BBC News 24 Relaunch

The following question might be stupid, but I am still going to ask it, because I am a foreigner (what an excuse...).

Why does the BBC has news bulletins on BBC One if it has a news channel which broadcasts a full programme every hour?

And another question which just comes into my head: are the one, six, and ten o'clock news (on BBC One) simulcasted on News 24?

Except Newsround and Working Lunch (and I think Breakfast with Frost) use TC7

Not stupid question at all. News 24 is only available to those with digital services which is why the news is still carried on BBC One. The bulletins aren't simulcast with the exception of Breakfast. N24's output is signed in vision for the hard of hearding whilst many of the news programmes are on BBC One.

Because there are people in the uk, who still receive their TV from a TV aerial, there are only five channels that are receivable, BBC1, BBC2, ITV1, CH4, CH5, no News 24!

To add to the last two posts - the BBC One bulletins are more of a round-up of the news, whereas News 24 is rolling news. Very often, N24 scraps its news items for prolonged periods of time to cover breaking news, press conferences etc. Some people would rather have all the main news in one go, and thus BBC One still caters for them.

One more point, channels in the UK have requirements built into their licence which says how much news they must carry and at what time.

I think that even when (and if) everyone has digital, BBC One will have to carry news. This is so that more people watch the news - if there are bulletins at set times regularly on the main channels, people are more likely to watch the news than if they had to turn to another channel to watch.

So if I'm a non-digital viewer living in the United Kingdom I can only receice (from the BBC) BBC One and Two?

How many people have digital television in the U.K.? Has it, so far, been worth the investment and does the British government play an active role in this 'digitalising proces'?

And what about Sky News and the ITV News Channel? Are those also only available for digital viewers?

Well, thanks in advance for your answers.

Yes.


Also yes. Although some RSLs (very local TV stations) sometimes play Sky News during their off-hours. And, of course, ITV1 and the ITV News channel simulcast during ITV1 bulletins.

We've just past 50% of the population receiving digital TV.

I think most people think it's worth the investment, although many would argue that it has spawned many poor quality channels made up largely of American infomercials.

The government has a target to switch off the analogue signal (this keeps on moving, but I think it was 2010 last I heard)- they'll make a hell of a lot of money selling these frequencies.
They encourage the take up of digital TV through the "state broadcaster" i.e. the BBC, who have 6 digital only channels on top of BBC One and Two that you mentioned, one of which is News 24.

Sky News and the ITV NC are only available on digital (excluding some small analogue cable exceptions)- both are on all forms of digital TV (just like the BBC channels)- ie. cable, satellite and freeview (the digital terrestrial operation partly run by the BBC).

Could I just be slightly pedantic and say that I still get my TV through a TV aerial, but to receive Freeview? So therefore I receive digital TV including BBC News 24.

Sooooo... Nearly 50% of all British households can (just like me in The Netherlands) ONLY receive BBC One and Two (from the BBC)... That's rather strange because over here everyone is able to watch all three public channels whether you're a digital viewer or not.

By the way: I think the United Kingdom is one of the few countries which invests so much in digital TV. Over here, the government hasn't done anyrhing in the digital direction.

Correct me if any of this is wrong... The UK government want the country to go digital by 2010, so they can sell of the analogue frequencies for use elsewhere. If this had not been the case, the BBC's digital channels would probobaly be free to air, for everyone to receive and view, as well as the digital radio stations.