Meridian Broadcasting
Encyclopedia
Meridian Broadcasting is the holder of the ITV
franchise for the South and South East of England
. The station is owned and operated by ITV plc
, under the licensee of ITV Broadcasting Limited.
It has been broadcasting since 1 January 1993, when it replaced TVS
. The main headquarters were situated at studios in Northam, Southampton
(previously used by both Southern
and TVS), but in December 2004 they moved to part of an office building on the Solent Business Park, near Whiteley
, Hampshire
. As with other regional ITV companies, Meridian's role has gradually been reduced from producing a wide variety of regional and network programming (as it did since 1993, when it inherited a large studio complex in Southampton) to producing little more than regional news bulletins which are a contractual obligation (as it does today).
Over the weekend of 22-23 October 2011, Meridian moved to new premises, again at Whiteley.
, presented by Debbie Thrower
and previewing the station's forthcoming output. Thrower opened the broadcast with the following words:
Other launch day programmes included Michael Palin
's documentary First Night on Meridian and the first Meridian News bulletins for the South, South East and West sub-regions. The launch day schedule also included the movie Best Defense
.
The first advert shown on Meridian was for the special edition Ford Fiesta
Meridian which featured the station's logo and was available through Southern Ford dealers.
Meridian Broadcasting was originally intended to function as a publisher-broadcaster, commissioning most programmes from independent producers and with in-house production largely restricted to regional news. However, over time and as its ownership changed, Meridian began to make a number of regional and networked programmes itself. As its parent company MAI (later known as United News & Media
) also became a significant shareholder in Channel 5, Meridian supplied a number of the new channel's programmes such as sports programme Turnstyle and children's show Havakazoo.
Meridian-commissioned programmes that were introduced included Wizadora for pre-school children, plus ZZZap! and Eye of the Storm for older children. Later on other children's programming was introduced including Dog and Duck for pre-school children. Drama became a successful genre for Meridian, with Peter Kosminsky
's hard-hitting No Child of Mine (co-produced by Stonehenge Films, United Productions and Meridian for ITV
) tackling the emotionally difficult subject of child abuse, winning Meridian a BAFTA. Later, the same production team tackled vicious childhood bullying in Walking on the Moon for ITV
. Hornblower
was a Sunday night success for ITV and another Sunday night favourite, Where the Heart Is
, transferred production from Anglia
to Meridian in 2004.
When TVS
took over from Southern
in 1982, the south-east region was enlarged by switching the Bluebell Hill transmitter from Thames
/LWT
, resulting in a new centre in Maidstone, but when Meridian took over the franchise, they created a new "West" sub-region around the Hannington transmitter in order to improve the area's local news coverage, using a small news studio based at a converted warehouse in Newbury. This studio was later closed and news presentation for the "West" region moved to the main studios at Northam in Southampton. Following the closure of the Northam studios in 2004, presentation of all three editions of Meridian Tonight
and local programmes moved to new headquarters in Whiteley.
, and in 1995, it was a major shareholder in the consortium that won the franchise for Channel 5.
In 1996, MAI merged with United Newspapers (via an agreed takeover
by United) to form United News and Media (UNM). The resulting company owned the Daily Express
newspaper, Meridian, Anglia, and a large shareholding (through the Yorkshire Post
) in Yorkshire Tyne Tees Television, the owners of Yorkshire Television
and Tyne Tees Television
. This stake was sold to Granada, allowing them to take control of the two franchises. In October, United News and Media agreed to buy Scottish Television's 20% stake in HTV, on 28 June 1997, HTV was taken over fully by United News and Media plc (now United Business Media plc) for £370 million.
UNM had spent several years attempting to merge with either Granada Group or Carlton Communications
, but negotiations came to nothing. Instead, in 2000, UNM sold its broadcasting and newspaper interests and became United Business Media
. Meridian, Anglia and HTV were acquired by Granada, but the UK Broadcasting Act
, at that time, did not allow one company to control that number of franchises. Granada gave HTV to Carlton, in return for Carlton relinquishing the 20% stake in Meridian that it had inherited from Central Independent Television
.
In 2002, Granada and Carlton decided to consolidate the separate brandings for the ITV franchises that they controlled, this consolidation became even more apparent after Granada and Carlton merged to form ITV plc
.
When Meridian originally won the franchise in 1991, their plans were to purchase buildings, not unlike their current arrangement today: with a small studio for continuity and local news. This was planned because being a publisher-broadcaster they did not plan to make any programmes themselves, instead buying in programmes from independent production companies. However, when TVS
lost their franchise, TVS' plans were to become an independent production company based at Vinters Park, Maidstone, where the former TVS South East division was located. Meridian took the opportunity to purchase the Southampton studios from TVS.
