Freeview: Brighton transmitters will be in BBC South East from 7th March 2012 | Digital switchover
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Brighton transmitters will be in BBC South East from 7th March 2012

No longer will Brighton terrestrial viewers get their 'local' news from 60-miles-away Southampton, but from Tunbridge Wells, after switchover.

No longer will Brighton terrestrial viewers get their 'local' n
Published on by on UK Free TV

Back on 3 September 2001, the BBC split the old Newsroom South East region.

The Oxford part had became an opt-out of South Today from Southampton in October 2000, and in late 2001 the rest of this large region was then split into two: a service for "M25" London (www.bbc.co.uk link icon BBC London News) and another one for Kent and East Sussex.

This new service, which is based at studios in Tunbridge Wells, is called www.bbc.co.uk link icon South East Today.



The city of Brighton and Hove, which is located in East Sussex, is just 33 miles from Tunbridge Wells, did not switch to this new service on analogue or Freeview, but Sky, Virgin Media cable and Freesat viewers have enjoyed South East Today for many years.

Central London is closer - and better connected - to Brighton than Southampton, Hampshire. Brighton and Hove's 250,000 population makes it the largest city in the South East Today region, larger than Canterbury's and Maidstone's 150,000.

Brighton and Hove is served by one main transmitter on Whitehawk Hill, and eight relays at Bevendean, Brighton (Central), Coldean, Hangleton, Ovingdean, Portslade, Patcham, and Saltdean; historically some viewers in the west of the city had their aerials pointing at the Rowridge transmitter on the Isle of Wight.



At switchover, all the transmitters in Brighton and Hove will switch to the South East Today region on Freeview.







Your comments: most recent posts are at the bottom

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John Clemence
Sunday 7 August 2011 7:14AM Burgess Hill
That's interesting cos Virgin Media is still showing local news from Southampton in my house and that of all the Virgin Media customers that I have in Brighton.
Briantist
Sunday 7 August 2011 8:44AM
John Clemence: I had the information about cable from a reliable source.
John Clemence
Sunday 7 August 2011 9:52AM Burgess Hill
Again, interesting. Who is your reliable source?
Briantist
Sunday 7 August 2011 9:56AM
John Clemence: That's confidential, sorry.
John Clemence
Sunday 7 August 2011 11:06AM Burgess Hill
OK - Fair enough. However I can 'reliably' inform you that we get local news on cable from Southampton here, in Brighton, on Virgin Media cable.
Perhaps others here can confirm or correct this for me please and if I am wrong I can try to find out why Virgin Media have singled me out for the last 14 years or so to receive something different to the rest of the town.
Briantist
Sunday 7 August 2011 1:39PM
John Clemence: I've just checked with someone and they seem quite convinced they have South East today on digital cable in Brighton, but I will ask them to recheck tomorrow evening.
John Clemence
Sunday 7 August 2011 2:10PM Burgess Hill
Good idea. Just to confirm that at 6.30pm my news comes from Sally Taylor and the team in Southampton. I assume that this is what we are talking about here.
Briantist
Sunday 7 August 2011 4:36PM
John Clemence: I can't help noticing you show up as having a Burgess Hill postcode.
John Clemence
Sunday 7 August 2011 5:23PM Burgess Hill
That was because I was trying to find signal strength and other information for a client. I'm BN1 5EH and have been since 1981. Sorry for the confusion.
Briantist
Sunday 7 August 2011 6:48PM
John Clemence: OK. Thanks.
Roy Cole
Tuesday 9 August 2011 2:46PM
Brian,

Still reading your regular updates and enjoying them immensely.

Roy (Eastbourne).
Briantist
Wednesday 10 August 2011 7:41PM
Roy Cole : Thanks very much.
Richard Davis
Saturday 13 August 2011 3:28PM
Hi, Brian -
It might be worth your while pointing out that the historical reason why most people in Brighton & Hove get the Southampton-based local opt-outs is because virtually all the analogue transmitters you mention in the city derive their programme feed either by directly rebroadcasting Rowridge, as Whitehawk Hill and Patcham do, or by rebroadcasting Whitehawk Hill. The temporary digital service seems to have fallen into line with the analogue service, at least until switchover. And on the subject of cable, when I was on Virgin Cable a few years ago we certainly got the Southampton programme, but I can't comment on what's on there now.
Martin Phillp
Sunday 21 August 2011 12:31AM
If I recall, Sky and Freesat customers in Brighton and Hove already receive BBC1 South East on 101 with South Today in the 900s?
Dave
Monday 22 August 2011 9:12AM
At least with freesat you can change the region you want for 101...not sure about 103 but I guess so

