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BBC News nostalgia, including BBC World

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IT
itsrobert Founding member
An interesting recording of 90 minutes worth of overnight News 24 footage from 20th April 2001 - just about a month after TV Forum had launched.



Some interesting parts:

*ABC World News Tonight with Peter Jennings
*BBC News with Heather McCarthy - not too long after she had first started on the channel I think
*World Business Report with Mishal Husain in London and Paddy O'Connell in New York - includes some wide shots of N9

The video includes the dodgy overnight headline vamp that was, for some unknown reason, at a slightly higher pitch than the rest of the theme music. It annoyed the heck out of me at the time! Although I did like the staccato notes at the beginning.
DV
dvboy
Poor Heather didn't spot her 2:30 script outtro hadn't been changed from 1:30.

I like Paddy's "Were the business, thank you for yours." sign-off
IT
itsrobert Founding member
dvboy posted:
Poor Heather didn't spot her 2:30 script outtro hadn't been changed from 1:30.

I like Paddy's "Were the business, thank you for yours." sign-off

Yes, I seem to recall the WBR sign-off was a bit of a 'thing' in those days on the 2130GMT edition. The one you've quoted was Paddy's and I seem to recall John Terrett's was something like "two for the price of one on this programme...". I wouldn't be at all surprised if Richard Quest had one too - I just can't remember now.
IT
itsrobert Founding member
Just remembered Tanya Beckett's sign-off when she had a spell in New York - "thanks for making your business our business". They all sound a bit corny now though! Seemed uber cool back then.
GI
ginnyfan
So that 02.30 WBR is a recorded edition from earlier in the day?
IT
itsrobert Founding member
So that 02.30 WBR is a recorded edition from earlier in the day?

Yes, that's right. It went out live at 2130GMT on BBC World but was replayed on News 24 overnight. They also used to air an edition of Asia Today that had been taped earlier for BBC World.
AL
AaronLancs
Thanks for the video.

Few points I'd like to ask about:

1: Did they really do more care in timing BBC One handovers back in the day? Or does it seem that way these days.
2: Was there a reason that the BBC News / BBC World closing title wasn't played at xx25 during this era in overnights and the sting was played?
3: With regard to WBR was the camera on the London presenter in N9 always meant to be off balance from "normal" camera position for that chair? (If you get my drift)
4: What was the shortest countdown ever played out during this era given that 12s is shown in the clip?

Sorry to be a pain.
DE
deejay
The BBC One opt always used to be treated with respect where possible in those days yes. Now it’s simply a crash in whenever they get to it.
SP
Steve in Pudsey
I like the way they used to pop up a News 24 ident to introduce programmes like WBR and the back half hour programmes at the weekend.
HA
harshy Founding member
That N8 set clearly a lot of effort was put into it but just didn’t come across well on screen, whilst N9 looked the business even though it was a set dumped into a live and busy newsroom with a couple of red and beige boards put in on the sides.
NG
noggin Founding member

1: Did they really do more care in timing BBC One handovers back in the day? Or does it seem that way these days.


Yes, definitely. A lot of effort was made in BBC News 24/Joint service running order terms to accommodate an opt-in point for BBC One. In some cases multiple points were provided for BBC One national variations as well in the very early days. The use of the flags at the opt-in allowed NC1 and the News gallery a little bit of a buffer in timing terms.

Of course in those days it was possible for NC1 to cut to a live source pretty much instantly, these days manual transitions to live sources have around a 2-3" delay. (There's a delay both on the automation system actioning the cut, and an inherent delay in the incoming vision source within the IP processing)
IT
itsrobert Founding member

2: Was there a reason that the BBC News / BBC World closing title wasn't played at xx25 during this era in overnights and the sting was played?

I'm not sure, except to say that the overnight bulletins had always ended with a sting as far back as 1998 when they had been introduced. Not sure if the fact that the sting ended with a sustained hold meant that it was a bit easier for BBC World to opt out? If they had used the closing titles it would have had a definite end/opt out point. Maybe it was along the same lines as the start of the bulletin that used a vamp starting with an extended staccato section to facilitate the opt in for BBC World?

3: With regard to WBR was the camera on the London presenter in N9 always meant to be off balance from "normal" camera position for that chair? (If you get my drift)

Yes, it was always like that for World Business Report. Presumably to differentiate it from the news bulletins. Eventually, in August 2001 the N9 set was upgraded to also include a plasma screen on the right side and from then on, WBR was presented from the other side of the desk.

4: What was the shortest countdown ever played out during this era given that 12s is shown in the clip?

Don't know for certain, but pretty short I imagine. I'm sure I remember some on either News 24 or World (once World had introduced a proper countdown instead of the 10-second countdown and symbol they used to use) that were 5 seconds or less.
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