Meridian did put these studios to good use in the future; on some occasions, Meridian would hire their studios out to the independent companies to use for the programmes and under the ownership of United News & Media some Channel 5 programmes were made there. However, as a publisher-broadcaster, the facilities were generally too big for Meridian. By 2004, ITV plc
had decided that regional programming would be phased out in the years to come. In 2004, Meridian closed their Northam studios and moved to a unit in a business park in Whiteley
.
These headquarters contained a newsroom plus the main technical production and transmission arms of the programmes including three small news studios. There is also a south-east newsroom with producers and reporters based at The Maidstone Studios
. Meridian South-East had originally used these studios to make the South East edition of Meridian Tonight before moving in 1994 to a purpose-built studio centre at New Hythe
near Maidstone in Kent
. Thames Valley Tonight
was also produced at the Whiteley headquarters, with the former Central South studio in Abingdon
serving as a satellite newsroom remaining in a small part of the building.
In the summer of 2008, Meridian's former studios at Southampton started to be dismantled with plans for a multi-storey block of flats to be built. In December 2010, the site was still lying empty after the developer Oakdene fell into administration in 2009.
Over the weekend of 22-23 October 2011, ITV Meridian moved to new premises, on the same business park at Whiteley. The new headquarters are again based in a conventional office building, and include two studios, one of which is used for Meridian Tonight. The move was due to the cancellation of the lease at its former Whiteley premises.
Prior to this, the sub regional news programmes were as follows:
The South and South-East regions produced their own editions of the flagship news magazine Meridian Tonight
(18:00 weeknights), alongside further Meridian News bulletins throughout the day. From 2004, all of the bulletins for all three sub-regions came from studios in the same building in Whiteley, Hampshire
. Some considered this controversial, particularly as the Meridian South East programme for Kent
, East Sussex
and South Essex
was presented by anchors from a studio in Hampshire
, 60 miles from the nearest part of the South East region (Brighton
) and 160 miles from its furthest point (Broadstairs
). This practice wasn't a new one though, as Anglia had been broadcasting both editions of Anglia News/Anglia Tonight
from Norwich for the east and west of the region since their inception in June 1990, covering a geographical area roughly the same size in length as Meridian's.
Under cost-cutting plans announced by ITV in September 2007 and agreed to by the UK's broadcasting regulator Ofcom
in October 2008, the region's three evening news broadcasts - Meridian South, Meridian South East and Thames Valley - would become split between East (South East) and West (Meridian South/Thames Valley) for the first half of the programme, and joined as one for the remainder of the programme. As of February 2009 there are pan-regional bulletins including morning ones during ITV Daybreak which are branded Daybreak Meridian News. The sub-regions retain their own local advertisements.
The pan-regional part of the programmes now covers a large part of England, stretching from Kent and south Essex (Southend-on-Sea
) to Dorset (Weymouth) as well as north to Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire.
Over half of Meridian's existing staff were made redundant under plans published by the broadcaster in October 2008. All employees who wished to remain with the company were obliged to re-apply for jobs. Some staff opted for voluntary redundancy and many others have been left without jobs. The pan-regional programme started in February 2009.
featured an exploding mix of orange, yellow and blue, which then came together to form the distinctive sun/moon face logo. The unusual logo design was reportedly inspired by maritime images (the sun/moon face is a recurring feature on compasses, sextants and other nautical artefacts used in the navigation of ships), appropriately reflecting the south's long seafaring history. The name "Meridian", which derives from the Latin meridionālis meaning "of the south", may also be linked to the Prime Meridian (the boundary between the Western and Eastern Hemispheres of the globe, and a key landmark in the measurement of time), which passes through the middle of the region, although this has not been confirmed.
The original formup lasted until September 1996, when the ident was replaced by one with a deep purple/blue background and an emphasis on the deep colours of the logo, as well as a smoother formup. This ident was replaced in autumn 1998 by one with a yellow background and featuring the ITV logo underneath the Meridian name. This was an attempt to avoid the generic ITV look to follow, but Meridian was nevertheless forced to adopt this in November 1999. In the 1999 generic ITV ident, the emphasis was on network's hearts logo with a small Meridian logo only featuring at the end of the formup. The Meridian logo was reduced to little more than a smear in a box. This look was in use until October 2002 when ITV1 in England and Wales abandoned local continuity and idents. The only exception were ITV1 idents featuring the word "Meridian" below the ITV1 logo, shown before regional programming. However, even this did not last, and only a few years later these regional idents were dropped. Meridian for a while managed to still retain some identity, by featuring their (sun/moon face) logo on the local weather forecast. However the logo was removed in 2004, last seen at the start of the late-night weather forecast on 5 December 2004. On 1 February 2005 it was replaced with a generic "ITV Meridian" logo, the official name of the franchise.