This is going to upset a lot of Sally Taylor fans, I personally can't stand her but I quite like Reham Khan if she is still about, never watch South Today myself. Use to love Meridian Tonight SE before the cut backs though

I can see a lot of Brighton viewers high ASL wanting antennas pointing to the IOW then !!
Briantist
Tuesday 23 August 2011 9:07AM
Dave: I doubt it as Southampton Today will no longer cover Brighton as part of it's remit when the transmitters change. Also, people will miss out on the new Local TV service, should it start.
Matt B
Thursday 26 January 2012 9:08AM
I live in Brighton and currently receive South Today on analogue and Freeview, which I'm perfectly happy with, mainly because Brighton & Hove is better connected to the west by continuous areas of civilisation and separated from the east by vast plains of countryside. I also have Freesat, which defaults to the South-East region on BBC1. However I have changed my preferred region in the Freesat settings menu to BBC1 South, again for the reasons above, but also because the picture I receive for the South region is much sharper; the South-East picture always seems blurred! Strangely, ITV on all platforms comes from the South and again I'm perfectly happy with this set-up, although I don't care much for what's happening over in Oxford or Ramasgate, but that's ITV cost cutting for you!

One problem I can see after switchover, if BBC South stop covering Brighton, is that there are many houses in the Brighton area that have arials pointing towards Rowridge. So, their occupents will be in for a shock come March! I can't see many people - especially the elderly or private tenants - clambering up onto their rooftops and adjusting their arials in order to receive the correct region. This re-alignments of the news service has not been publicised locally at all, so nobody with arials point towards Rowridge will know they need to make adjustments until after the event - a bit of a shoddy job by whoever is managing the re-alignment! I'm sure they will still get a nice juicy bonus at the end of it though!!
Dave Lindsay
Thursday 26 January 2012 10:31AM
Matt B: I expect that South Today and South East Today will adjust their news coverage areas so anyone who does re-align to Rowridge will find that they get less news relevant to their area, if any.
Matt B
Thursday 26 January 2012 12:08PM
Dave Lindsay: I didn't say that people will be repositioning their arials towards Rowridge. That would, of course, be rather silly considering BBC South will no longer cover them after switchover. I was saying that there are many houses in Brighton and Hove, especially going towards Worthing, where people already have their arials pointing towards Rowridge, and this has always been the case. With the BBC re-aligning their news service, there is a need for people In Brighton & Hove currently receiving signals from Rowridge to reposition their arials towards to Whitehawk, otherwise they will receive no local news coverage after switchover. As I said, this has not been publicied locally at all, so numerous households will suddenly find themselves with no local news and having to fork out for contractors to reposition their arials towards Whitehawk. I can't see any landlords forking out for this, so private tenants are going to have to get used to watching Portsmouth get excellent coverage, whilst they get none! . The whole thing has been ill thought out, not publicised, and now thousands of people will have to fork out money for arial repositioning, all because someone in an office somewhere arbitrarily decided to mess around with the current set-up!!
Dave Lindsay
Thursday 26 January 2012 12:56PM
Matt B: Perhaps this an issue that could be raised by local MPs and newspapers.
Briantist
Thursday 26 January 2012 4:37PM
Dave Lindsay: Sorry to interject here, but I suspect that would be a large waste of the MPs' time.

The "BBC South East" region was set up for East Sussex and Kent, and last time I looked the whole of Brighton and Hove are still in East Sussex.

Most people here in Hove use Whitehawk Hill as most aerials in our city have been moved to that transmitter over the last decade, as digital reception from Rowridge was more-or-less impossible.

A large amount of money was invested in the Kent and East Sussex BBC service, and it is the MPs who asked for it in the first place.

