BBC London News
Encyclopedia
For other uses of the BBC London brand, see BBC London (disambiguation).
BBC London News (referred to onscreen as BBC London) is the BBC's regional television news programme for the English region encompassing London and surrounding suburbs. Its local competitor is ITV1 London's London Tonight
, which is produced by ITN for ITV London
.
BBC London News is broadcast seven days a week on BBC One
in Greater London and the Home Counties, with short bulletins during BBC Breakfast
, after the BBC News at One, and after the BBC News at Ten. The flagship programme airs between 18:30 and 18:55 each weekday evening and is usually presented by Riz Lateef
. Weekend bulletins are broadcast on Saturday lunchtime & early evening and on Sunday evening. Lateef replaced Emily Maitlis
who had been the main presenter of the flagship programme from launch until March 2006, when she left to join BBC News Channel and BBC Two
's Newsnight
.
Weather forecasts are normally provided by former BBC national forecaster Peter Cockroft
, during the lunchtime and evening bulletins, or Wendy Hurrell
, or Kate Kinsella during BBC Breakfast (when he is absent one of them or another BBC Weather
forecaster presents from the BBC's Weather studio at Television Centre). During the summer season the forecast is normally presented from the roof of the programme's production base at 35c Marylebone High Street, London W1, which is also the home of BBC London 94.9 radio station, but Peter Cockroft is also seen from venues of some of the events or outside broadcasts on the programme.
BBC London moved from Marylebone High Street to the new Egton Wing of Broadcasting House
in September 2009, and the first edition of the programme in its new home was broadcast on 28 September 2009. BBC Arabic Television also broadcasts from the building and all BBC News bulletins and programmes will move to the facilities there by 2012.
, had gradually decreased in its coverage as certain areas were switched to receive over regional news programmes. A brand new programme for the new South East region, South East Today
launched shortly before Newsroom South East, effectively broadcasting solely to the London area, became BBC London News.
During planning, the programme for London had been named London Live, also at the time the name of the region's BBC Local Radio
station; titles were produced by the Lambie-Nairn
design agency but never shown onscreen.
The eventual title became BBC London, though the programme is always referred to by presenters as BBC London News, while programme titles were originally BBC LDN: an abbreviation of 'London'.
The area created for the BBC London programme to broadcast to now covers a much more tightly-defined area, chiefly Greater London but still including parts of Bedfordshire
, Essex
, and Hertfordshire
in the East of England
region and parts of Buckinghamshire
, Oxfordshire
, Kent
, Berkshire
, Surrey
and Sussex
in the South East England
region. There is also some overlap with the editorial areas of other BBC regions in this part of England. Parts of Oxfordshire
, Buckinghamshire, Wiltshire
, Northamptonshire
, Berkshire
and Gloucestershire
now take an opt-out of South Today
, while most of Kent and East Sussex
is now covered by the new BBC South East region based in Tunbridge Wells
, which produces South East Today.
. A desk was included in an update to the set in March 2004, and presenters and guests were seated. A further change in March 2007 introduced a new large screen from which reports and weather forecasts were presented.
channel 974 on the BBC UK regional TV on satellite
service.
and News at One, as well as the main 6:30 bulletin, 8pm update and during the News at Ten should Riz Lateef not be available:
BBC London News (referred to onscreen as BBC London) is the BBC's regional television news programme for the English region encompassing London and surrounding suburbs. Its local competitor is ITV1 London's London Tonight
London Tonight
London Tonight is a regional news programme broadcast on ITV London . Produced by ITN, the programme is broadcast at 6pm every weeknight, also including local sports news and local features of interest.Like all regional news programmes on ITV in England and Wales and Channel Television, it uses...
, which is produced by ITN for ITV London
ITV London
ITV London is the on-air brand name used by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the two Channel 3 broadcast franchises, Carlton Television and London Weekend Television in the London ITV region.-History:...
.
BBC London News is broadcast seven days a week on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
in Greater London and the Home Counties, with short bulletins during BBC Breakfast
BBC Breakfast
BBC Breakfast is the morning television news programme simulcast on BBC One and the BBC News channel. It is presented live from BBC Television Centre in White City, West London, and contains a mixture of news, sport, weather, business and feature items...
, after the BBC News at One, and after the BBC News at Ten. The flagship programme airs between 18:30 and 18:55 each weekday evening and is usually presented by Riz Lateef
Riz Lateef
Rizwana Lateef is a newsreader and main presenter of the BBC's regional television news service for London, BBC London.-Early life:After secondary school, Riz undertook a journalism course at the Polytechnic of Central London and then attended the Cranfield School of Management, in Bedfordshire,...
