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James Hatts posted:
Sky News is clearly the slickest operation - they have the advantage (at the moment) of just having the one outlet, so they are able to concentrate on doing rolling news and doing it well. They've also been doing it longer than the other two players. They provide a consistent, UK-focussed, (usually) live service 24 hours a day, which neither of the other channels do.
Sky News is certainly the leader in terms of being able to make rolling news less repetitive and less boring through the use of the newswall, and slightly different running orders every hour, and also the best at dynamic and fast breaking news coverage, but I think that News 24 performs better than Sky in terms of in-depth analysis (more thoughtful ways than just using the newswall and the vizrt 3D system to do all sorts of clever presentations) and roundtable interviews. ITV NC comes second, mainly in the branded "Live with..." programmes by Alistair Stewart and Angela Rippon, but not as good at other times (same problem as Sky, using the virtual wall and the 3D presentations copied from Sky News).
James Hatts posted:
Meanwhile the ITV News Channel is compromised by playing second fiddle to the demands of ITV1 bulletins, and News 24 has to compete with the BBC's other TV and radio services for access to correspondents etc.
Agree with the ITV NC, it would be much better if they dropped ITV1 bulletins when their are live events like PMQs, or serious breaking news that doesn't warrant breaking into the ITV1 network. You don't need the correspondents that are needed for the ITV1 bulletins, just take the live feed. News 24 doesn't totally have the problem you describe, it does have "semi-dedicated" correspondents, Guto Harri for example, although he does appear on BBC1 bulletins as well when another Political Correspondent is not avalible.
James Hatts posted:
The ITV NC is clearly a dramatically improved operation, and for much of the time is very watchable. The programmes presented by Alastair Stewart and Angela Rippon are especially strong. I like the NC's graphics too. The channel is also starting to make really good use of its access to the ITV regions - I like the fact that you see a lot of regional stories on the NC that never see light of day on the other two channels.
I'm not so sure about the graphics, they aren't as good as the News 24 graphics (I think the live TOG rendered graphics are better, and the graphics in the reports produced primarily for News 24 featuring the globe and ribbons from the titles are a lot more well designed). I agree about the regional stories, it is ITV NC that features more of them, and it was something that News 24 was supposed to be covering more of from relaunch.[/quote]
James Hatts posted:
News 24 has its strengths too, though I have mixed feelings about the revamp. In some ways I preferred the previous set and graphics. I don't think the huge text on the straps works well, and the contrast between breaking news and other news isn't clear enough. I also think the channel is let down by the joint service with World overnight and the Breakfast simulcasts in the mornings.
The old set was quite good when it first launched in 1999, but as usual with news sets, it dated quite badly, and the updates to the set didn't really help with that. I think the new set looks brilliant, and would look even better if they had more space to work with, but they have made the best with what they have, and with any luck this should be solved in around 3 years or so, when the whole of BBC News moves to the new News Centre at Broadcasting House, providing that the new News 24 studio, and the other 5 new television studios at BH, have plenty of space, instead of these poxy little digital studios like LDN and South East Today have (an idea for the moment would be to have News 24 use TC10 for part of the day, in the daytime or evening after the Seven O'Clock News on BBC Three havs finished, instead of using N8 every hour).
I think News 24's graphics are the best among the news channels, they are very adaptable, and when necessary can be shrunk down, move to two info lines if a single line isn't enough etc. I do agree that Breaking News graphics need to be more distinctive, keep the splash and beef up the sound effect used, but the banner graphics need to be red on white or something different.
One other thing I find annoying about the ITV NC. They have more ad breaks than Sky News, and they are usually far too long. They also break away from live coverage of a long live event or even serious breaking news coverage for an ad break, a recent example is the Condoleeza Rice testimony to the 9/11 Commission. When they come back, they re-join the live event. Do they really think that a majority of viewers won't tune into Sky or News 24 which don't do this?
James
