Press Releases & Press Packs

From Monday 28 January viewers watching BBC ONE on digital satellite in the five largest English Regions will be able to access their own regional news programmes at 6.30pm. The programmes are BBC London News, South Today, Midlands Today, North West Tonight and Look North (for Yorkshire & Lincolnshire), covering 70% of England’s population.

The service, available through BBCi, enables viewers to select any of these five programmes by pressing the red key on the remote control. The initial phase of the launch has been brought forward by several months with its extension to the remaining English Regions expected by the autumn.

"2002 is going to be a landmark year for the BBC’s digital services so it’s important that our regional news, ahead of the competition in almost every corner of England, is available on all digital platforms as soon as possible," says Andy Griffee, Controller of BBC English Regions.

UK Today, which has been the sustaining service on digital satellite at 6.30pm, will cease broadcasting from 28 January.

The extension of the main regional news programme to digital satellite is but one part of an exciting programme of new digital services offered by the BBC this year. BBC FOUR, CBBC and CBeebies - the latter two launching on Monday 11 February - have already been given the go-ahead by the Government. Meanwhile, new proposals for BBC THREE have been lodged with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Digital radio, too, is set for a quantum leap with the launch of five new BBC services. Alongside the Asian Network, which will grow from a regional to a national service, and Five Live Sports extra, there will be three brand new networks - Network X (working title), dedicated to the latest in black music; Network Y, exploring the greatest music of the past 40 years; and Network Z, providing top quality entertaining speech radio for adults and children alike.

Notes to Editors

BBCi is the new name for the BBC’s interactive services working across the web, interactive TV and personal organisers. BBCi provides a single signpost and easier way of getting to the BBC’s great information, entertainment and education services, no matter how you choose to access it.