. Weekend bulletins are broadcast on Saturday lunchtime & early evening and on Sunday evening. Lateef replaced Emily Maitlis
Emily Maitlis
Emily Maitlis is a Canadian-born British journalist and newsreader, currently employed by the BBC.-Career:Raised in Sheffield, she was educated at the local King Edward VII School...
who had been the main presenter of the flagship programme from launch until March 2006, when she left to join BBC News Channel and BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
's Newsnight
Newsnight
Newsnight is a BBC Television current affairs programme noted for its in-depth analysis and often robust cross-examination of senior politicians. Jeremy Paxman has been its main presenter for over two decades....
.
Weather forecasts are normally provided by former BBC national forecaster Peter Cockroft
Peter Cockroft
Peter Cockroft is a British weather forecaster. Cockroft joined the BBC in 1991 as one of the presenters of the national weather forecasts; in 2002, he became the main weather presenter on BBC London News....
, during the lunchtime and evening bulletins, or Wendy Hurrell
Wendy Hurrell
Wendy Louise Hurrell is an English television presenter currently working as a weather presenter for BBC London.-Early life:Hurrell was born in Norfolk and grew up in Filby near Great Yarmouth...
, or Kate Kinsella during BBC Breakfast (when he is absent one of them or another BBC Weather
BBC Weather
BBC Weather is the BBC's department in charge of preparing and broadcasting weather forecasts and is now part of BBC News. The broadcast meteorologists are employed by the Met Office...
forecaster presents from the BBC's Weather studio at Television Centre). During the summer season the forecast is normally presented from the roof of the programme's production base at 35c Marylebone High Street, London W1, which is also the home of BBC London 94.9 radio station, but Peter Cockroft is also seen from venues of some of the events or outside broadcasts on the programme.
BBC London moved from Marylebone High Street to the new Egton Wing of Broadcasting House
Broadcasting House
Broadcasting House is the headquarters and registered office of the BBC in Portland Place and Langham Place, London.The building includes the BBC Radio Theatre from where music and speech programmes are recorded in front of a studio audience...
in September 2009, and the first edition of the programme in its new home was broadcast on 28 September 2009. BBC Arabic Television also broadcasts from the building and all BBC News bulletins and programmes will move to the facilities there by 2012.
History
The programme launched on 1 October 2001 as BBC LDN. After a major reorganisation of the BBC's South East region, with the London area splitting away to form its own separate region. The previous programme, Newsroom South EastNewsroom South East
Newsroom South East was the name of the BBC's regional news programme for southeastern England. It was launched in March 1989 as the successor to London Plus, the South East's previous news programme...
, had gradually decreased in its coverage as certain areas were switched to receive over regional news programmes. A brand new programme for the new South East region, South East Today
South East Today
BBC South East Today is the BBC South East regional television news programme, serving Kent, East Sussex and the eastern fringes of Surrey. Prior to its launch on 3 September 2001, most of the viewers in the region received Newsroom South East, though some had been receiving South Today.South East...
launched shortly before Newsroom South East, effectively broadcasting solely to the London area, became BBC London News.
During planning, the programme for London had been named London Live, also at the time the name of the region's BBC Local Radio
BBC Local Radio
BBC Local Radio is the BBC's regional radio service for England and the Channel Islands, consisting of 40 stations. They cover a variety of areas with some serving a city and surrounding areas, for example BBC Radio Manchester; a county, for example BBC Radio Norfolk; an administrative region for...
station; titles were produced by the Lambie-Nairn
Lambie-Nairn
Lambie-Nairn is an international branding agency within the WPP Group, headquartered in London with offices in Munich, Madrid, Abu Dhabi and Prague...
design agency but never shown onscreen.
The eventual title became BBC London, though the programme is always referred to by presenters as BBC London News, while programme titles were originally BBC LDN: an abbreviation of 'London'.
The area created for the BBC London programme to broadcast to now covers a much more tightly-defined area, chiefly Greater London but still including parts of Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....
, Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
, and Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
in the East of England
East of England
The East of England is one of the nine official regions of England. It was created in 1994 and was adopted for statistics from 1999. It includes the ceremonial counties of Essex, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. Essex has the highest population in the region.Its...
region and parts of Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
, Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
and Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
in the South East England
South East England
South East England is one of the nine official regions of England, designated in 1994 and adopted for statistical purposes in 1999. It consists of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex...
region. There is also some overlap with the editorial areas of other BBC regions in this part of England. Parts of Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, Buckinghamshire, Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
, Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
, Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
and Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
now take an opt-out of South Today
South Today
South Today is the BBC's regional television news programme for East Dorset, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Berkshire, West Sussex and the western fringes of Surrey...