Also, as I have said before, Brighton and Hove get much, much better coverage from the new service than from BBC Southampton and Portsmouth.
Matt B
Friday 27 January 2012 7:48PM
Granted, most arials in Brighton & Hove have already been repositioned towards Whitehawk, but there are still a few that haven't. Interestingly, there are a large number of arials pointing towards Whitehawk further out, between Worthing and Littlehampton. I wonder if they will be covered by South-East today, being in West Sussex!? There is a large overlap area between Hove and Littlehampton and the majority of arials are pointing towards Whitehawk, probably they receive a better reception than they do from Rowridge. I guess they will need to fork out for repositioning towards Rowridge now!
Briantist
Saturday 28 January 2012 2:35PM
Matt B: The BBC services are designed to provide services for the areas that are covered by the transmitters.
David Poulton
Sunday 5 February 2012 8:09PM
Yes Meridian broadcasts from Locks Heath to to Whole of S/SE England. BBC South Today, only started to cover Brighton, when BBC changed SE part, 1990's. On my Holidays we would have Sue Lawley, Bob Wellings with Nationwide and not, as in those days, Bruce Parker. 1969-1983. I had holidays in Sussex and Kent, 60's, 70's, 80's. South Today was not broadcast there, it was London ie Nationwide. I think Whitehawk got signals from Heathfield Mast. SE BBC didn't really have a local news until years after other BBC Regions, South 1961. The SE News will be a suprise to many viewers in Brighton, who will remember BBC Regional News is I remember it years ago.
Briantist
Sunday 5 February 2012 8:32PM
David Poulton: In "the old days" there was a programme (from March 1989) called Newsroom South East which was the "regional news" for London, East Sussex, Kent and Oxfordshire, which took over from "London Plus".

These programmes were presented by the London presenters, ie the Nationwide presenters, from London.

In October 2000, the Oxford transmitter region was taken from NRSE and made a sub-region of BBC South Today (from Southampton).

In September 2001, Kent and East Sussex was taken from NRSE to make a whole NEW region called "BBC South East".

In October 2001, NRSE then relaunched as BBC London News (with the strange LDN logo).

Whitehawk Hill was never part of the NRSE region and always took BBC Southampton.

The BBC South East Today region was created following a BBC report which promised MPs in East Sussex and Kent a multi-million pound investment.

However, only satellite users in Brighton get South East Today because some of the "Brighton" transmitters took their signals direct from Rowridge. The re-engineering to allow these transmitters to all take their signals from Whitehawk Hill has been done as part of the Digital Switchover process.

It is work noting that Newsroom South East actually has an office in Brighton since 2001.
Briantist
Sunday 5 February 2012 8:33PM
David Poulton: Strange LDN logo BBC LDN sticker (2002) | Flickr - Photo Sharing! .
minimary
Tuesday 6 March 2012 11:38PM
I will not be watching bbc south east as I am not in the slightest interested in London or Kent I am more akin with bbc south so I will probably go to itv news on my tv in bedroom until I link my sky box to that tv



neil
Wednesday 7 March 2012 1:28AM
Im in Bournemouth and i like having Brighton at the one end of bbc south area and i also have loads of friends there and i feel closer to the south east than the west country so from all of us in Poole and Bournemouth its been great being with you and a sad good bye to all of you in Brighton ( Hove ) a great city xx
Kristina
Wednesday 7 March 2012 5:59PM
sally taylor said last night that we can possibly still watch south today from the brighton area, even though our main transmitter will be broadcasting kent news (very useful for us !!) - she said there was another channel which could be used ???? anyone make a note of it !!
neil davies
Wednesday 7 March 2012 8:25PM
sally taylor said you can watch south today on channel 801 on freeview, if you can get a signal from the rowridge transmitter, but my freeview box only shows the bbc asion network on 801. i'm in shoreham, west sussex, and now i'm stuck with kent and east sussex news. who's great idea was this?
Trevor White
Wednesday 7 March 2012 9:19PM
I live in the West Worthing area and have been a Virgin Media customer for 20 years during which time I have enjoyed the TV coverage from the Southampton are transmitter. We have been advised that the South Today and local News & Weather will still be transmitted to our area i.e. West Sussex through cable TV and therefore no further action or adjustments to out digital TVs will be necessary.

Can someone please advise why I cannot receive the service I did before today and instead getting the awful South East Local News. I am not interested in Kent and never go there. My area is West Sussex and Hampshire.

Virgin Media have stated that the matter is not their responsibility and is down to the British Broadcasting Company.

Can anyone please advise if this is going to change back on the 21st March or are WE STUCK WITH LOCAL NEWS NOT LOCAL TO OUR AREA.
David George
Thursday 8 March 2012 1:20PM Brighton
I live in Saltdean and I've been well and truly snookered ...

