For the Good Folk of Berwick-upon-Tweed That’s TV Edinburgh/ South Scotland would provide better cross- Border News

North East Regional Television 5 Minutes

14th August 2021

(This article was updated on 20th December 2022)

Dear Readers

Berwick upon Tweed and North Northumberland- that is north of Alnwick- have stronger links with the Scottish Borders than the rest of Northumberland. This is not surprising given that Berwick-upon-Tweed was once part of Scotland and that the ancient county of Berwickshire- of which Berwick-upon-Tweed was the administrative town- extends mainly across the eastern end of the Scottish Borders: Berwickshire includes the small village of Blackadder, not far from Duns, which has the dubious honour of having the coldest ever unofficial air-temperature recorded in the UK, a frigid -31˚C (-23˚F) in December 1879 that killed a lot of trees at Blackadder House (reference here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackadder_House).

It is quicker to get to Edinburgh than it is to Newcastle-upon-Tyne by train from Berwick-upon-Tweed and much of the Scottish Central Belt (The Forth- Clyde Valley) is a similar distance and travel-time from Berwick-upon-Tweed and northernmost Northumberland as is Sunderland, Durham and South Shields. All of this has a bearing on Regional Television, as is viewed in this far-northern part of North East England.

The geographic position of Berwick-upon-Tweed and northernmost Northumberland certainly means that they do not get geographic- appropriate news-coverage from ITV News Tyne Tees or BBC Look North (NE/ Cumbria). It is probably fair to say that ITV News Tyne Tees provides slightly more coverage of Northumberland- about 15% of total coverage since their coverage does not have to cater for Cumbria too (as does BBC Look North): Even so, with the Northumberland coverage likely still being well to the south- in places like Cramlington or the Morpeth area much of the time- and with the rest of the news being about Tyneside, Teesside and Wearside it is certainly not satisfactory for viewers of Regional Television in North Northumberland. They nonetheless- will never find out about happenings across the Scottish Border from the main North East England Regional TV News services.

Now, it is possible for viewers in Berwick-upon-Tweed to get ITV News Border (Scottish version) with the flagship Regional News programme Lookaround. Parts of North Northumberland can get a signal from the Selkirk transmitter, in the Scottish Borders, which carries ITV News Border (Scotland). If that is not possible ITV Border Lookaround is usually put on the ITV News Border website (here: https://www.itv.com/news/border) after it is aired live, and that usually has 25% coverage of the Scottish Borders with Berwick-upon-Tweed. That is more geographic- appropriate than ITV News Tyne Tees– in which the most northerly news is often over sixty miles south of Berwick-upon-Tweed.

With all that said, ITV Border Lookaround may not be the most appropriate outlet for North Northumbrians to receive news-coverage about the north-eastern Scottish Borders per-se: ITV Border’s Lookaround does focus more on Cumbria and south-west Scotland (where most of the population in the large ITV Border transmission area lives), and although much of that area is near the Scottish Border, it is in no way local to Berwick-upon-Tweed. Carlisle is further from Berwick than Sunderland is- and it would take longer to get to Carlisle since the roads from Berwick-upon-Tweed to Carlisle- the A698 and A7 through the Scottish Borders- are not fast trunk-roads let alone dual carriageways! Furthermore, ITV Border Lookaround rarely covers happenings nearer to Edinburgh, which is less than an hour away from Berwick-upon-Tweed by train. However, the Scottish version of ITV News Border, transmitted from the Selkirk transmitter does have two news-programmes Representing Border (which covers the Scottish Parliament extensively) and Border Life (which focusses on issues and current affairs affecting communities in southern Scotland). Together these will provide more coverage of issues pertaining to the Scottish Borders. If you watch these programmes- and watch ITV Border Lookaround you will get yourself about 30% coverage of the eastern Scottish Borders/ Berwick-upon-Tweed. To get the news to the south of you, including southern Northumberland you can also watch ITV News Tyne Tees., which does- as I have mentioned- have a slightly higher proportion of Northumberland news than does BBC Look North (NE/ Cumbria) because the former doesn’t have to cater for 300,000 potential Cumbrian viewers.

Thus, if you watch ITV News Tyne Tees then later ITV Border (Scotland) from the Website when the evening’s Lookaround has been loaded (usually about 8.30 pm), and then catch up with the latest issues of Border Life and Representing Border you will get better all-round local news-coverage for northern Northumberland. However, you won’t get the best all-round coverage for far northern Northumberland from this combination because, as I have already mentioned, ITV1 Border’s Lookaround focusses very much on Cumbria and south-west Scotland- which are- to Berwick-upon-Tweed- no more local than County Durham or Teesside!

In order to find out what is happening nearer Edinburgh and getting a greater focus on the Lothian regions and eastern Scottish Borders – perhaps because you commute there or have family relatives in those areas- there’s That’s TV Edinburgh/ South Scotland (link here: http://www.thats.tv/edinburgh-south-scotland/) which is on Freeview Channel 8. However, you will need your TV aerial to have a clear view towards Selkirk, which carries a Freeview signal- and the That’s TV Local channel from the Selkirk transmitter will be That’s TV Edinburgh/ South Scotland, which broadcasts at 6.pm every week-day on Freeview Channel 8. If you live near Berwick-upon-Tweed it should be possible to get this Regional News service with a clear view to the west. If you cannot get the Selkirk signal then you will have to stick with getting ITV News Border from the Internet.

