Unlike ITV Meridian (East), it does not provide local news for southern Essex (received from a Bluebell Hill overlap), this area being part of the BBC London region instead.

In 2020, South East Today joined forces with BBC London News during the COVID-19 Pandemic to keep viewers in both regions informed with the developments about the virus in their areas, although it didn't affect their separate main evening programmes.

London had not been afforded the same 'regional' status as the other BBC regions as the bulk of the national content was produced in the capital.

This was reflected in the fact that since the launch of regional TV news bulletins in 1957, there was no specialist division within the BBC tasked with producing South East opt-outs.

Town and Around, the BBC's first attempt at a South East news programme, was gradually integrated into Nationwide, whose production team produced the local bulletins, presented for many years by Bob Wellings.

Production teams based within the BBC's Current Affairs department continued to produce London Plus until a dedicated South East operation was finally introduced on Tuesday 28 March 1989 with the launch of Newsroom South East from a dedicated news centre at the BBC Elstree Centre in Hertfordshire.

The regional broadcasting centre is based in Tunbridge Wells, Kent with local radio studios and television bureaux located in Brighton and Guildford.