(a) Virgin Media have seemingly switched to BBC South East

(b) Channel 801 (as mentioned by Sally_T)for BBC South is not showing up on the service list from the Saltdean Relay.

Any ideas as to how we get BBC South back?

D.G.
Briantist
Friday 9 March 2012 4:44PM
David George: Channel 801 is not broadcast from any transmitter, it is where Freeview boxes put duplicates of BBC One IF THEY CAN FIND ONE.

If you don't have a signal from Rowridge in addition, you can't see South Today.

Brighton and Hove is in East Sussex and is covered by South East Today.
Grant
Friday 9 March 2012 5:35PM
Bizarrely my channel 801 appears to be CBeebies!! I admit I missed the whole move to S East business as I was still picking up BBC South after retune but only early morning and late evening. Yesterday and today it was all pixelated and awful, then I found a region setting on the tv, changed it from South to unspecified and proper tv again
Kristina
Friday 9 March 2012 5:58PM
well this is another good one !! my mum lives in hove and can still get south today - not south-east today ?????? so what transmitter is she getting now ?? 801 is asian network on my freeview tv !! some people have lost analogue for bbc2, some have lost bbc1 and bbc2 others have lost itv????
Mike Dimmick
Friday 9 March 2012 7:03PM
Kristina: For the next 10 days, BBC One analogue from Whitehawk Hill (and relays) will still be South Today, while BBC One on Freeview will be South East Today.

Everyone loses BBC Two analogue at the first stage of switchover. It's the one sacrificed to make way first. At some sites, it is necessary to move a different analogue channel to BBC Two's old frequency. This happens when the BBC A multiplex has been given a different analogue channel (not BBC Two), or where it would clash with that. This might still happen at relays even when there is no clash, if there was a clash at the relay's parent.

BBC One moved to BBC Two's old frequency at Salisbury, Till Valley, Poole, Cheselbourne and Horndean. ITV1 moved to BBC Two's old frequency at Whitehawk Hill and all its relays.
Grant
Friday 9 March 2012 7:42PM
Kristina - I'm in Hove. Up until this evening, when I put the post on I was on South Today on BBC1 not S E Today. That was after retuning on Wednesday and again yesterday. The picture was varying between ok and awful though. I retuned again today and now it's gone to S E Today. There was a setting on the tv though that I've changed from South to Unspecified today though, don't know if that's had an impact
Sue Lewis
Sunday 11 March 2012 10:57PM
Geographically the area to the west of Brighton is far more accessible than the east for business and pleasure ( east of Saltdean). This applies to both business and personal.

I have run many businesses in the last 30 years and the cut off point for me has been just east of Brighton for new business - no logical explanation other thsn geographical and local mindset.

Having studied at the University of Southampton I have enjoyed keeping in touch with the local news in the `Wessex` area and I am totally incensed that we are now linked to a completely different area to which I feel no affinity - and with no consultation ( akin to selling the iconic BBC Television Centre at Shepherds Bush and relocating to... Manchester?? ).

I feel this is typical of the direction the BBC is taking in general regardless of consumer ( licence payer)opinion.

The `geographical regional cut off area was completely inappropriate. Socially this move is also totally unjustified.

The digital age ultimatley is designed to give us, as a consumer, more choice.

I assure you this means I will no longer be watching the BBC local news.

You will also appreciate in this day and age, that opinion on this will soon go viral online and gain momentum vis Twitter and Facebook.
Kristina
Monday 12 March 2012 6:33PM
Thanks for reply Mike !! Yes I notice that my old analogue tv still gets south today - however still can't understand why my mum living in hove gets south today on her digital tv, but people in worthing are getting south east on their digital tv's !!!! would be good to find a channel to get south today - I agree with sue that most of the places I'm interested in are to the west of Brighton !!!!
kenneth hobbs
Monday 12 March 2012 6:37PM
we are on virgin cable and live in worthing and we have lost south day in [dis]favour of southeast
David George
Monday 12 March 2012 7:16PM Brighton
You would have thought that in this digital/cable age Virgin could have offered us a choice between BBC South & BBC South East? I rang them to complain but as their customer services rep in ASIA found difficulty in understanding my broad Scottish let alone the problem in question I don't expect much to change.