Whatever you do, if you feel you have to switch to another ITV Region- or indeed to watch That’s TV Edinburgh/ South Scotland to get more geographic- appropriate news-coverage do write to ITV News Tyne Tees- email amyandian@itv.com because Amy Lea and Ian Payne, the ITV News Tyne Tees Presenters are also the Presenters for ITV Border’s Lookaround! They might, if North Northumbrians are insistent enough, put some more Northumberland and even Scottish Borders news-coverage into ITV News Tyne Tees for the benefit of Northumberland viewers. Write to BBC Look North (NE/ Cumbria) too at email: look.north.comment@bbc.co.uk and remind programmers that northern Cumbria is certainly not the only part of their very large transmission area that really needs more geographic-appropriate news-coverage and that the Berwick-upon-Tweed area needs a bit more good all-round local news-coverage!

It is certainly appropriate for viewers in North Northumberland to write to the two main North East England Regional TV News- services that are the default for Northumberland and to complain about the geographic- appropriate coverage, then explaining that this is why they are trying to get ITV News Border or even That’s TV Edinburgh/ South Scotland. It is a sad state of affairs when local viewers have to scrabble around for a more local TV News service- or for a Regional News service that is not the default for their area (for which it may be hard to get a signal) to gain more geographic- appropriate news-coverage in keeping with their particular regional affiliation. However, North Northumbrians swivelling their aerials and switching channels may have to happen on a significant scale before ITV Tyne Tees and BBC North East/ Cumbria feel that they really have to do something about it- and start covering Northumberland more- complete with overlap into the Scottish Borders.

Published by northwestisnorthwest

My name is Ian Pennell and I am a freelance Book-keeper: I live near Alston, in the North Pennines in north-east Cumbria. I have friends who live in northern North West England - near Lancaster (which is where I went to University and used to live until 17 years ago) and in other parts of Cumbria. I have two Website Campaigns that seek to promote more localised Regional TV coverage for large rural areas across the North of North West England and North East England. . A big problem is that the Regional Television Bulletins for the North West covers the southern third of the Region about 90% (plus a part of Derbyshire which is NOT the North West of England), covers the middle third of North West England poorly and covers the northern third of North West England not at all! When I was studying at Lancaster University, I used to watch BBC1 North West Tonight because it covered areas up around where I was brought up- in northern Cumbria as well as more immediately locally around Lancaster. Then I came home one day, turned on BBC1 North West Tonight wondering why they were silent on Cumbria and discovered why: Most of Cumbria had been chopped off the weather-map! . People living in the westernmost part of North West England (around St. Bees Head) have local BBC news on their televisions which is 90% about North East England! In rural and northern Northumberland too, Regional TV, as is received by viewers, tends too often to be Tyneside/ Wearside/ Teesside- focussed with little news locally. Communities in North Northumberland have strong links across the Border into south-east Scotland and towards Edinburgh but none of the Regional TV News- services serving Northumberland today ever goes across the Scottish Border for significant happenings of interest to North Northumbrians. I have also done walking in the area, including around the Cheviots in the past- and the Northumberland/ Scottish Borders/ East and Mid Lothian area is vast- but it is largely overlooked by mainstream Regional TV! . North Yorkshire, the largest county in England also falls in the gaps between coverage from BBC Look North (NE/ Cumbria) or ITV1 News Tyne Tees in the north of the county, and the Leeds-based BBC1 and ITV1 Regional TV- services in the south of the county: North Yorkshire is a huge, yet beautiful county, which I have visited and explored in the past, yet is poorly covered in Regional TV. . Based near Alston, near the Cumbria/ Northumberland boundary I am well-placed to discuss Regional TV in all these large rural areas, in which collectively some two million folk live, yet they are poorly covered by the Regional TV News- services set up to serve them. These huge areas are an hour to two hours' drive from where I live: North Lancashire and South/ West Cumbria are to the south-west, Northumberland and the Scottish Borders and Lothian are to the north and north-east, and North Yorkshire is to the south-east of my home near Alston. I am well-placed to draw attention to deficiencies in Regional TV coverage for folk in all these areas. The North Pennines, where I live, is arguably another large area that touches on the other three where Regional TV coverage falls through the gaps completely (and that is despite the North Pennines running north to south down the middle of the BBC1 NE/ Cumbria Region). . In two websites, one for northern North West England and the Isle of Man (a country in it's own right that does not have it's own TV service!), and another Website focussing on Northumberland, North Yorkshire and the North Pennines I make the point that Regional TV that informs viewers of important things in their local area is a Public Service, funding for which should be given a higher priority (and if necessary via statute through the BBC's Charter), than funding for Soaps, Films or Sport- which are for leisure. I also give viewers the tools to fight effectively for better- and more geographic-appropriate Regional TV where they live- and to seek it through alternative (often little-known) local TV services, some of which may only be available on the Internet.

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