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
franchise for the South and South East of 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...
. The station is owned and operated by ITV plc
ITV plc
ITV plc is a British media company that operates 12 of the 15 regional television broadcasters that make up the ITV Network, the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom...
, under the licensee of ITV Broadcasting Limited.
It has been broadcasting since 1 January 1993, when it replaced TVS
Television South
Television South was the ITV franchise holder in the south and south east of England between 1 January 1982 and 31 December 1992. The company operated under various names, initially as Television South plc and then following reorganisation in 1989 as TVS Entertainment plc, with its UK...
. The main headquarters were situated at studios in Northam, Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
(previously used by both Southern
Southern Television
Southern Television was the first ITV broadcasting licence holder for the south and south-east of England from 30 August 1958 until the night of 31 December 1981. The company was launched as Southern Television Limited and the title Southern Television was consistently used on-air throughout its life...
and TVS), but in December 2004 they moved to part of an office building on the Solent Business Park, near Whiteley
Whiteley
Whiteley is a community in the county of Hampshire, England, near Fareham. The development straddles the boundary between two council districts: the Borough of Fareham to the south and east, and the city of Winchester to the north and west.-Location:...
, Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
. As with other regional ITV companies, Meridian's role has gradually been reduced from producing a wide variety of regional and network programming (as it did since 1993, when it inherited a large studio complex in Southampton) to producing little more than regional news bulletins which are a contractual obligation (as it does today).
Over the weekend of 22-23 October 2011, Meridian moved to new premises, again at Whiteley.
- Note: Prior to 9 February 2009, ITVITVITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
's "South & South East" franchise area coincided only partly with that of the South East England government regionSouth East EnglandSouth 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...
, as it did not include the Oxford transmitter regionOxford transmitting stationThe Oxford transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications facility, situated on land above Ordnance Datum to the north east of the city of Oxford, in Oxfordshire, England . It has a guyed steel lattice mast which is in height to the top of the main steel structure...
(OxfordshireOxfordshireOxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, BuckinghamshireBuckinghamshireBuckinghamshire 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....
and SwindonSwindon (borough)The Borough of Swindon is a local government authority in South West England. It is centred on the town of Swindon and forms part of the ceremonial county of Wiltshire...
), which was instead part of the legal "MidlandsCentral Independent TelevisionCentral Independent Television, more commonly known as Central is the Independent Television contractor for the Midlands, created following the restructuring of ATV and commencing broadcast on 1 January 1982. The station is owned and operated by ITV plc, under the licensee of ITV Broadcasting...
" franchise area; it also includes parts of DorsetDorsetDorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
and WiltshireWiltshireWiltshire 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...
which are in the South West England regionSouth West EnglandSouth West England is one of the regions of England defined by the Government of the United Kingdom for statistical and other purposes. It is the largest such region in area, covering and comprising Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. ...
. The area still does not contain parts of the region bordering LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
which are instead served by ITV LondonITV LondonITV 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:...
.
History
The first programme shown on Meridian was Meridian - The First 10 Minutes, a ten-minute outside broadcast from Winchester CathedralWinchester Cathedral
Winchester Cathedral at Winchester in Hampshire is one of the largest cathedrals in England, with the longest nave and overall length of any Gothic cathedral in Europe...
, presented by Debbie Thrower
Debbie Thrower
Debbie Thrower is a British television presenter who anchored for ITV Meridian's flagship news programme Meridian Tonight from its inception in 1993 to 2009...
and previewing the station's forthcoming output. Thrower opened the broadcast with the following words:
Other launch day programmes included Michael Palin
Michael Palin
Michael Edward Palin, CBE FRGS is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his travel documentaries....
's documentary First Night on Meridian and the first Meridian News bulletins for the South, South East and West sub-regions. The launch day schedule also included the movie Best Defense
Best Defense
Best Defense is a comedy film starring Dudley Moore and Eddie Murphy. It was released in 1984 by Paramount Pictures.-Plot:The movie takes place as two parallel plots separated by several years: Moore is an engineer developing a targeting system on a tank for the United States Army and Murphy is an...
