Overview
The BBC began broadcasting a regional TV news programme for the South of England (then known as South at Six, but changing to the current title in the early 1970s) in January 1961, getting on air four months before the launch of Southern Television's rival magazine programme Day by Day. Originally, the BBC's Southampton operations were based in South Western House, the former Cunard shipping line headquarters near the city's docks. In 1991, the programme moved to purpose-built studios in Havelock Road.
The original presenter was Martin Muncaster. Bruce Parker joined the programme in 1967 and remained as a regular presenter until 1989, continuing to provide holiday cover and present weekend bulletins until 1997. The current main presenter, Sally Taylor, started co-presenting the programme in 1987 (replacing Debbie Thrower), initially alongside Parker and then successively with Paddy Haycocks, Mark Longhurst, Harry Gration and Roger Finn, but in recent years she has been the regular solo presenter of the main programme.
Currently, South Today produces eleven bulletins each weekday: 6 bulletins in the morning during BBC Breakfast, a short bulletin at 15:00, a 15-minute programme at 13:30, the half-hour main programme at 18:30, a headlines update at 20:00 and a 7-minute late night bulletin at 22:25. An additional four bulletins air during the weekend: a lunchtime bulletin on Saturday, early evening bulletins on Saturday & Sunday and a late night bulletin on Sundays, following the BBC News at Ten. The times of these bulletins usually vary.
The programme is broadcast live from studios in Southampton.
Prior to September 2001, South Today's region included areas served by the Heathfield Transmitter and its relays which covered eastern Sussex and southern Kent. These areas are now covered by the BBC's South East Today.
Following digital switchover on 7 March 2012, the Whitehawk Hill transmitter (which serves the Brighton, Hove, Shoreham and Worthing area) now carries BBC South East output instead of BBC South.
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