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.svg) BBC South's area within the UK | |
| TV transmitters | Hannington Midhurst Oxford Rowridge |
|---|---|
| Radio stations | BBC Radio Berkshire BBC Radio Oxford BBC Radio Solent BBC Radio Wiltshire BBC Radio Surrey BBC Radio Sussex BBC Radio Three Counties BBC Radio Northampton andBBC Radio Gloucestershire |
| Headquarters | Broadcasting House,Southampton |
| Area | Oxfordshire Berkshire Hampshire Isle of Wight West Sussex (majority) eastern and centralDorset Wiltshire (Salisbury andSwindon) Gloucestershire (Stow-on-the-Wold andFairford) Northamptonshire (Brackley) Buckinghamshire (Aylesbury,Buckingham andPrinces Risborough) Surrey (Surrey Heath andWaverley) |
| Nation | BBC English Regions |
| Regions | South and parts ofSouth West |
Key people | Jason Horton (Head of Regional & Local Programmes) |
Launch date | 1961 |
Official website | news |
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Commercial subsidiaries |
Key properties in London |
Birmingham |
BBC South is theBBC English Region servingHampshire,Isle of Wight,Dorset,West Sussex,Oxfordshire,Berkshire and parts ofGloucestershire,Buckinghamshire,Northamptonshire,Surrey, andWiltshire, with geographic coverage varying between digital, television and radio services.
The region is headquartered inSouthampton and has smaller offices inBrighton,Dorchester,Oxford,Reading,Swindon andGuildford.
BBC South's television output (broadcast onBBC One) consists of its flagship regional news serviceBBC South Today and includes the weekly half-hourPolitics South show dedicated to the region.
The region covers television services forHampshire,Isle of Wight,Berkshire,Oxfordshire, most ofDorset andWest Sussex and parts ofBuckinghamshire,Wiltshire,Surrey,Northamptonshire andGloucestershire.
Due to the size ofSurrey, the listenership ofBBC Radio Surrey is covered by bothBBC London,BBC South East and BBC South.
The television output also produces occasional regional documentaries, the such asTitanic – Southampton Remembers andSea City. The former, broadcast in April 2012, looks at the impact of the disaster on Southampton, where most of the ships staff were recruited whileSea City looks behind the scenes atSouthampton Docks and was broadcast in January 2013 with a second series in March 2014.[1][2]
The region is home to local radio stationsBBC Radio Oxford,BBC Radio Berkshire andBBC Radio Solent.
Radio Solent, BBC Radio Oxford and Radio Berkshire broadcast between 5 am and 1 am with local programming broadcast between 5 am and 7 pm on weekdays. The three stations carry networked programming with the two stations in theBBC South East region every evening. The stations also simulcast overnight programming fromBBC Radio 5 Live each night afterclosedown.
BBC South produces online articles and video for Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Oxfordshire, Dorset and Berkshire which featured on BBC News Online, as well as producing content for the region's social media accounts.
Text-based red button services come from the articles produced for the BBC website.
The BBC's television news operation in Southampton began on 5 January 1961 with the launch ofSouth at Six, presented by Martin Muncaster, who had defected fromSouthern Television. The programme was later renamed asSouth Today. In 1967,Bruce Parker joined BBC South and went on to become its longest-serving presenter, anchoringSouth Today for over 30 years.
In 1969,South Today became part ofNationwide, with its own opt-out section of the main programme for local news. In 1984, following the end of the short-livedNationwide replacementSixty Minutes,South Today became a standalone programme, competing heavily ever since with the long-defunctSouthern Television's news programme Day by Day,TVS'sCoast to Coast and the present incumbentITV News Meridian.
The region itself has changed in size and shape on a few occasions. On 16 October 2000, areas served by theOxford transmitter were transferred from the large formerBBC South East region, served by news programmeNewsroom South East, and transferred to an opt out of the BBC South region served bySouth Today. Additionally, following thedigital switchover of the Whitehawk Hill transmitter on 7 March 2012,Brighton and Hove transferred to the coverage ofBBC South East.
BBC South's regional broadcasting centre is based inSouthampton, with local radio and television studios also inBrighton,Dorchester,Guildford,Oxford,Reading andSwindon.
Prior to moving to the current studios in 1991,BBC South was based next to the disusedSouthampton Terminus railway station at South Western House, a former grand hotel set up to cater for first class passengers using the transatlantic liners from Southampton and latterly used as a military HQ during the planning of theD-day landings. The building was famed for its clear views of Southampton docks, making events such as the departure of the Queen Mary easy to film, as cameras only had to set up on the roof of the building, though the technology used at South Western House was famed for its unreliability, as most of this equipment was second hand and brought in from other BBC buildings.[3] The introduction of colour television in the early 1970s led to a major reconstruction of the building, which had a main studio (used largely forSouth Today) and a small presentation studio for news bulletins and continuity – unusually, the camera for the small studio was situated in the outside corridor and looking into the room.[3]
In 1991, BBC South moved into new, purpose-built facilities at Havelock Road in Southampton. The new studios were built on to the side of the hill at the top of the city with the railway tunnel running directly underneath. This slope meant that the new television studios were far larger than the previous ones, as they could take up vast amounts of space on a lower level. The new facilities also included brand new equipment and technology, radio studios forBBC Radio Solent and editing suites.
The extra space was because BBC South, at the time, was one of the new regional production centres. Previously production centres had been in the large regions with studio facilities, these being the nations,BBC Midlands,BBC North West andBBC West. However, some smaller production centres were being trialled in the South andthe North East. As a result, the new studio was made slightly larger so that it could accommodate a network production.
The complex has two studios.
A small studio atGunwharf Quays inPortsmouth was closed in June 2020, as part of a wider programme of cost reduction acrossBBC English Regions.[4]
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