Big changes to local media
28th December 2008
Significant changes are happening at three of Luton's news outlets at the start of 2009.
Newspaper moves from Sundays to Wednesdays
Free newspaper Luton on Sunday is being replaced by Luton & Dunstable Express. The new paper will be published every Wednesday from 31st December 2008.
Radio station is renamed
Chiltern Radio has been broadcasting to the Luton area from studios at Chiltern Road in Dunstable since October 1981. From 5th January 2009 the station will be renamed Heart 97.6 . Weekday output from 06:00 until 10:00, from 13:00 until 19:00 and weekend output from 08:00 to 12:00 will still come from the Dunstable studios. Local news bulletins will feature during these times. At other times programming will be shared with other stations across the Heart network.
Television news is cut
The separate West and East bulletins from Anglia News on ITV1 have been replaced by one bulletin for the whole Anglia region, with short pre-recorded opt-outs for the West and East areas. Well-known presenters and reporters Tim Curtis, Caroline Oldrey, Stuart Jarrold, Karl Heidel and Charlotte Fisher have all been made redundant.