also tune into ITV News Calendar (North) and watch it from the ITV Calendar website (details here: https://www.itv.com/news/calendar). This has a good deal of coverage of West and western North Yorkshire, parts of which are less than an hour’s travel time from these areas of East Lancashire.
Locations north of the M62 Corridor in North-West England are better watching BBC North West Tonight than ITV Granada Reports, the average location of the news from the former is around Wigan, but for ITV Granada Reports the mean location of news-coverage is just south of Wigan. So, if folk live in Southport, Bolton, Leyland, or Blackburn they should watch BBC North West Tonight for more geographically-appropriate news.
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Blackpool and The Fylde
This part of north-west Lancashire- jutting westwards into the Irish Sea, is home to almost half a million inhabitants. Central Manchester and Liverpool are 50 miles and just over an hour away by car from central Blackpool: Further north along the coast towards Fleetwood travel times and distances are such that neither of the major centres of population in North West England- the news of which is imposed on residents in this part of Lancashire from both the BBC and ITV- is well over an hour away by car or train and would fall outside most folks definition of local. For this area That’s TV Lancashire (Freeview Channel 7) is readily available and can be watched instead of ITV Granada Reports. BBC North West Tonight provides a wider Regional view, though mostly to the south of the Blackpool/ Fylde area. Occasionally there will be coverage of South Cumbria, just under an hour’s travel time to the north but really to find out what is happening to the north of The Fylde Plain (and to catch news of interest affecting Cumbria), ITV Border Lookaround is your go-to Regional TV programme.
A combo of BBC North West Tonight and That’s TV Lancashire (a ten-minute news-programme at 6.pm on week-days), will net folk some six news-items a night happening within an hour’s drive of the area. Including ITV Border’s Lookaround will net a further news-feature or two from the Lakes/ South Cumbria that will not be picked up from BBC NW or That’s TV Lancashire but which will be of interest to viewers in north-west Lancashire.
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The Ribble Valley
This part of north-east Lancashire eastwards of Clitheroe, including places like Barnoldswick and Colne is rural in nature, and it is home to over 70,000 inhabitants. Central Manchester and Liverpool are an over or more away from either Clitheroe or Nelson. On the other hand, Kendal is an hour’s drive from Nelson via the A682 and A65 through the western Yorkshire Dales and it is just a little bit more to travel the 49 miles from Clitheroe to Kendal. The rural nature of the Ribble Valley means it has more in common with Cumbria than central Manchester or Liverpool.
As such, this rural area of north-east Lancashire is not one that will get much local or indeed topically- relevant news off BBC North West Tonight or ITV Granada Reports. BBC North West Tonight covers areas north of the M62 Corridor a bit better than does ITV Granada Reports, so the former should be watched for more geographic-appropriate Regional News coverage. But that’s far from stating that BBC North West Tonight is ideal for this area (it isn’t) so one would need to supplement that with That’s TV Lancashire (though reception of this local news-programme is patchy, especially along the eastern side of the Bowland Fells).
The north-easternmost parts of this area pick up transmission from the Emley Moor transmitter, across the county- boundary into West Yorkshire. Thus, viewers in places like Barnoldswick can easily tune into BBC Look North (Yorkshire) and ITV News Calendar (North version). BBC North West Tonight probably remains the most-appropriate for most local news- about Lancashire, northern Greater Manchester and- at times- about South Cumbria. This can be accessed through Sky Channel 958 (or Freesat Channel 955) if one cannot get the direct signal from Winter Hill that carries BBC NW. However, for finding out about happenings in the West Yorkshire Pennines and western Yorkshire Dales (within an hour’s drive of Nelson and Barnoldswick), ITV News Calendar (North) would be one’s go-to Regional News-service, but much coverage is of urban West or South Yorkshire (so neither topically or geographically relevant).
Folk living in and around Nelson, and northwards around Slaidburn might be surprised at how much topically relevant (and some extent geographic relevant) news-coverage can be gleaned from ITV Border’s Lookaround– with 50% coverage of Cumbria- plus occasional coverage into the north-western Yorkshire Dales. It would be the go-to Regional TV to find out what is happening to the north of one’s Ribble Valley community.
On balance though, That’s TV Lancashire (a ten-minute news-bulletin from 6.pm on Freeview Channel 7- if one can get it) followed by BBC North West Tonight at 6.30 pm on weekdays will give local and Regional News-coverage (on aggregate) with a mean geographical location somewhere between Chorley and Wigan. For the more northern and eastern parts, adding ITV News Calendar or ITV Border Lookaround to the mix enables one to find out what is happening north or east of the traditional transmission zones for NW Regional TV: One could easily come away with about six or seven news-items within an hour’s travel time of the rural Ribble Valley area- north and east of one’s community as well as south. That has got to be better than what these viewers get off the traditional North-West England Regional TV services.
