South Today | |
---|---|
Also known as | 'South Today Oxford BBC Oxford News' |
Presented by |
Main Programme Sally Taylor Tony Husband Sport Alexis Green Weather Oxford opt-out Geraldine Peers Jerome Sale Sport |
Theme music composer | David Lowe |
Country of origin | England, United Kingdom |
Original language(s) | English |
Production | |
Location(s) | Southampton, England, UK |
Editor(s) | Richard Spalding |
Camera setup | Multi-camera |
Running time | 30 minutes (main 18:30 programme) |
Production company(s) | BBC South |
Release | |
Original network | BBC One South |
Picture format | 576i (SDTV 16:9) |
Original release | 7 January 1961 | – present
Chronology | |
Related shows |
BBC News, ITV News Meridian |
External links | |
www |
South Today is the BBC's regional television news service for the south of England, covering Hampshire, West Sussex, much of Dorset and Berkshire and parts of Surrey and Wiltshire.
Since 2000, an opt-out of the main programme has also covered most of Oxfordshire, eastern Gloucestershire, western Buckinghamshire and southern Northamptonshire.
The BBC began broadcasting a regional TV news programme for the South of England (then known as South at Six, but changing to the current title in the mid 1960s) in January 1961, getting on air four months before the launch of Southern Television's rival magazine programme Day by Day. Originally, the BBC's Southampton operations were based in South Western House, the former Cunard shipping line headquarters near the city's docks. In 1991, the programme moved to purpose-built studios in Havelock Road.
The original presenter was Martin Muncaster. Bruce Parker joined the programme in 1967 and remained as a regular presenter until 1989, continuing to provide holiday cover and present weekend bulletins until 2003. The current main presenter, Sally Taylor, started co-presenting the programme in 1987 (replacing Debbie Thrower), initially alongside Parker and then successively with Paddy Haycocks, Mark Longhurst, Harry Gration, Andrew Harvey and Roger Finn, but in recent years she has been the regular solo presenter of the main programme.
Currently, South Today produces eleven bulletins each weekday: 6 bulletins in the morning during BBC Breakfast, a 15-minute programme at 13:30, the half-hour main programme at 18:30, a headlines update at 20:00 and a late night bulletin (Monday to Thursday at 22:30, running for 15 minutes and every Friday at 22:25, running for 10 minutes). Weekend news bulletins are also broadcast. These include early evening bulletins on Saturday and Sunday and a late night bulletin on Sundays, following the BBC News at Ten. The times of these bulletins usually vary.