A technical upgrade at BBC East means viewers in the region will join BBC London News for the weekend.
The combined service from London this weekend will go out under the generic “BBC News” brand. Full regional news coverage continues online.
The BBC is currently in the process of upgrading technology and studio sets in various regions as part of two separate projects. Specifically in Norwich, the BBC is upgrading equipment in preparation for Look East to broadcast in full HD. The programme is presently upscaled on BBC One East HD.
Work affecting the most important pieces of equipment, notably the broadcast gallery are typically timed to take place over the weekend, when there are fewer regional bulletins. This is because most regions are unable to output any programmes while this work takes place.
Earlier this year, the Newcastle edition of Look North was off-air for two weekends to allow upgrades to take place. During this time, a combined regional news service from Leeds took over.
For viewers in the East of England, BBC Look East will return next week.
Currently, the following BBC regions broadcast regional news in full HD:
- London (BBC London News)
- North East & Cumbria (Look North – Newcastle)
- North West (North West Today/Tonight)
- South (South Today)
- South West (Spotlight)
A separate upgrade to studio sets has completed in the East and West Midlands, Yorkshire (Leeds and Hull) and is now due to rollout in other regions. Eventually, all regions will be broadcast in both full HD and from new style studio sets.