Category: BBC
Date: 29.06.2004
Printable version
A new regional
television region is to be created in Central England for Bedfordshire,
Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Northamptonshire and Cambridgeshire.
The new BBC centre will be based in Milton Keynes and
incorporate BBC Three Counties Radio, which will eventually transfer
to the city from Luton.
The announcement was made today as part of the biggest shift of investment
out of London and into the Nations and Regions in the BBC's history
by the BBC's Chairman Michael Grade and Director-General Mark Thompson.
The move will see a new regional news programme created, broadcasting
to almost three million viewers across the west of the current Look
East area on BBC ONE.
Look East will continue to broadcast a separate programme
across Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk.
Mark Thompson said today: "The BBC is still far
too London-based and this is simply not acceptable for a modern public
service broadcaster that draws its income from all parts of the UK.
"The BBC should reflect the
whole UK. One of the best ways of ensuring that it does is to base it
across the whole UK, close to audiences and talent in all the nations
and regions.
"Over the period of the next Charter, there will
be a significant shift of money, commissioning power, production and
people out of London and into the rest of the UK.
"Licence payers everywhere
will benefit from a BBC that is far more active in the area where they
live and creates more programmes and services that are directly relevant
to their lives and interests."
Tim Bishop, Head of Regional and Local Programmes at BBC East, says:
"We have today committed to provide a new regional television service
for the west of the current BBC Look East region.
"This is an exciting move that will bring more
local and relevant news to all our viewers by creating separate, dedicated
local news services for the East and West of the region."
The BBC will now explore location options for the new centre in Milton
Keynes, and timescales for the move are yet to be confirmed.
