Before 1968, the region was served by regional output from Manchester, launched in September 1957 with daily
News from the North bulletins for the entire north of England. The start of a separate programme for the North East & Cumbria in 1959 allowed the daily bulletins to focus on the North West and Yorkshire & Lincolnshire areas. The programme was extended to 20 minutes in 1962 and renamed
North at Six (later
Look North). BBC regional television from Leeds has been broadcast since Monday 25 March 1968. The launch of a dedicated regional news service from Leeds allowed for greater coverage of the two distinct areas on each side of the Pennines. It also coincided with the decision to introduce a separate ITV contractor for the east of the Pennines,
Yorkshire Television, which went on air in July 1968 along with its own regional news magazine,
Calendar. Prior to that, Yorkshire had been covered by the Manchester-based contractors ABC (weekends) and Granada (weekdays). The original team of
Look North presenters and reporters from Leeds included John Burns, Barry Chambers, David Haigh, James Hogg and David Seymour. Because the Leeds programme was carried on the powerful Holme Moss transmitter, it could be received in the north-west, Isle of Man, south to near Birmingham and even in parts of Northern Ireland as viewers' correspondence often testified (the Manchester programme was carried from Winter Hill and restricted to the north-west).
Look North from Leeds was the main programme for the whole of the 'BBC North' (later 'Yorkshire & Lincolnshire') region until 11 November 2002, when a new studio had been built in
Hull, and the programme split in two. A short opt-out service for the East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire had been in service since 2001. The programme was first produced from
All Souls' Church in Blackman Lane, Leeds, where part of the church had been converted into a black-and-white television studio with attendant equipment. In 1974,
Look North moved to new studios at Broadcasting House on Woodhouse Lane near
Leeds Metropolitan University and around the corner from All Souls Church. The new facilities, equipped for colour, remained the base for
Look North Leeds and other regional programmes until 26 September 2004. A new broadcasting centre was built near the
West Yorkshire Playhouse on St Peter's Square, with
BBC Look North moving into the new premises on 27 September 2004. The move coincided with the introduction of a new
BBC region for Yorkshire and the North Midlands. On Monday 13 May 2024, the programme broadcast in HD for the first time. == Presenters ==