Newsnight

It's a tricky one. If you're trying to do a debate with one contributor in the studio and one DTL it's not going to be as good as if both were in the studio together.

It can be difficult to balance it because it's harder for the remote contributor to get back in to disagree with something the studio guest says. There's plenty written in media training manuals about the pitfalls of doing interviews DTL or on the phone be Vs in the studio.

Ultimately, if things "never get back to normal" then we're all STUFFED, not just the media.

The likelihood things won’t ever quite go back to how they were, partly because there’s a realisation now that alternative ways of working and conducting business have advantages over traditional routes. Even as workplaces return to full capacity, it’s hard to imagine some meetings that would previously have required excessive or expensive travel won’t now be done via Teams or Zoom, for example. A lot of things that were possible before were avoided because it wasn’t the traditional way: now, with increasingly diverse needs and spending implications, organisations will have to think twice.

The British broadcasters prioritise in-person conversations where possible because it looks cleaner and functions more smoothly than DTL, but broadcasters like CNN, NBC/MSNBC, Fox News etc. have been regularly doing multi-guest debates and discussions where all parties were DTL for years. I’m not saying it’s ideal or preferable, but if the alternative is spending £100,000s more a year staffing/running an additional studio just so Newsnight has a bit more in-studio flexibility, I imagine that money would be better spent on journalism than studio production?

I agree wholeheartedly with this. Even before the pandemic satellite and more recently skype communications have been pretty much de rigueur but since the pandemic " DTL" interviews have exploded. Even when things return to "normal" I believe many people will simply be too scared to travel.

The cost is also an issue. Its cheaper to spend X number of pounds on an internet connection then £100k on a studio. Something for Mr Divie to think about maybe?

Enjoy NN in Studio E while it lasts! In a few weeks it'll be on the move to a studio not yet seen by domestic audiences. There might even be some new furniture too....

Oh dear, that sounds as though it might not look good.

I guess if it ain't been seem by the domestic audience the it's probably 54D or a return to 34D

54D could look good, and appears to have plenty of space for sofa discussions etc.

https://www.newscaststudio.com/setstudio/bbc-news-studio-54d/

Hated the studio they used in the run up to the election.

Actually, I thought 34D looked fine apart from the 'peanut desk'. Did someone get a deal on a 'job lot' of those?

54D looks to have more space. I don't see why they'd need 'new furniture' unless someone has made off with the chairs they used to have in Studio B.

This would also make an ideal studio for BBC Breakfast if they ever returned to London. I'm sure BBC Persia could be rehoused somewhere else.

Re: furniture, perhaps the stuff from B doesn’t fit comfortably into the new (potentially smaller) set, or they need something that can remain in situ and work across multiple programming strands?

If they've got a sofa in there, then they can put in 3 chairs. Set furniture is often changed between programmes on standing sets, not just the lighting.

54D could also serve as a new home for Marr.