.
The first advert shown on Meridian was for the special edition Ford Fiesta
Ford Fiesta
The Ford Fiesta is a front wheel drive supermini/subcompact manufactured and marketed by Ford Motor Company and built in Europe, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela, China, India, Thailand and South Africa...
Meridian which featured the station's logo and was available through Southern Ford dealers.
Meridian Broadcasting was originally intended to function as a publisher-broadcaster, commissioning most programmes from independent producers and with in-house production largely restricted to regional news. However, over time and as its ownership changed, Meridian began to make a number of regional and networked programmes itself. As its parent company MAI (later known as United News & Media
United Business Media
UBM plc is a magazine publisher, news distributor and events organiser providing business information services principally to the technology, healthcare, media, automotive and financial services industries...
) also became a significant shareholder in Channel 5, Meridian supplied a number of the new channel's programmes such as sports programme Turnstyle and children's show Havakazoo.
Meridian-commissioned programmes that were introduced included Wizadora for pre-school children, plus ZZZap! and Eye of the Storm for older children. Later on other children's programming was introduced including Dog and Duck for pre-school children. Drama became a successful genre for Meridian, with Peter Kosminsky
Peter Kosminsky
Peter Kosminsky is a British writer, director and producer. He has directed Hollywood movies such as White Oleander and television films like Warriors, The Government Inspector and The Promise.- Biography :...
's hard-hitting No Child of Mine (co-produced by Stonehenge Films, United Productions and Meridian for ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
) tackling the emotionally difficult subject of child abuse, winning Meridian a BAFTA. Later, the same production team tackled vicious childhood bullying in Walking on the Moon for ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
. Hornblower
Hornblower (TV series)
Hornblower is the umbrella title of a series of television drama programmes based on C. S. Forester's novels about the fictional character Horatio Hornblower, a Royal Naval officer during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars....
was a Sunday night success for ITV and another Sunday night favourite, Where the Heart Is
Where the Heart Is (1997 TV series)
Where the Heart Is is a British television drama series set in the fictional town Skelthwaite.First shown in 1997, it was created by Ashley Pharoah and Vicky Featherstone...
, transferred production from Anglia
Anglia Television
Anglia Television is the ITV franchise holder for the East Anglia franchise region. Although Anglia Television takes its name from East Anglia, its transmission coverage extends beyond the generally accepted boundaries of that region. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional...
to Meridian in 2004.
When TVS
Television South
Television South was the ITV franchise holder in the south and south east of England between 1 January 1982 and 31 December 1992. The company operated under various names, initially as Television South plc and then following reorganisation in 1989 as TVS Entertainment plc, with its UK...
took over from Southern
Southern Television
Southern Television was the first ITV broadcasting licence holder for the south and south-east of England from 30 August 1958 until the night of 31 December 1981. The company was launched as Southern Television Limited and the title Southern Television was consistently used on-air throughout its life...
in 1982, the south-east region was enlarged by switching the Bluebell Hill transmitter from Thames
Thames Television
Thames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....
/LWT
London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television was the name of the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties including south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire, Warwickshire, east Dorset and...
, resulting in a new centre in Maidstone, but when Meridian took over the franchise, they created a new "West" sub-region around the Hannington transmitter in order to improve the area's local news coverage, using a small news studio based at a converted warehouse in Newbury. This studio was later closed and news presentation for the "West" region moved to the main studios at Northam in Southampton. Following the closure of the Northam studios in 2004, presentation of all three editions of Meridian Tonight
Meridian Tonight
Meridian Tonight is a regional television news and current affairs programme, produced by ITV Meridian , serving the South and South East of England , and usually broadcast at 6pm and 10.30pm every weeknight. Other bulletins are branded as Meridian News...
and local programmes moved to new headquarters in Whiteley.
Ownership
Meridian Broadcasting was founded as a consortium of Mills & Allen Int., Selectv (15%) programme makers, and Central (20%) who advised the consortium. Central along with Selectv were instrumental in winning the franchise as a low bidder. (MAI). In early 1994, MAI bought Anglia TelevisionAnglia Television
Anglia Television is the ITV franchise holder for the East Anglia franchise region. Although Anglia Television takes its name from East Anglia, its transmission coverage extends beyond the generally accepted boundaries of that region. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional...
, and in 1995, it was a major shareholder in the consortium that won the franchise for Channel 5.