, while most of Kent and East Sussex
East Sussex
East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...
is now covered by the new BBC South East region based in Tunbridge Wells
Royal Tunbridge Wells
Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in west Kent, England, about south-east of central London by road, by rail. The town is close to the border of the county of East Sussex...
, which produces South East Today.
Staging
The programme originally launched with a set missing a desk or seating, in a departure from other BBC bulletins. This style was subsequently copied by other programmes including Reporting ScotlandReporting Scotland
Reporting Scotland is BBC Scotland's national television news programme. The programme first aired on 1 April 1968, with three main presenters - the most famous being Mary Marquis...
. A desk was included in an update to the set in March 2004, and presenters and guests were seated. A further change in March 2007 introduced a new large screen from which reports and weather forecasts were presented.
Satellite broadcast
The programme can be viewed throughout the UK (and Europe) on digital satelliteSky Digital (UK & Ireland)
Sky is the brand name for British Sky Broadcasting's digital satellite television and radio service, transmitted from SES Astra satellites located at 28.2° east and Eutelsat's Eurobird 1 satellite at 28.5°E. The service was originally launched as Sky Digital, distinguishing it from the original...
channel 974 on the BBC UK regional TV on satellite
BBC UK regional TV on satellite
The BBC broadcasts all of the BBC One and BBC Two regional variations on digital satellite television from the SES Astra satellites at 28.2° east; providing local news programmes and other regional programming with local continuity and presentation for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales...
service.
Other regular newscasters
The following regularly present BBC London News bulletins during BreakfastBBC Breakfast
BBC Breakfast is the morning television news programme simulcast on BBC One and the BBC News channel. It is presented live from BBC Television Centre in White City, West London, and contains a mixture of news, sport, weather, business and feature items...
and News at One, as well as the main 6:30 bulletin, 8pm update and during the News at Ten should Riz Lateef not be available:
- Asad AhmadAsad Ahmad-Education:Ahmad was educated at the state comprehensive John Roan School on Maze Hill in Blackheath, south-east London, followed by the University of Bristol, where he studied law.-Early life:...
- Alice Bhandhukravi
- Alex Bushill
- Katharine Carpenter
- Victoria HollinsVictoria HollinsVictoria Hollins is a British journalist, who currently works on BBC London news as a reporter and more recently a newsreader, mostly working the early morning bulletins on BBC Breakfast....
- Louisa PrestonLouisa PrestonLouisa Jane Preston is a British journalist. She currently works on BBC London news, the Greater London regional new programme, as a newsreader / occasional reporter, mostly working the early morning bulletins on BBC Breakfast.-Early life:...
Weather presenters
- Peter CockroftPeter CockroftPeter Cockroft is a British weather forecaster. Cockroft joined the BBC in 1991 as one of the presenters of the national weather forecasts; in 2002, he became the main weather presenter on BBC London News....
- Kate Kinsella
- Wendy HurrellWendy HurrellWendy Louise Hurrell is an English television presenter currently working as a weather presenter for BBC London.-Early life:Hurrell was born in Norfolk and grew up in Filby near Great Yarmouth...
- Tori Lacey
- Louise Pepper
- Sara ThorntonSara Thornton (weather forecaster)Sara Thornton is an English broadcast journalist and weather presenter.Born in Yorkshire, she was raised in the United States, returning to England to study for her A Levels. After a university education, she studied for a post-graduate diploma in Broadcast Journalism, and then joined the BBC as a...
- Weather presenters from BBC South East Today provide the forecast if the above are unavailable
News correspondents
- Guy Smith
- Andrew Winstanley
- Brenda Emmanus
- Gareth Furby
- Mike Ramsden
- Sonja Jessup
- Paraic O’Brien
- Paul Curran
- Tim DonovanTim DonovanTim Donovan is the Political Editor for the BBC's regional news service for London, BBC London. He also presents the London regional opt-out for The Politics Show each Sunday on BBC One, as well as occasionally presenting the main programme when regular presenter Jon Sopel is away.He initially...
- Tom Edwards
- Kurt Barling
- Matt CookeMatt Cooke (journalist)Matthew 'Matt' Cooke is a British journalist who currently works for BBC News reporting at BBC London News and presenting 60 Seconds on BBC Three...
- Marc Ashdown