BBC London News

BBC London News (referred to onscreen as BBC London) is the BBC's regional television news programme for the English region encompassing London and the surrounding areas. Its local competitor is ITV News London, which is produced by ITN for ITV London.

BBC London News is broadcast seven days a week on BBC One in London and the surrounding areas, 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 and early evening and on Sunday evening. Lateef became the main presenter of the flagship programme in March 2006 when she replaced Emily Maitlis who left to join the BBC News channel and BBC Two's Newsnight.

Weather forecasts are normally provided by former BBC national forecaster Peter Cockroft, during the weekday evening and late bulletins, or Wendy Hurrell, Kate Kinsella or Elizabeth Rizzini during BBC Breakfast, lunchtime and weekends (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 BBC Broadcasting House which is also the home of BBC London 94.9 radio station, but 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.

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 East, 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.

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 Scotland. 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 satellite channel 974 on the BBC UK regional TV on satellite service.