In 1996, MAI merged with United Newspapers (via an agreed takeover
Mergers and acquisitions
Mergers and acquisitions refers to the aspect of corporate strategy, corporate finance and management dealing with the buying, selling, dividing and combining of different companies and similar entities that can help an enterprise grow rapidly in its sector or location of origin, or a new field or...
by United) to form United News and Media (UNM). The resulting company owned the Daily Express
Daily Express
The Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...
newspaper, Meridian, Anglia, and a large shareholding (through the Yorkshire Post
Yorkshire Post
The Yorkshire Post is a daily broadsheet newspaper, published in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England by Yorkshire Post Newspapers, a company owned by Johnston Press...
) in Yorkshire Tyne Tees Television, the owners of Yorkshire Television
Yorkshire Television
Yorkshire Television, now officially known as ITV Yorkshire and sometimes unofficially abbreviated to YTV, is a British television broadcaster and the contractor for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network...
and Tyne Tees Television
Tyne Tees Television
Tyne Tees Television is the ITV television franchise for North East England and parts of North Yorkshire. As of 2009, it forms part of a non-franchise ITV Tyne Tees & Border region, shared with the ITV Border region...
. This stake was sold to Granada, allowing them to take control of the two franchises. In October, United News and Media agreed to buy Scottish Television's 20% stake in HTV, on 28 June 1997, HTV was taken over fully by United News and Media plc (now United Business Media plc) for £370 million.
UNM had spent several years attempting to merge with either Granada Group or Carlton Communications
Carlton Communications
Carlton Communications was a British media company. It was led by Michael Green and listed on the London Stock Exchange from 1983 until 2 February 2004, when it taken over by Granada plc to form ITV plc with Carlton gaining 32% of the new company....
, but negotiations came to nothing. Instead, in 2000, UNM sold its broadcasting and newspaper interests and became United Business Media
United Business Media
UBM plc is a magazine publisher, news distributor and events organiser providing business information services principally to the technology, healthcare, media, automotive and financial services industries...
. Meridian, Anglia and HTV were acquired by Granada, but the UK Broadcasting Act
Broadcasting Act
The Broadcasting Act is an Act of the Parliament of Canada regarding broadcasting of radiocommunications...
, at that time, did not allow one company to control that number of franchises. Granada gave HTV to Carlton, in return for Carlton relinquishing the 20% stake in Meridian that it had inherited from Central Independent Television
Central Independent Television
Central Independent Television, more commonly known as Central is the Independent Television contractor for the Midlands, created following the restructuring of ATV and commencing broadcast on 1 January 1982. The station is owned and operated by ITV plc, under the licensee of ITV Broadcasting...
.
In 2002, Granada and Carlton decided to consolidate the separate brandings for the ITV franchises that they controlled, this consolidation became even more apparent after Granada and Carlton merged to form ITV plc
ITV plc
ITV plc is a British media company that operates 12 of the 15 regional television broadcasters that make up the ITV Network, the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom...
.
Studios
When Meridian originally won the franchise in 1991, their plans were to purchase buildings, not unlike their current arrangement today: with a small studio for continuity and local news. This was planned because being a publisher-broadcaster they did not plan to make any programmes themselves, instead buying in programmes from independent production companies. However, when TVS
Television South
Television South was the ITV franchise holder in the south and south east of England between 1 January 1982 and 31 December 1992. The company operated under various names, initially as Television South plc and then following reorganisation in 1989 as TVS Entertainment plc, with its UK...
lost their franchise, TVS' plans were to become an independent production company based at Vinters Park, Maidstone, where the former TVS South East division was located. Meridian took the opportunity to purchase the Southampton studios from TVS.
Meridian did put these studios to good use in the future; on some occasions, Meridian would hire their studios out to the independent companies to use for the programmes and under the ownership of United News & Media some Channel 5 programmes were made there. However, as a publisher-broadcaster, the facilities were generally too big for Meridian. By 2004, ITV plc
ITV plc
ITV plc is a British media company that operates 12 of the 15 regional television broadcasters that make up the ITV Network, the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom...
had decided that regional programming would be phased out in the years to come. In 2004, Meridian closed their Northam studios and moved to a unit in a business park in Whiteley
Whiteley
Whiteley is a community in the county of Hampshire, England, near Fareham. The development straddles the boundary between two council districts: the Borough of Fareham to the south and east, and the city of Winchester to the north and west.-Location:...
.
These headquarters contained a newsroom plus the main technical production and transmission arms of the programmes including three small news studios. There is also a south-east newsroom with producers and reporters based at The Maidstone Studios
The Maidstone Studios
The Maidstone Studios, formerly called TVS Television Centre is a television studio complex with radio studio facilities based at Vinters Park in Maidstone, Kent UK...
