BBC South East
This article needs additional citations for verification. (February 2024) |
BBC Radio Sussex | |
Headquarters | The Great Hall, 16 Mount Pleasant Rd, Tunbridge Wells TN1 1QU |
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Area | Kent East Sussex West Sussex (part) Surrey (part) |
Regions | South East |
Key people | Quentin Smith |
Launch date | September 2001 |
Freesat/Sky | 984 |
BBC |
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BBC South East is the BBC English region serving Kent, East Sussex (including the City of Brighton and Hove), parts of West Sussex and Surrey.
The BBC region was created in September 2001 by the joining of the
Services
Television
BBC South East's television output consists of the flagship regional news service
Radio
The region is the controlling centre for
Radio Kent carries local programming between 6 am and 7 pm from the Tunbridge Wells studio, then simulcasts networked programming along with stations in the BBC South and South East regions until 1 am every night. Radio Sussex and Radio Surrey each carry three hours a day of local programming for each county from 6 am to 9 am, sharing the remainder of their output between 9 am and 7 pm, then joining with other stations in the BBC South and BBC South East regions at 7 pm.
Online and Interactive
BBC South East also produces regional news and local radio pages for BBC Red Button and BBC Local websites for each county. It also provided regional information for the BBC Ceefax service until its closure in October 2012.
History
Prior to 2001, London, and the whole of the South East had been considered part of the same editorial region by the BBC, and as a result, received a single regional service, including news programmes
As a result, the region had fewer local bulletins. Town and Around, the BBC's first attempt at a South East news programme, was gradually integrated into
The size of the region was gradually reduced in stages, starting in 1993 when the
Following the BBC's South East Review of 2001, the London and South East arrangements changed, with BBC London split off as a separate entity and Heathfield viewers rejoining Bluebell Hill and Dover in a new smaller BBC South East region, launched on Monday 3 September 2001 and based in Royal Tunbridge Wells.
Following digital switchover in the south on 7 March 2012, the Whitehawk transmitter in Brighton transferred from the BBC South region to BBC South East.[1] The network had been broadcasting around the fringes of Brighton and Hove prior to switchover and has always been part of the region's remit since 2001; BBC South East now broadcasts terrestrially to the whole city extending along the coast into West Sussex as far as Worthing.
Studios
The regional broadcasting centre is based in Tunbridge Wells, Kent with local radio studios and television bureaux located in Brighton and Guildford and smaller offices in Hastings, Chatham and Dover. BBC South East is the only one of the BBC regions not based in a major city.
The Tunbridge Wells studios are located in The Great Hall, a historic building previously used as public rooms, photography studios, a performance venue, a cinema, a dancing school and until 1980, a nightclub called Carriages. In 1980, the building was severely damaged by fire. It was renovated and bought and now contains an arcade of shops, a hidden car park and the headquarters of BBC South East and BBC Radio Kent. The studios, as is now the trend with most modern developments, can be viewed by the public through tours or through the display windows into the offices from the public areas. Until late 2015, the complex contained a BBC Shop.
See also
- BBC Radio Kent
- BBC Radio Sussex
- BBC Radio Surrey
- BBC Radio London
External links
References
- ^ BBC South Today report of Digital Switchover stage one from Rowridge and Whitehawk Hill, retrieved 31 March 2022