BBC News Channel & World News to merge?

The thing I have about mobile news services is that their generally limited to the developed world. The BBC World Service and World News have talked about how developing countries is Asia and Africa are starting to get smart phones - but the prices are exhorbanant for the phones themselves and the data costs associated with it. Where I believe World News TV aside from North America is FTA for most of the world.

If they're gung-ho on a mergere this is how I'd think it work: Could World News and News Channel such an independent live A block, the world cuts to break while NC has the filler; at the B block one of the presenters could take over and do general world news such as health; and then the C block with a pre recorded sportscast for world and NC audience. Hope you follow my logic.

I still don't want them to merge but surely some cross employees could be cross trained for mobile news - such as those lovely captioned videos that have been making their way on air. What are the former BBC3 News Presenters doing now - I could see the BBC repurposing them for mobile.

An interesting perspective from Justin Webb about news presenters' salaries. I guess a merger would mean fewer presenter salaries to pay?

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2016-06-02/do-news-broadcasters-get-paid-too-much

It depends how many are freelance and ho many are staff SBJs on permanent contacts who are difficult to get rid of cheaply.

It's an Interesting piece from Justin. The comparison to the PM's salary actually shows that PM isn't paid enough rather than that others are. Many council chief executives and some academy school head teachers are allegedly paid in the same ballpark or higher. The person running the country should get substantially more than somebody running a council or a school.

Is there an argument that a journalist who has to ask questions which hold these kinds of people to account can do so more effectively if the interviewee sees them as being at roughly the same level as themselves? Certain interviewees would afford them more respect than somebody they considered to be on a junior pay grade, and it gives the interviewer confidence to not be deferential and ask questions that might be seen as impertinent from somebody considered more junior?

Or that could be a load of amateur psychologist bobbins.

Close to the current format of 30-minute news bulletin, 15 minutes of business, and then 15 minutes of sports?

I think you're both missing the point that a domestic and international audience will want different agendas during the '30 minute news bulletin'. It doesn't really matter how you fill the rest of the hour, as is proved at weekends already.


If you're going to have different news bulletins for the first 30 minutes, then you are essentially suggeting what exists now - two seperate channels for most of the time.

I only come up with the suggestion thinking that they could opt out of different parts - with one anchor in one studio and another in another then they come present double headed. Do the switchers in NBH (what make/model are they) offer the capability of different feeds and if so could they be done through Mosart?

Interesting to see the comments from Chris Eakin and Martine Croxall under that piece

There are facilities for one gallery to play out recorded material to one outlet and be live on another, it's done every weeknight in A to play out weather to BBC1 HD while doing the London 8pm summary. But that's very much set piece, whether it would be viable to run two bulletins at the same time is less likely, I would suggest. But I'm not sure that that would yield any significant saving.

World does still have regional opt outs in certain areas, so there's precedent for treating the UK as a regional opt from World at certain times, but as the articles linked from this thread suggest, you would end up watering down both services so much that they both lose their reason for existing.

#

In that case the wrong people are at the top of BBC News. Yes, mobile and online delivery is important but just like newspapers didn't die with the launch of radio, and radio didn't die with the launch of TV there is no reason TV has to die due to the launch of mobiles.


Although I do dispute his claim that he edited the channel "every minute of every day" for six years.

The two channels have to remain distinct but I do believe they can share more content and probably both be streamlined. What needs to happen though is for both to be relaunched - picking bits from the World schedule to try and patch up holes in the News Channel schedule clearly isn't working - they need to effectively start them both from scratch and commission new programming for the slots where both channels would share the service.

To be honest, I find any comparison with the salary of the PM facile. The PM does after all have the use of accommodation at Downing Street and Chequers as part of his package...

As for the merging of the News Channel and BBC World News, it will no doubt be a fait accompli and, as per BBC3, the voices of reason will be ignored.

And if you're into comparisons, it's surely ridiculous to think the Prime Minister earns less than any MD or CEO, given the job is of much great importance and difficulty, with far more serious responsibility. And most of the columnists and commentators making those comparisons make vastly more than the national average, or what nurses make, or those in the forces...

I think my concern for the News Channel is that they'll make a chance so that they're seen to be doing something - like with the BBC Recipe site fiasco, appearing to close or drastically change a service even though no meaningful cost savings will be achieved.

The current leadership at the BBC is unfortunately like the Conservative government, in not wanting to definite 'success' purely in the context of balancing the books (something that'll be quickly forgotten in history), so they want to find a way to be innovative and reforming while making cuts. The result is far more of what works, and is liked, is cut than is otherwise necessary in order to provide financing and resources for something new.

Cutting the News Channel likely involves losing a dozen or more presenter spots that earn in excess of £100,000 - reducing on air talent like that would be a headline James Harding would write himself, I'm betting, given the positive 'spin' that would generate. 'We're doing more for less'... 'We're cutting down on 'talent' costs' etc. I'm sure none of the leadership particularly wants to see people losing their jobs, but at the same time would relish the chance to take control of the anti-BBC spend agenda that's taken hold in recent years. It also makes investment and spending seem more reasonable, even if the sums don't actually balance.

'BBC News Mobile' sounds to me like a way of spinning the BBC website so that people aren't making comparisons to newspaper websites and other forms of online journalism (re: BBC killing commercial journalism) and instead think of it as providing something unique, or comparable to Facebook and YouTube apps on your phone.




All of that said, I suspect (and hope) they'll see sense, and instead you'll see further 'modest' cuts to the News Channel and further integration between the online and news channel staff behind the scenes. As Chris and Martine point out a lot of the website's content originates on the News Channel - they'd still need to produce the same number of interviews (requiring producers and technical crew of some kind), the same number of national reports etc. - the budget would just move somewhere else.

They'd also find politicians and similar important UK guests choosing Sky over the BBC, because they can be interviewed immediately on TV, and I'd bet Sky News will see far greater viewing figures during breaking news stories if this plan went ahead (without a corresponding rise in BBC Online/Mobile).

I bet slightly more output (especially at weekends) goes over to WN simulcasts, and there are cuts to BBC Weather and BBC Sports' NC output.

I would suspect that Sport is seen as a good way to add value for the UK audience. Separate sport bulletins produced from Salford seems like an easy way of producing specific content for the UK while not being limited to still images like World is