The Midlands: ‘From Wales to the Wash’

Abstract

Yorkshire is big but has a clear identity. The Midlands are bigger, but are without any such cohesion. For broadcasters — both BBC and ITV — their task is to cover the whole of eight counties and substantial parts of six others. The total population is well over 10 million. But for broadcasters the Midlands is the only region with competitors on every side. As Bob Southgate of Central Television put it ‘every border is threatened’ — with YTV and Granada to the north and other strong challengers to the south. Anglia Television to the east and HTV Wales to the west might take a different view, seeing the powerful transmitters of the Midlands reaching well into territory that by rights is theirs. Even Thames Television and London Weekend must look enviously at Central’s Oxford transmitter, reaching wealthy parts of the Thames Valley and providing better pictures to Reading than they can offer.