. Meridian South-East had originally used these studios to make the South East edition of Meridian Tonight before moving in 1994 to a purpose-built studio centre at New Hythe
New Hythe
New Hythe is a village in mid-Kent, England on the banks of the River Medway approximately 5 miles northwest of the county town of Maidstone. It derives its name from the Old English word Hythe, meaning haven or landing place....
near Maidstone in 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...
. Thames Valley Tonight
Thames Valley Tonight
Thames Valley Tonight was a regional news programme broadcast to part of the ITV Network in the Thames Valley area of southern England. The Thames Valley news region was launched on Monday 4 December 2006 and ceased to exist on 8 February 2009....
was also produced at the Whiteley headquarters, with the former Central South studio in Abingdon
Abingdon, Oxfordshire
Abingdon or archaically Abingdon-on-Thames is a market town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, England. It is the seat of the Vale of White Horse district. Previously the county town of Berkshire, Abingdon is one of several places that claim to be Britain's oldest continuously occupied town, with...
serving as a satellite newsroom remaining in a small part of the building.
In the summer of 2008, Meridian's former studios at Southampton started to be dismantled with plans for a multi-storey block of flats to be built. In December 2010, the site was still lying empty after the developer Oakdene fell into administration in 2009.
Over the weekend of 22-23 October 2011, ITV Meridian moved to new premises, on the same business park at Whiteley. The new headquarters are again based in a conventional office building, and include two studios, one of which is used for Meridian Tonight. The move was due to the cancellation of the lease at its former Whiteley premises.
Sub-regions
Until early 2009, ITV Meridian operated 3 sub-regions. The last sub-regional bulletins for the South and South East regions were aired on Friday 6 February 2009. The new pan-regional edition of Meridian Tonight began on 9 February 2009, presented by Sangeeta Bhabra and Fred Dinenage.Prior to this, the sub regional news programmes were as follows:
- ITV Meridian South East (KentKentKent 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...
, MedwayMedwayMedway is a conurbation and unitary authority in South East England. The Unitary Authority was formed in 1998 when the City of Rochester-upon-Medway amalgamated with Gillingham Borough Council and part of Kent County Council to form Medway Council, a unitary authority independent of Kent County...
, East SussexEast SussexEast 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:...
, South EssexEssexEssex 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 Brighton and Hove); - ITV Meridian South (Brighton and Hove, West SussexWest SussexWest Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming...
, southern HampshireHampshireHampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
, the Isle of WightIsle of WightThe Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
, PortsmouthPortsmouthPortsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
, SouthamptonSouthamptonSouthampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
, BournemouthBournemouthBournemouth is a large coastal resort town in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. According to the 2001 Census the town has a population of 163,444, making it the largest settlement in Dorset. It is also the largest settlement between Southampton and Plymouth...
, PoolePoolePoole is a large coastal town and seaport in the county of Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester, and Bournemouth adjoins Poole to the east. The Borough of Poole was made a unitary authority in 1997, gaining administrative independence from Dorset County Council...
, Dorchester, Weymouth, & southern WiltshireWiltshireWiltshire 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...
); - ITV Thames Valley - this replaced ITV Meridian West which served northern HampshireHampshireHampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
, northern WiltshireWiltshireWiltshire 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...
, BerkshireBerkshireBerkshire 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 parts of SurreySurreySurrey 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...
, when it merged with neighbouring Central SouthCentral Independent TelevisionCentral Independent Television, more commonly known as Central is the Independent Television contractor for the Midlands, created following the restructuring of ATV and commencing broadcast on 1 January 1982. The station is owned and operated by ITV plc, under the licensee of ITV Broadcasting...
to create a single ITV Thames ValleyITV Thames ValleyITV Thames Valley was a non-franchise ITV news region covering the Thames Valley area of the United Kingdom from 4 December 2006 until 8 February 2009. It served the south/south-eastern area of the legal Central franchise and the north/north-western area of the legal Meridian franchise...
region. Its news programme was called Thames Valley TonightThames Valley TonightThames Valley Tonight was a regional news programme broadcast to part of the ITV Network in the Thames Valley area of southern England. The Thames Valley news region was launched on Monday 4 December 2006 and ceased to exist on 8 February 2009....
