 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "BBC Midlands Today" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(April 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| BBC Midlands Today | |
|---|---|
 Title card used since April 2022 | |
| Theme music composer | David Lowe |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Producers | BBC News BBC West Midlands |
| Production locations | The Mailbox,Birmingham |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 30 minutes(main 6:30pm programme) 10 minutes(1:30pm and 10:30pm programmes) Various(on weekends andBreakfast) |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC OneWest Midlands |
| Release | 28 September 1964 (1964-9-28) – present |
| Related | |
BBC Midlands Today is theBBC's regionaltelevisionnews service for theWest Midlands. It was launched in 1964 and is presented byMary Rhodes,Nick Owen, Elizabeth Glinka, Rebecca Wood andShefali Oza.[1]
Midlands Today is produced byBBC Midlands and broadcasts onBBC One seven days a week. The programme is produced and broadcast from the BBC studios inThe Mailbox,Birmingham. Journalists are also based at newsrooms inCoventry,Shrewsbury,Stoke-on-Trent,Worcester andGloucester.
The programme began on 28 September 1964, broadcasting from a small room in the BirminghamRegister Office before moving to the custom-builtPebble Mill broadcasting centre inEdgbaston on 10 November 1971. It remained there until the studios closed on 22 October 2004 when the BBC Birmingham operations were switched to the current studios at The Mailbox.
Until 1991, the programme also served the East Midlands, which has since received its own BBC regional TV news programme,East Midlands Today. The programme's editorial area consists of theWest Midlands,Warwickshire,Staffordshire,Shropshire,Herefordshire,Worcestershire and northernGloucestershire (even though Gloucestershire is not formally within the Midlands, being in theSouth West England region – it is also covered byBBC Points West).
Midlands Today is broadcast from theSutton Coldfield transmitter in the West Midlands and can be watched in any part of the UK onSky,Freesat and in the rest of Europe viaAstra 2E at 28.2° East (10788V 22000 5/6). The latest edition is also available to view again on theMidlands Today website and onBBC iPlayer.
Freeview viewers in northernStaffordshire aroundKidsgrove andBiddulph cannot receive signal from theSutton Coldfield transmitter; instead, they receive better signal from theWinter Hill transmitter that broadcastsNorth West Tonight fromSalford. However, those areas can still watchMidlands Today on Channel 101, which broadcasts theBBC One West Midlands variant onSky andFreesat by default.
Even though viewers in northernOxfordshire aroundBanbury are served bySouth Today, the town can also receiveMidlands Today from a local relay transmitter that is transmitted from theSutton Coldfield transmitter.[2]
Viewers inNorth West Leicestershire andSwadlincote inDerbyshire receiveMidlands Today onFreeview as local news meaning those areas receive better signals from theSutton Coldfield transmitter rather thanWaltham transmitter.
Eastern parts of thePowys area inWales, such asPresteigne, cannot receive signals from theCarmel transmitter; instead, they get better signals from theRidge Hill transmitter, which broadcastsMidlands Today.
On 6 February 2023, a new studio upgrade was revealed resembling that of Studio B at Broadcasting House launched in June 2022 to include a whole new studio presentation, enhanced graphics and additional presentation locations within the studio. The upgrade brings the studio up to full HD capabilities for the first time.[3]
On weekdays, 6 breakfast bulletins air as part ofBBC Breakfast around every 30 minutes, between 6:26am and 9:06am.A fifteen-minute lunchtime bulletin airs at 1:30pm, following theBBC News at One. The main edition ofMidlands Today is broadcast every weeknight between 6.30pm and 7.00pm.The late night bulletin airs at 10.30pm on weeknights, following theBBC News at Ten.
Midlands Today also airs short early evening bulletins on Saturday and Sunday evenings, although times usually vary. A late night bulletin is also broadcast on Sundays, following theBBC News at Ten.
| Person | Duties |
|---|---|
| Mary Rhodes | Mondays – Fridays main evening programme, alternating |
| Nick Owen | |
| Michael Collie | Cover and Bank holidays |
| Joanne Malin | MondaysBBC Breakfast / lunchtime, some late cover |
| Shefali Oza | Sundays |
| Person | Other Notes |
|---|---|
| Shefali Oza | Main weather presenter |
| John Hammond | Relief Weather Presenter |
Former presenters have includedTom Coyne,Kay Alexander,Alan Towers,Alastair Yates,David Davies,Richard Uridge,Sue Beardsmore,Nina Nannar,Stuart Linnell,Matt Smith,Julian Worricker,Ashley Blake,Suzanne Virdee,Steve Clamp andJackie Kabler. Olympic Gold medalistDenise Lewis also guest presented sport briefly during 2005, as didRob Curling in 2002.
Senior presenter Alan Towers' on-air departure in July 1997 (after 25 years) brought about one of the most controversial moments in the programme's history when he shared indignant views on BBC management, describing them as "pygmies in grey suits wearing blindfolds".[4]
