Obits during a major event

I'm talking about the big stuff. Like Diana, 9/11 or the Queen's passing here.

It's widely believed that everything stops and goes to rolling news.

But what happens if it kicks off during a major event? Such as a crucial Euro/WC match, or Eurovision?

The only precedent worldwide I can think of is the Netherlands fireworks factory disaster which caused NOS to leave Eurovision 2000 in progress. (They also had to use a backup jury, firstly due to the fact the programme wasn't shown in full but also to free up line capacity.)

What would happen now? Would the event go to a minor channel? Or would it stay on air with signposts to coverage?

I'd predict, if something happened during Eurovision as an example, they'd run the news on BBC Two and have a caption on BBC One telling viewers to switch over.

Then again, it depends on severity. I'm not entirely up on the regulations regarding Eurovision but I know there's something in place that means the BBC can't miss certain parts of it... Or the whole thing. I'm sure there's a clause somewhere that allows a broadcaster to opt out of the coverage if a major news story breaks.

I highly doubt the BBC would get away with reporting something like a royal death on BBC Two while half of Europe is having a massive knees up on BBC One.

When Diana died some of the smaller channels had notifications/pointers asking viewers to turn to a news channel. They had still regular programming but "turn over" notifications.

9/11 interrupted programming on ITV and the BBC at the time, it's documented in another thread that BBC One interrupted something to bring breaking news re: Diana, then went back to the item later.

The passing of the Queen, lessons will have been learnt from the Queen Mother saga (ie when Peter Sissons went on air with a burgundy coloured tie), but I dare say the news would be embargoed (Queen Mother died at 3:15pm, wasn't announced until I think about quarter to six the same day) so there would be plenty of warning to do it properly, and possibly fit it at a natural junction.

If needs interruption, needs interruption me thinks, if it's important enough. Just like the Government has the right to interrupt TV broadcasts in times of national emergency, if the call comes during Coronation Street, so be it.

Slightly off topic but just on 9/11 I remember all sorts of channels seemed to have the caption on screen turn to BBC News / Sky News etc for a major news story, including Nickelodeon and Disney Channel.

As I say, NOS in the Netherlands were allowed to take it off for something I don't think would merit it over here, but it was a world before DSO. One would imagine they'd move the event over to BBC Two and join NC (and probably World) on One. Not sure what ITV would do.

Morbidly, the Queen is something we're going to have to deal with sooner rather than later. Yet, I can't see Joe Public being up for "Diana mode."

Passing of Queen Mother didn't stop S4C from airing its scheduled rugby match. She carked it midway through the first half. They showed a brief Newyddion bulletin during the half time break and went straight back to the ground for the 2nd half.

ITV ran a programme a few years back called Newsflash: stories that stopped the world . Really interesting if you're into that sort of thing - which I assume you are.

I suppose the main broadcasters would be penalised a lot more if they chose something like Eurovision over say the Queen's death. Personally, even if I was watching a big event I'd rather be informed as quickly as possible of something that's deemed breaking news worthy - I think the whole nature of it suggests "you need to know this". However the repercussions of doing so from those behind the event opted away from, I'm unsure how they'd react.

I always found it rather snobby and pedantic that people complained about Peter Sissons' tie. Had he delivered the news in a clown costume I could understand but the colour (which wasn't a disrespectful one) of his tie is surely a stupid thing to be complaining about.

I would be intrequied to see how this would all go and what would take precedent over the other.

The death of Pope John Paul II in 2005 occurred during a live broadcast of a remake of 'The Quatermass Experiment' on BBC Four, and a caption was overlaid on screen as the programme continued.

When it comes to major news other than a senior royal obit, where everyone has well-rehearsed formal plans, schedulers and channel controllers would tend to come up with decisions to suit the situation as it develops. There have been times when important news has been anticipated in advance (for example, Nelson Mandela was reported to be gravely ill on many occasions several months before his eventual passing, and of course there have been a couple of royal babies over the last few years) and plans were made on what to do if the news is announced during this live programme or that live event. I won't go into any specifics, broadcasters are understandably very sensitive about this sort of thing.

There are always a number of factors to take into account when it comes to deciding whether something gets shunted across to the second channel or the news goes there, from the seriousness of the news to the importance of the scheduled programme. If there was huge, 9/11-style news during a crucial home nations World Cup match, my instinct is that the match would move across to the second channel but there's every chance something else could be decided if the news broke at half time or in the closing minutes of the game.

Incidentally, there are also often guidelines about how to let the studio audience of an interrupted live programme know what has happened (the warm-up act isn't allowed to be the one who breaks the news!).

Scenarios such as those being discussed here were the subject of many an interview for a position within Presentation! The fact is, you can't prepare for every eventuality and more often than not, it seems simple scenarios don't always happen. There is a line of thought that major events should be on BBC One, as that's the channel people most often turn to (even in this day and age). Hence why Andy Murray still shunts the regional news to a later slot if he's playing on Centre in the 2nd week at Wimbledon (before DSO the regions often got shunted to Two, as oft discussed around these parts, something not possible now except in the Nations). There is of course the argument that something like a World Cup Final (or crucial semi in which a home team is playing) is also a major event. It all depends on the nature of the news, the importance of the event in progress and what the link is between the two.

Roger Mosey's new book, Getting Out Alive, discusses this because he was Controller of Five Live when Diana died and Head of News when the Queen Mother died. He says the issue with the tie was because the original policy was that they would change into black tie when the news was announced, but because they always assumed that the story would break gradually - reporting she was ill, and then finally reporting she was dead - they thought it would be distracting to viewers for them to abruptly change clothes in the middle of the news. So as long as the clothes were suitably sober, that was OK and they didn't need to change. But when it actually happened they didn't have any of the build-up of all, the first they heard was that she was dead.

Mosey also says that the big mistake was to treat it as "breaking news" and go to live reporters and do interviews, when it wasn't breaking news and they should have gone straight to the obit to avoid awkward situations. Also everyone was holiday, so rather than concentrating on the coverage they were spending ages trying to find Lorraine Heggessey in Canada.

A very interesting book, this, well worth a read. An interesting story about Jim Callaghan's death and when it was announced as well.

If the Queen passes away during the night, her death will not be announced until 8am. It is said that the BBC would suspend any light entertainment or comedy shows between her death and her funeral. If she died during Eurovision, I think it's safe to say it would be pulled.