, and although ITV Thames Valley was not branded as Meridian, it was broadcast from Meridian's studios. It was the biggest of the three sub-regions adding OxfordshireOxfordshireOxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, the SwindonSwindonSwindon is a large town within the borough of Swindon and ceremonial county of Wiltshire, in South West England. It is midway between Bristol, west and Reading, east. London is east...
area and BuckinghamshireBuckinghamshireBuckinghamshire 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....
to the Meridian West counties.
The South and South-East regions produced their own editions of the flagship news magazine Meridian Tonight
Meridian Tonight
Meridian Tonight is a regional television news and current affairs programme, produced by ITV Meridian , serving the South and South East of England , and usually broadcast at 6pm and 10.30pm every weeknight. Other bulletins are branded as Meridian News...
(18:00 weeknights), alongside further Meridian News bulletins throughout the day. From 2004, all of the bulletins for all three sub-regions came from studios in the same building in Whiteley, Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
. Some considered this controversial, particularly as the Meridian South East programme for 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...
, 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:...
and South 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...
was presented by anchors from a studio in Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
, 60 miles from the nearest part of the South East region (Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
) and 160 miles from its furthest point (Broadstairs
Broadstairs
Broadstairs is a coastal town on the Isle of Thanet in the Thanet district of east Kent, England, about south-east of London. It is part of the civil parish of Broadstairs and St Peter's, which includes St. Peter's and had a population in 2001 of about 24,000. Situated between Margate and...
). This practice wasn't a new one though, as Anglia had been broadcasting both editions of Anglia News/Anglia Tonight
Anglia Tonight
Anglia Tonight is a regional television news and current affairs programme, produced by ITV Anglia , serving the East of England and parts of the East Midlands and South East England. The programme is usually broadcast at 18:00 every weeknight, also including local sports news and local features of...
from Norwich for the east and west of the region since their inception in June 1990, covering a geographical area roughly the same size in length as Meridian's.
Under cost-cutting plans announced by ITV in September 2007 and agreed to by the UK's broadcasting regulator Ofcom
Ofcom
Ofcom is the government-approved regulatory authority for the broadcasting and telecommunications industries in the United Kingdom. Ofcom was initially established by the Office of Communications Act 2002. It received its full authority from the Communications Act 2003...
in October 2008, the region's three evening news broadcasts - Meridian South, Meridian South East and Thames Valley - would become split between East (South East) and West (Meridian South/Thames Valley) for the first half of the programme, and joined as one for the remainder of the programme. As of February 2009 there are pan-regional bulletins including morning ones during ITV Daybreak which are branded Daybreak Meridian News. The sub-regions retain their own local advertisements.
The pan-regional part of the programmes now covers a large part of England, stretching from Kent and south Essex (Southend-on-Sea
Southend-on-Sea
Southend-on-Sea is a unitary authority area, town, and seaside resort in Essex, England. The district has Borough status, and comprises the towns of Chalkwell, Eastwood, Leigh-on-Sea, North Shoebury, Prittlewell, Shoeburyness, Southchurch, Thorpe Bay, and Westcliff-on-Sea. The district is situated...
) to Dorset (Weymouth) as well as north to Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire.
Over half of Meridian's existing staff were made redundant under plans published by the broadcaster in October 2008. All employees who wished to remain with the company were obliged to re-apply for jobs. Some staff opted for voluntary redundancy and many others have been left without jobs. The pan-regional programme started in February 2009.
Identity
Meridian's original identStation identification
Station identification is the practice of radio or television stations or networks identifying themselves on air, typically by means of a call sign or brand name...
featured an exploding mix of orange, yellow and blue, which then came together to form the distinctive sun/moon face logo. The unusual logo design was reportedly inspired by maritime images (the sun/moon face is a recurring feature on compasses, sextants and other nautical artefacts used in the navigation of ships), appropriately reflecting the south's long seafaring history. The name "Meridian", which derives from the Latin meridionālis meaning "of the south", may also be linked to the Prime Meridian (the boundary between the Western and Eastern Hemispheres of the globe, and a key landmark in the measurement of time), which passes through the middle of the region, although this has not been confirmed.
