Another Cumbria News-drought from NW Regional TV. It Does Not Have To Be Like This.

9th March 2023 Dear Readers Viewers of Regional TV who live in northern North West England, that is those who live and work in communities north of Preston, and who can only get BBC1 North West Tonight and ITV1 Granada Reports, are again suffering from a lack of geographic-appropriate news-coverage, especially of anything important thatContinue reading “Another Cumbria News-drought from NW Regional TV. It Does Not Have To Be Like This.”

On BBC North West Tonight Roger Johnson Meets Boris Johnson. And there’s a news-item about West Cumbria!

On Friday (2nd October), I watched BBC North West Tonight. The news-coverage was more like North West Regional news should be like- with news-coverage from Cumbria as well as from Lancashire, Manchester and Merseyside. Roger Johnson covered South Cumbria in a report on the proposal for a new super-hospital in Lancashire to (potentially) replace theContinue reading “On BBC North West Tonight Roger Johnson Meets Boris Johnson. And there’s a news-item about West Cumbria!”

ITV Granada off-air, so ITV leaves North West Viewers with ITV Calendar (Yorkshire): Neither Granada or BBC North West Tonight have shown Cumbrian News for weeks.

28th September 2020 Dear Readers Another week is getting off to a not-too-promising start for any mention of Cumbria on either BBC North West Tonight or on ITV Granada Reports. There has now been no coverage of the northern half of North West England on either BBC North West Tonight or ITV Granada Reports forContinue reading “ITV Granada off-air, so ITV leaves North West Viewers with ITV Calendar (Yorkshire): Neither Granada or BBC North West Tonight have shown Cumbrian News for weeks.”

Another week. Virtually no Cumbrian coverage on BBC North West Tonight and absolutely none on ITV Granada

Rising Coronavirus cases -and attendant lockdowns affecting Manchester, Liverpool, parts of Cheshire and (mostly) South Lancashire have dominated headlines on BBC North West Tonight. Extensive coverage of the Inquest into the May 2017 Manchester Arena bombings also takes up extensive air-time on both BBC North West Tonight and ITV Granada. And (Coronavirus restrictions permitting) SportsContinue reading “Another week. Virtually no Cumbrian coverage on BBC North West Tonight and absolutely none on ITV Granada”

Another day, another week with no Cumbrian news whatsoever on BBC North West Tonight.

Roger Johnson was on top form tonight on BBC North West Tonight: There he was in the middle of Preston discussing the new Coronavirus restrictions affecting Lancashire and Merseyside. All of Lancashire, except for Blackpool, are under special enhanced restrictions in addition to the Rule of Six – no more than six people allowed toContinue reading “Another day, another week with no Cumbrian news whatsoever on BBC North West Tonight.”

4th September 2020: BBC North West Tonight. Any hopes of further Cumbrian news- coverage quickly dashed!

True to form BBC North West Tonight lets down it’s viewers who live north of Preston after dangling in front of them the prospect of more consistent news- coverage of Cumbria (i.e. something about Cumbria each night). The last three evenings of the week have yielded nothing about Cumbria! At the same time BBC LookContinue reading “4th September 2020: BBC North West Tonight. Any hopes of further Cumbrian news- coverage quickly dashed!”

BBC North West Tonight. Roger Johnson is excelling himself.

The last few days have seen an improvement in the amount of Regional News- coverage given to the northern half of North West England by BBC North West Tonight. Even the Keswick outlook forecast has come back into Owain Evans weather- forecast! This evening, Roger Johnson had a piece on schools re-opening in Blackpool andContinue reading “BBC North West Tonight. Roger Johnson is excelling himself.”

The Northern Half of North West England is sidelined by the BBC and by ITV Granada

The BBC plan to make more cuts to Regional News programming in England- quite despite the fact that people rely on good local news relevant to their communities and favourite haunts. This is despite the fact that, for many rural areas in Northern England, mainly those areas north of cities, get scant mention (and canContinue reading “The Northern Half of North West England is sidelined by the BBC and by ITV Granada”

Roger Johnson and the new weather forecaster on BBC North West Tonight- and no Cumbria!

19th August 2020 , Updated 19th October 2021 The last few days (17th- 19th August 2020) have seen, once more, an absence of coverage of the northern half of North West England on both BBC North West Tonight and ITV Granada Reports. On BBC North West Tonight there have been indications of intent NOT toContinue reading “Roger Johnson and the new weather forecaster on BBC North West Tonight- and no Cumbria!”

Regional News Programmes in Scotland and the North of England need a little ICE in them to enhance their “Northern-ness”

LOCHNAGER, THE HIGH CAIRNGORMS IN SUMMER- SNOW PATCHES STILL PERSIST ON THE HIGHEST SLOPES. (Image Courtesy of Con Stock Photo inc (csr601d)) I have made the point in recent posts that viewers of Regional Television in northern parts of Britain (i.e. Scotland, North West and North East England) like their news to cover some placesContinue reading “Regional News Programmes in Scotland and the North of England need a little ICE in them to enhance their “Northern-ness””

Eleanor Morris presented BBC North West Tonight this evening- and finally Cumbria gets covered properly.