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North Lancashire and South Cumbria
For those locations northwards from Garstang including Lancaster, Morecambe, and northwards into South Cumbria neither of the traditional NW Regional TV services can be said to provide good local news-coverage. Central Manchester and Liverpool are over an hour’s drive from Lancaster; from Lancaster it is quicker to get to Carlisle (less than a hour by train from Lancaster). Neither North Lancashire or South Cumbria can receive the signal for That’s TV Lancashire (and it does not seem to be possible to watch it online) but BBC North West Tonight is still marginally better than ITV Granada Reports, the latter of which can hardly be said to serve areas up near the Cumbria- Lancashire boundary at all.
If folk in North Lancashire and South Cumbria wish to find out what is happening to the north of them, they need to tune into ITV Border Lookaround- and for many areas in northernmost Lancashire (including all of Morecambe and most of Carnforth) it is possible- with the aerial pointing north and a clear view northwards- to pick up the signal from the Kendal transmitter, which carries both ITV Border and BBC North West. For some areas, it may be necessary to watch ITV Border’s Lookaround after it is loaded live onto the website (here: https://www.itv.com/news/border).
The mean location of the news-coverage from BBC North West Tonight is just south of Wigan, which means one should get three or four items of significant coverage of happenings across Lancashire and northern Greater Manchester (and which most folk would think of as South Lancashire). The mean location of the coverage from ITV Border Lookaround is just northwest of Carlisle, close to the Scottish Border. Carlisle is just an hour away from Lancaster by train- or by car (up the M6), and given that 50% of coverage is about Carlisle and other parts of Cumbria it means viewers living close to the Cumbria/ Lancashire border will usually get three or news items about happenings less than an hours drive to the north of them.
Thus, this combination of watching BBC North West Tonight followed by ITV Border Lookaround (when it is loaded on the ITV Border website about 8.pm) offers by far the best way of netting several news-stories within an hour’s travel time, north as well as south. The average location of the news across both these Regional TV News-services will be somewhere close to Milnthorpe, i.e., near the Lancashire- Cumbria border. Getting local news by watching a combination of Regional TV services from which the news-items covered across the news-services watched is, on average, within fifteen miles of one’s home is a smart way of ensuring that you see more local news coverage!
This is worth explaining to broadcasters for both BBC North West Tonight and ITV Granada Reports if you plan to switch from these programs.
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The Isle of Man
For viewers on the Isle of Man the situation is truly shocking. A small country out in the Irish Sea, that is not even part of the United Kingdom, is subject to “local news” that is 95% about another country well over 100 miles and four hours’ travel-time away!! This is not, by any reasonable definition, an acceptable state of affairs and it is a wonder that Manx communities are not marching upon the Tynwald to demand that their government provide the finances and initiative to set up the island’s own Manx TV service. They would have every right to, but this site would happily throw its weight behind such a move.
For those who like sit-down-and-watch-the-local-news there are no alternative TV Regions that would provide news-coverage about the Isle of Man. The You Tube based Isle of Man TV (link here: https://www.youtube.com/c/IsleofManTV) is the best that there is for something to watch, but habits are hard to break. However, sit-down-and-watch-the-tv could become sit-down-and-listen-to-the-manx-news with Manx Radio (link here: https://www.manxradio.com/ ). If you live on the Isle of Man you can tune in to Manx Radio to get the news on FM 89, 89.5, 97.2 or 103.7, or on AM 1368, and there’s usually news between 5 and 6.pm (though it varies from day to day). It has to be said that news on the radio lacks the visual impact of TV coverage, but one could still listen to the radio and follow-up with a look at the You-Tube based Isle of Man TV to pick up other stories and get the pictorial coverage.
The options for the over 80,000 inhabitants of the Isle of Man remain appalling. The Isle of Man is a small country in its own right, with its own government, and its inhabitants should not have to be scabbling around on You tube channels just to find out what has been happening in their country. The Gross Domestic Product of the Isle of Man is almost £6 billion, just an extra penny on Income Tax for those on over £40,000 a year (well over median income) is hardly going to bankrupt folk or break the Manx economy, but this could raise £20 million a year. That is more than enough to pay for a fully kitted out dedicated TV News-service for the island, one that reports on what happens in the Isle of Man and wider issues only in the context of the impact on the Isle of Man.