Is it true that Sky gives more of a choice in regional programming?
Peter Cox
Tuesday 13 March 2012 10:58PM
I also live in worthing and have virgin cable tv
.I now get South East Today instead of South Today which I have been watching for 40 yrs. South East Today gives news for brighton but nothing west of East Sussex.Worthing does not even show up on the weather map where as it did on south today and although most news was Hampshire based worthing did feature in their programme. I am disgusted there is no option to choose which region I want to watch. It is not like I am able to point my digital cable in the direction of a relevant transmitter.I cant even complain to Virgin ,how is some asian/indian call centre operator going to be able to help?!
LORRAINE
Thursday 15 March 2012 1:49AM Hove
Briantist you keep incorrectly saying that Brighton and Hove is in East Sussex....this is incorrect since the conurbation became a Unitary Authority upon getting city status.
John Clemence
Thursday 15 March 2012 9:22AM Brighton
But it IS in East Sussex so far as this discussion is concerned.
I have to say that I really feel for the good folks of Worthing and it isn't at all clear whether the BBC or VM have made this blunder but as a general observation I don't understand why the huge advantages in technology don't allow us to make our own choices of regional news rather than having them inflicted upon us by somewhat mysterious and unaccountable agencies.
KMJ,Derby
Thursday 15 March 2012 11:43AM
John Clemence: Many viewers in Worthing might find that they can continue to receive BBC South via the Findon relay which is transmitting digital services with a power of 2kW. This covers a much larger area than the former analogue transmitter. In many cases an aerial pointing at Whitehawk Hill would receive the Findon signal as both transmitters use vertical polarisation, otherwise a second aerial diplexed onto the downlead would be required. Regarding Virgin Media, it would be a simple matter to offer both regions, however being a national company it is very difficult to persuade them to offer locally orientated services.
Ray France
Friday 16 March 2012 7:58PM
Since the change on the 7th our Virgin Media Tivo box will not let us watch any BBC 1 recordings that we recorded before the 7th, saying that station is no longer available. If they are recorded on the hard drive why does it need access to the station to be able to play them.
Kristina
Wednesday 21 March 2012 6:33PM
this is hilarious !!! i now get south east today on my tv located in my lounge and attached to an aerial in my roof, which is in sight of the whitehawk transmitter - having received south today forever i am quite disappointed. however i just bought a new tv for my first floor bedroom, which is connected to a table-top aerial, again within sight of the whitehawk transmitter and i am getting south today on it - anyone able to explain that one then ?? :))
Dave Lindsay
Wednesday 21 March 2012 6:44PM
Kristina: As it says above, Brighton area transmitters are now carrying BBC South East, these being Whitehawk Hill and its relays.

The signals from the Rowridge transmitter can be received in parts of Brighton and it is likely that your television upstairs has tuned to it.
Derek Sanderson
Friday 30 March 2012 2:02PM
Due to the switchover from South Today to Southeast Today we, in Worthing,do not get any local news. The news in Kent is of no interest to us. the news we used to get covered right out to Southampton and beyond. What we get now is local only to Kent and East Sussex people. We, in West Sussex get nothing of interest to us about anything in our local area or Hampshire or Dorset. Can we expect, in the future to be able to receive OUR news? Please let us know if this will happen.

Thank you in anticipation.
Dave Lindsay
Friday 30 March 2012 2:15PM
Derek Sanderson: As part of switchover, the power of the Findon transmitter was increased. This now provides a greater coverage and it still broadcasts BBC South as it is a relay of Rowridge.

Depending on your location you may be able to receive either from Findon or directly from Rowridge.

Be aware that Findon is a Public Service only transmitter so you will not get all the channels, so you may need to retain your current aerial for them.

Whilst it's probably not quite the news you were hoping for, it may nonetheless give you an opportunity to receive BBC South again.

If you provide your location, preferably in the form of post code, an assessment can be made as to the likelihood of reception from another transmitter that carries BBC South.
John Clemence
Friday 30 March 2012 3:14PM Brighton
I have to say that I really prefer the coverage from the South East. It better matches where I live and work than the old BBC South coverage tended to do.
Briantist
Monday 9 April 2012 6:10PM
LORRAINE: You are incorrect. Brighton and Hove became a Unitary Authority after the Local Government Commission for England (1992) review - and came into being in 1997.

The city status was given by HM Queen as part of the millennium celebrations in 2000.

Whilst unitary authorities do not take any governance from the County Council, addresses (as set by Royal Mail) within the UA remain in the "ceremonial county", which for Brighton and Hove is East Sussex.



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