Credit where credit is due. Finally, after days without coverage of the county there were three reports about Cumbria in BBC North West Tonight, presented by Eleanor Morris. The swimmer who swam all 13 lakes in the English Lake District was covered, there was a report on the rescue of a little boy who slippedContinue reading “Eleanor Morris presented BBC North West Tonight this evening- and finally Cumbria gets covered properly.”

It is not OK for Cumbria to not get covered at all in North West Regional News bulletins

BBC Look North (Newcastle) featured two pieces about the English Lake District- very much in North West England- on it’s bulletins. The first featured a family group of six people who attempted to cycle from Windermere to Wasdale Head in poor weather- they got lost on the high fells in between and had to beContinue reading “It is not OK for Cumbria to not get covered at all in North West Regional News bulletins”

Please Annabel Tiffin, Can you cover something from Cumbria?

Updated 19th October 2021 Annabel Tiffin presented BBC North West Tonight this evening (3rd August 2020)- and there was nothing about Cumbria or indeed North Lancashire. It is now ten days since BBC North West Tonight (and ITV Granada) produced any news about Cumbria at all. How much longer do the good people of SouthContinue reading “Please Annabel Tiffin, Can you cover something from Cumbria?”

That’s another whole week without Cumbria featuring in either BBC North West Tonight or ITV Granada

Watched Annabel Tiffin presenting BBC North West Tonight again this evening. Whilst one cannot state other than that Annabel Tiffin and her colleague Roger Johnson (the main News Presenter) have an excellent rapport with the viewers- and no doubt they bring some warmth and happiness to many elderly folk living alone in these difficult times,Continue reading “That’s another whole week without Cumbria featuring in either BBC North West Tonight or ITV Granada”

If you live in Lancashire, Cumbria, the Isle of Man- or Northumberland and watch Regional Television- Your Views and Feedback are Welcome

I would like to take this opportunity to remind anyone who visits this Website who lives either in the northern two- thirds of North West England, the Isle of Man or indeed Northumberland to share their views on the BBC and ITV Regional Television where they live: Is the Local News where you live reallyContinue reading “If you live in Lancashire, Cumbria, the Isle of Man- or Northumberland and watch Regional Television- Your Views and Feedback are Welcome”

Distances and Travel Times between Cumbria/ North Lancashire and major centres in the North West, North East of England and also southern Scotland: Relevant to Regional Television.

DEFINING WHAT IS LOCAL TO A PARTICULAR COMMUNITY A few basic facts establish whether a location in Cumbria or North Lancashire should be receiving BBC (and/ or ITV) Regional output from the North West, the North East of England- or whether really it should be part of a new Television Region. The first is theContinue reading “Distances and Travel Times between Cumbria/ North Lancashire and major centres in the North West, North East of England and also southern Scotland: Relevant to Regional Television.”

BBC North West Tonight just proved to themselves that Covering Cumbria Can Be Done- whilst keeping everyone else happy

BBC North West Tonight had a first yesterday (30th June 2020). Whilst Roger Johnson devoted the whole of the main programme marking 100 days since the start of the Coronavirus Lockdown- and the impact that this has had across the North West, Steven Saul (a BBC North West programmer) and Andy McLannahan, BBC North West’sContinue reading “BBC North West Tonight just proved to themselves that Covering Cumbria Can Be Done- whilst keeping everyone else happy”

The BBC should INCREASE resources for Regional Television in the North West of England, NOT Cut it!

An article in the Liverpool Echo (dated 5th May 2020) reports that the BBC, citing the tough Economic climate, plans to mothball two of its bases in Lancashire from where reporters and editors edit news- items to report on the north of the BBC North West Region. This article can be found here: https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/bbc-close-offices-north-west-18202450. TheContinue reading “The BBC should INCREASE resources for Regional Television in the North West of England, NOT Cut it!”

25th June: North West Tonight again had no coverage north of Wigan- except the man arrested for road-killing in Dalton-in-Furness.

“That’s Yer Lot!” is something I was told when I was a child if my parents thought I was being greedy. I am sure it it something many parents have told their glutinous offspring in this country through the generations. It also perfectly sums up the apparent attitude of BBC North West Tonight’s Programmers andContinue reading “25th June: North West Tonight again had no coverage north of Wigan- except the man arrested for road-killing in Dalton-in-Furness.”

A new BBC North West Region for Lancashire, Cumbria and the Isle of Man

On 27th September 2004 a new BBC Region, BBC Look North (East Yorkshire/ Lincolnshire) with their broadcasting centre based in Hull was born. This new BBC Region was transmitted to East Yorkshire, parts of North Yorkshire and Lincolnshire and it catered for a potential 1.5 million viewers. This new BBC Region, whose viewers previously receivedContinue reading “A new BBC North West Region for Lancashire, Cumbria and the Isle of Man”