Studios
BBC South's regional broadcasting centre is based in Southampton, with local radio and television studios also in Oxford, Brighton, Portsmouth and Reading.
Prior to moving to the current studios in 1991, BBC South was based at South Western House, a former grand hotel set up to cater for first class passengers using the transatlantic liners from Southampton and latterly used as a military HQ during the planning of the D-day landings. The building was famed for its clear views of Southampton docks, making events such as the departure of the Queen Mary easy to film, as cameras only had to set up on the roof of the building, though the technology used at South Western House was famed for its unreliability, as most of this equipment was second hand and brought in from other BBC buildings. The introduction of colour television in the early 1970s led to a major reconstruction of the building, which had a main studio (used largely for South Today) and a small presentation studio for news bulletins and continuity - unusually, the camera for the small studio was situated in the outside corridor and looking into the room.
In 1991, BBC South moved into new, purpose-built facilities at Havelock Road in Southampton. The new studios were built on to the side of the hill at the top of the city with the railway tunnel running directly underneath. This slope meant that the new television studios were far larger than the previous ones, as they could take up vast amounts of space on a lower level. The new facilities also included brand new equipment and technology, radio studios for BBC Radio Solent and editing suites.
The extra space was because BBC South, at the time, was one of the new regional production centres. Previously production centres had been in the large regions with studio facilities, these being the nations, BBC Midlands, BBC North West and BBC West. However, some smaller production centres were being trialled in the South and the North East. As a result, the new studio was made slightly larger so that it could accommodate a network production. When the BBC decided to reduce regional productions as a cost-cutting measure, the fact that BBC South's studio was not too large meant that it was allowed to remain open, unlike many of the other studios and production centres.
The complex has two studios. Studio A, the larger, is used for South Today and is audience capable, while Studio B, the smaller, is occasionally used by South Today and was originally used for the Oxford Opt-out. It is currently used as a meeting room.
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