BBC Points West

History

BBC television news from Bristol began on 30 September 1957 with a five-minute bulletin on weekday nights, serving what would later become the BBC's South, West and South West regions of England. The first bulletin, which survives as a telerecording, was presented by actress Armine Sandford – the first woman to regularly present a BBC television news bulletin.

The launch of the BBC's regional TV bulletins came ahead of the rival ITV services provided by TWW, which began in January 1958, and Southern Television, which launched the following August.

Around this time, the West Region bulletins were obliged to share a ten-minute timeslot with news bulletins for Wales as the Wenvoe transmitter on the outskirts of Cardiff was serving viewers in both South Wales and the West Country. This arrangement continued even after separate bulletins for the South and South West regions were introduced in 1961. Thus, when the newly launched Points West was given a ten-minute slot on 17 September 1962, it shared its slot with Wales Today.

The launch of a dedicated BBC Wales television station in February 1964 finally allowed Points West to become a full-length regional news programme broadcast only to the West of England. This was more than seven years before a similar regional news service would be introduced by HTV West.

Between June 1991 and May 2000, the programme was known as BBC News West before reverting back to its original title on 22 May 2000.

Coverage area

The programme covers much of the West of England, including Bristol, Somerset, the majority of Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, and parts of north Dorset.

Southeastern parts of Wiltshire, including Salisbury and Tidworth, are served by South Today broadcast from Southampton since television signals in those areas are received from the Rowridge and Hannington transmitters. Eastern parts of Swindon and some parts of eastern Gloucestershire such as Stow-on-the-Wold and Fairford cannot get signals from the Mendip transmitter on Freeview but instead receive the Oxford transmitter that also broadcasts South Today.

Freeview viewers in the north of Gloucestershire around Gloucester, Cheltenham and Tewkesbury receive better signals from the Ridge Hill transmitter which broadcasts Midlands Today from Birmingham. However, those areas receive Points West on Channel 101 through satellite providers such as Freesat, based on the towns' postcodes.

Western parts of Somerset and the Taunton Deane area receive better television signals from the Stockland Hill transmitter that broadcasts Spotlight from Plymouth on Freeview.

Notable presenters and reporters

• David Garmston
• Ian Fergusson
• Fiona Lamdin
• Dan Johnson (network correspondent for BBC News)

Former presenters and reporters

• Jon Kay
• Jeremy Carrad
• Chris Vacher
• Alex Lovell
• Susan Osman
• Gerald Hine-Haycock (as Gerald Haycock)
• Michael Buerk
• Armine Sandford
• Vivien Creegor
• Sue Carpenter
• Clive Myrie
• Saima Mohsin
• Richard Angwin (weather)
• Gwyn Richards
• John Norman
• Graham Purches
• Peter Brown
• Andrew Harvey (journalist)
• John Craven
• Mark Puckle
• Hugh Sykes (journalist)

References

References

1. "A day in the life of Points West". BBC.
2. (18 September 2024). "BBC Bristol celebrates 90 years of broadcasting". BBC.
3. "5PY Heritage".
4. "Marking the 60th anniversary of TWW - Television Wales and the West". Aberystwyth University.
5. "Southern Success: a year of challenge".
6. "BBC News West". TV Ark.
7. "BBC West of England News 1957 - TVARK". TV Ark.
8. (7 February 2014). "50 years of TV broadcasts from BBC Cymru Wales". BBC.
9. (12 August 2015). "Drama made by HTV Wales for the national ITV network, 1968-81". Royal Holloway University of London.
10. "Points West (Open)". TV Ark.
11. "BBC South". UK Free.tv.
12. "BBC South (Oxford)". UK Free.tv.
13. "BBC West Midlands". UK Free.tv.
14. "BBC South West". UK Free.tv.
15. (2010-01-30). "Son completes book that TV presenter dad began".
16. (1983-03-28). "BBC Programme Index".
17. "BBC - Pointswest - Points West Extra".
18. (7 June 2023). "Bristol 600 - BBC Points West John Craven report from 1973".
19. Prospero: The newspaper for BBC pensioners (2013, February) Obituaries: Points West Presenter. https://downloads.bbc.co.uk/mypension/en/prospero_february_2013.pdf
20. "BBC - Radio 4 - PM reporters".