It is worth noting, for Manx citizens that no news-service from either the BBC or ITV.Plc recognises their culture, their language or wider regional links that are certainly very different from the Manchester- Warrington-Liverpool/ Wirral axis that is covered in both main Regional TV services received on the Isle of Man. Manx Gaelic- related to Irish Gaelic- is spoken on the Isle of Man and it was historically spoken widely, there is Manx music in this language and there is a Norse influence. The name of the Manx Parliament, the Tynwald derives from the Old Norse word Thingvollr, which means assembly field. A number of place names, like the highest peak on the island, Snae Fell (snow-mountain), Laxey (salmon river, the modern Norwegian word for salmon is laks), Langness (long headland), and Kirk (church). In addition to this there are modern links with Norway as evidenced by a Norwegian delegation visiting the island to explore that Norway and the Isle of Man have in common in July 2017 (link here: https://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/norwegians-visit-to-foster-closer-relations-at-tynwald-624048).
No news or documentary broadcasts from the BBC or from ITV.Plc have explored these links, they have never had any programming in or around Manx Gaelic (just because some English folk might object to anything that might sound “forrin”)! When was any Manx Gaelic music like that produced by the wonderful Ruth Keggin (link here: https://www.ruthkeggin.com/) or any other Manx Gaelic music broadcast for Manx viewers and listeners?
Manx viewers and listeners to BBC and to ITV programming are being- effectively- told to believe that they are just part of a little island in the Irish Sea, that they should identify with North-West England and make do with music in English. They are told that their Gaelic links are niche, historical and that links with anywhere other than with England have no bearing on the modern Isle of Man. Manx viewers and listeners to Regional TV and radio- based in NW England should be furious about this and demand- forthwith- that their own Government provides the resources to set up a national Manx TV service that would recognise their culture, history, Gaelic, and Norse links, etc,. Manx folk fully deserve to have nothing less, especially given that the Faroese (who number little more than half the population of the Isle of Man) have their own TV broadcaster dedicated to the Faroe Islands.
ITV Granada Reports can be credibly cut out of Viewers Regional TV viewing habits north of the M62 Corridor
In the list of distinct areas of northern North-West England for which I have listed the best combinations for Regional TV services for viewers none include ITV Granada Reports! Imagine the impact on Regional TV broadcasting in North-West England if thousands of viewers living in Lancashire, South Cumbria and on the Isle of Man found different combinations of Regional TV that suit them better- none of which include ITV Granada Reports.
Certainly, if substantial areas northwards of Preston switched over to ITV Border’s Lookaround instead the impact on ITV.Plc is not likely to be one of amalgamating regions, but of exploring ways to provide more geographic-appropriate TV News-coverage for Lancashire, South Cumbria and the Isle of Man. ITV.Plc is dependent upon advertising revenue, amongst other things, so broadcasters will seek to do what it can to hold on to viewers. Since North Lancastrian viewers are able to avoid adverts if they watch ITV Border Lookaround online- rather than watch ITV Granada Reports on their TV’s, and advertisers know this it means such widespread changes in viewer habits comes with a threatened loss of revenue.
Might this suffice to make ITV.Plc spend money in order to retain viewers- perhaps by reviving the old Granada Studios base in Lancaster for opt-out coverage of northern Lancashire and South Cumbria- plus the Isle of Man within ITV Granada Reports? Might ITV.Plc decide that South Cumbria and northern Lancashire be better-served as part of a revamped ITV Border England- with ITV Border Lookaround majoring more on Cumbria, northern Lancashire, and westernmost Northumberland (with some southern Scottish news thrown in): In that case ITV Border Scotland would provide opt-out southern Scottish coverage from Selkirk (as happened in the past) for viewers of ITV Border Lookaround who live in southern Scotland. Might ITV.Plc provide resolute opt-out programming for the Isle of Man from within ITV Granada Reports, with a real recognition of its special status, and special Isle of Man programming?
What ITV.Plc decides to do rather depends on the scale of any threatened loss, and ITV.Plc will be only too aware that if folk go online to get their Regional TV News rather than stay with ITV these same viewers are less likely to come back to ITV to watch other programmes. As and when ITV.Plc comes to realise that folk living in Lancaster, Morecambe, Garstang and Kirkby Lonsdale have more local and wider affinity with Cumbria and the Lakes than with Manchester/ Liverpool they may realise upon the need for such changes: Especially when they realise that they may lose customers- and money- if they don’t!