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Fifty years ago this week a former Southampton hotel, which played host to Hollywood stars boarding the great liners and passengers joining the Titanic's fateful maiden voyage, witnessed a television landmark as the ´óÏó´«Ã½ launched a local TV news service from South Western House in the city.

On 4, 5 and 6 January, ´óÏó´«Ã½ South will be pointing the camera lens at itself to celebrate 50 years of broadcasting in the region – a memorable achievement that has seen some of the biggest names in the ´óÏó´«Ã½ and in broadcast news pass through its doors over five decades.

Kate Adie, Jon Sopel, Michael Buerk, Jenni Murray, John Arlott, Sally Taylor, Bruce Parker, Andrew Harvey, Bob Wellings, Alan Little, Debbie Thrower, Martin Muncaster, Peter McCann and Sheila Tracey are just a few of those names.

Others have progressed to the top of the world's biggest broadcasting organisations – South Today programme producer Mark Byford became ´óÏó´«Ã½ Deputy Director-General and Chris Cramer, former head of ´óÏó´«Ã½ Newsgathering, became a president of American broadcasting giant CNN.

An era that has seen major advances in newsgathering – from typewriters and black and white film that had to be developed in chemicals prior to transmission, to the computerised world of digital newsgathering and computer graphics we now see on our TV screens.

Indeed, the last half century has seen not only the start of a ´óÏó´«Ã½ local TV service for the patch but also the beginning of ´óÏó´«Ã½ local radio – ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Solent celebrated its 40th anniversary on New Year's Eve – and the arrival of the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s online news service in the Nineties.

The ´óÏó´«Ã½'s local TV service for the south was formally launched by the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s Director-General, Sir Hugh Carleton Green, on 6 January 1961, who commented: "I believe this attention to local affairs, to the daily life of our own community, our own town or our own village, our own county, is the most valuable service TV can undertake."

In 1991, ´óÏó´«Ã½ South moved its broadcast operations to purpose-built studios in the city centre of Southampton – where it still remains.

But the traditions and heritage of broadcasting remain important to South Today editor Lee Desty, who has been with ´óÏó´«Ã½ South for over 22 years.

"The anniversary is about marking the contributions of thousands of people who have worked for ´óÏó´«Ã½ South over 50 years and it's about the celebrating a wonderful heritage of programmes to have come out of our studios at Southampton.

"Local news has always been a constant but ´óÏó´«Ã½ South has also delivered some wonderful news specials, documentaries, feature and entertainment programmes. Some of those have been shown across the ´óÏó´«Ã½ TV's national network.

"In the Eighties – in the days before satellite news channels and the internet – one ´óÏó´«Ã½ South programme could expect to command an audience of well over a million ´óÏó´«Ã½ One viewers in the region. Although some commentators have been quick to write off the value of local TV news in the digital world, audiences have not. This year we had a ´óÏó´«Ã½ One audience of over 940,000 for South Today coverage of the January snow – that was a 20-year record. That shows there is still a big demand for high quality local news that is trusted and bang up to date."

Recently, ´óÏó´«Ã½ South staff discovered the earliest known edition of local TV news from its Southampton studios – an edition of South At Six, which dates from 1962 and which is in black and white.

Up to 150 existing and former ´óÏó´«Ã½ South staff will be gathering at The Hilton Hotel in Southampton on Thursday 6 January to celebrate the anniversary. The event has been organised and paid for by the staff themselves.

Notes to Editors

Pictures of ´óÏó´«Ã½ South in action in the early days are available.

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