The original formup lasted until September 1996, when the ident was replaced by one with a deep purple/blue background and an emphasis on the deep colours of the logo, as well as a smoother formup. This ident was replaced in autumn 1998 by one with a yellow background and featuring the ITV logo underneath the Meridian name. This was an attempt to avoid the generic ITV look to follow, but Meridian was nevertheless forced to adopt this in November 1999. In the 1999 generic ITV ident, the emphasis was on network's hearts logo with a small Meridian logo only featuring at the end of the formup. The Meridian logo was reduced to little more than a smear in a box. This look was in use until October 2002 when ITV1 in England and Wales abandoned local continuity and idents. The only exception were ITV1 idents featuring the word "Meridian" below the ITV1 logo, shown before regional programming. However, even this did not last, and only a few years later these regional idents were dropped. Meridian for a while managed to still retain some identity, by featuring their (sun/moon face) logo on the local weather forecast. However the logo was removed in 2004, last seen at the start of the late-night weather forecast on 5 December 2004. On 1 February 2005 it was replaced with a generic "ITV Meridian" logo, the official name of the franchise.
Productions
Some of Meridian's notable contributions to the national television network include:- 7 Days
- Catchphrase (Series 9, 7 episodes)
- Dog and DuckDog and DuckDog and Duck was a UK pre-school children's television show that was broadcast on CITV between 1999 and 2001. Created by Dan Maddicott, it centred around the characters of Dog and Duck, two toys who came alive when their owners were not looking. Other characters in the series included Piano, Tele...
- Dogs with Dunbar
- Doing It Up
- Eye of the StormEye of the StormEye of the Storm may refer to:* Eye , a region of mostly calm weather found at the center of strong tropical cyclones-Music:* Eye of the Storm , an American hard rock band* Eye of the Storm , 2007...
- Freescreen
- HornblowerHornblower (TV series)Hornblower is the umbrella title of a series of television drama programmes based on C. S. Forester's novels about the fictional character Horatio Hornblower, a Royal Naval officer during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars....
- Late Night LiveLate Night LiveLate Night Live is an Australian radio program broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Radio National as well as on Radio Australia shortwave radio and podcast and streamed over the World Wide Web....
- Monkey BusinessMonkey Business (TV series)Monkey Business is a long-running TV series about the exploits of various primates who reside at Monkey World, a rescue centre and sanctuary for primates in Dorset, United Kingdom. The series features Jim and Dr. Alison Cronin, directors of Monkey World, as they travel around the world rescuing...
- No Child of Mine
- Ridge Riders
- The Ruth Rendell MysteriesThe Ruth Rendell MysteriesThe Ruth Rendell Mysteries is a British television series made by TVS and Meridian Television for ITV between 1987 and 2000.-Description:The series comprises adaptations of the works of Ruth Rendell, many of which are based on her extensive range of short stories...
(1993–2000; previously TVSTelevision SouthTelevision South was the ITV franchise holder in the south and south east of England between 1 January 1982 and 31 December 1992. The company operated under various names, initially as Television South plc and then following reorganisation in 1989 as TVS Entertainment plc, with its UK...
) - Screen Challenge
- Ski Time
- Sooty's Amazing AdventuresSooty's Amazing AdventuresA one season animated spin off of the popular puppet show SootyIn this incarnation of the famous bear he is a full bodied bear; free from the puppeteer's hand.-Setting:...
- TeddybearsTeddybearsTeddybears is a Swedish band formed in 1991, known for mixing pop, rock, hip-hop, electronica, reggae, punk and many other genres.-History:...
- That's Esther
- Walking on the MoonWalking on the Moon"Walking on the Moon" is a 1979 song by The Police, from their second album, Reggatta de Blanc. The song was The Police's second number-one hit single in the United Kingdom. It reached number nine in Australia but did not chart in the United States...
- What's My Line?What's My Line?What's My Line? is a panel game show which originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, with several international versions and subsequent U.S. revivals. The game tasked celebrity panelists with questioning contestants in order to determine their occupations....
- Where the Heart IsWhere the Heart Is (1997 TV series)Where the Heart Is is a British television drama series set in the fictional town Skelthwaite.First shown in 1997, it was created by Ashley Pharoah and Vicky Featherstone...
(transferred from Anglia) - WizadoraWizadoraWizadora was a children's television programme broadcast on ITV in the United Kingdom from 1993 to 1998. However, it was first used as a language teaching tool for children to learn the English language, by Oxford University Press in 1991. The series was created by Don Arioli and Carolyne Cullum. ...
- WoWWow-Business:*WOW!, an internet, cable, and phone company*WOW! , a defunct ISP from CompuServe*WOW, a radio station in Omaha, Nebraska, started in 1922 by Woodmen of the World; today known as KXSP*WOW , English toy company...
- ZZZap!ZZZap!Zzzap was a British children's television comedy programme. The concept of the show was a giant comic that has been brought to life. The show ran from 8 January 1993 until 21 September 2001, and was produced by The Media Merchants and Meridian Broadcasting...