I noticed that for the second Tuesday running the evening Look East bulletin was presented from the Cambridge studio. I assume for the opt-out section those in the East had a section from the Norwich studios. One noticeable difference was that the weather appeared to come from the Norwich studio, not sure whether it was pre-recorded.
Was it pan-regional from Cambridge ? I hear rumblings they were trialling fully splitting at 1830 (as Oxford do) - so the whole show in the East will have been from Norwich, and the whole show in the West from Cambridge. They may retain the 'Close Up' bit still - as I believe it is just a trial?
It wasn't a pan regional. Norwich and Cambridge presented both bulletins separately though clearly for Cambridge it was necessary to pre-record the weather.
This evenings was another full length split programme. These seem to be falling on days when councils are announcing budget cuts - though this maybe coincidental.
Wasn't t the original plans of the splits for the Cambridge and Oxford areas to eventually combine with a service from Milton Keynes that was then eventually dropped for cost. Would be good to see both area receive their own full service during the week. I guess weekend bulletins are unlikely to be split due to cost.
Oxford only split fully on Fridays. This has been a fixture of the week's programmes since the Oxford studio opened in 2005. They have occasionally split fully on other days in the week, most notably during the Summer 2007 floods, when they did their own Sunday opt, a half hour on Monday, Tuesday and Friday. The problem of lack of people really came to the fore that week because following the extra day and extra hours, there were literally not enough people left to do more than a sub-opt on Wednesday and Thursday.
There was a plan for a new English Region to come from Milton Keynes, known internally as the Oxbridge opt. It would have replaced the sub-opts from Oxford and Cambridge but issues like whether they would make Inside Out and Politics Show opts were not (AFAIK) resolved. A location for the new studio centre was identified in MK apparently, but not purchased. The scheme was dropped in 2005 IIRC.
These fully split half-hours from Cambridge do seem to be more frequent - I would suggest however it's to do with the Spending Review. It's interesting that Stuart has gone over to co-present them - you wouldn't get that with Sally Taylor I wouldn't have thought. At least Cambridge have a new-style set capable (just) of seating two presenters. Oxford's set is beginning to look rather out of place amidst all the other standard sets. I think Jersey and Oxford are the only two remaining non-corporate look sets left. Interestingly, they were both designed by the same chap (Chris Blow) and are quite similar...
The Greg Dyke era at the BBC wanted a full Look East west/east split. The west would have been broadcast from new studios in Milton Keynes, and would not have included Oxford (Central South)
What is odd last night was that both Look Easts did the the “after more news in you part of the region” -line with differnt reporters, though both sub regions stayed separate.
That's correct, Jersey and Oxford do still retain the old--style of regional news sets, however they aren't the only ones--also East Midlands Today, North West Tonight and South East Today all retain the old style sets. There is possibly another, as Spotlight's set was only given a minor refresh, not a complete overhaul, in 2010.
There is possibly another, as Spotlight's set was only given a minor refresh, not a complete overhaul, in 2010.
It was changed completely between 2009 and 2010, although it doesn't conform to the standard 'national set' design. I presume that will happen when they move to the new premises at Sutton Quay.
The Greg Dyke era at the BBC wanted a full Look East west/east split. The west would have been broadcast from new studios in Milton Keynes, and would not have included Oxford (Central South)
Yes - that was my recollection. ISTR that there was a paper pilot for the 'Oxbridge' region - but it was deemed to not work editorially (at least on that occasion)
Quote:
What is odd last night was that both Look Easts did the the “after more news in you part of the region” -line with differnt reporters, though both sub regions stayed separate.
I suspect this was because the full splits were for special days only - and they wanted the shows to appear exactly as normal (but with a more local agenda) - hence Stewart presenting in Cambridge for at least some of them.
The idea was presumably for it to look as similar as possible to a sub-opted show - just not have any pan-regional content?
Cambridge have been doing half hours much more frequently in recent months. Stewart usually goes over to Cambridge to co-present. When Cambridge run for a full half hour, they still run the Close-Up sting and do a "West" sub-region newsbelt. They fill the rest of the time with pan-regional content and take a prerecorded weather forecast at the end. I presume it's when there is a major news story in their part of the region and they want more airtime than their usual "Close Up" slot. A very different way of working than Oxford and Jersey. Oxford have to bid for extra time if they want to go longer than 10 minutes (13 mins on Mondays). On Fridays (which have been the full opt duration since 2005) Oxford's output is made up of entirely Oxford-region stories - no pan-regional content at all. Jersey do Half-hours only very occasionally AFAIK, but have a flexible opt-duration - in other words they can run whatever time suits them and Plymouth.
Julie joined the BBC in 1992, working in the East Midlands before moving to Look East in 1999. She and her husband BBC football commentator Chris Goreham share a country cottage where she gardens with a passion but at the moment she is on maternity leave and all her time is taken up with their baby boy, Finn.
Julie joined the BBC in 1992, working in the East Midlands before moving to Look East in 1999. She and her husband BBC football commentator Chris Goreham share a country cottage where she gardens with a passion but at the moment she is on maternity leave and all her time is taken up with their baby boy, Finn.
Noticed in the Politics Show East they were using a different studio - don't they normally use the Look East Norwich one but with chairs instead of the desk and the different backdrop?
My only guess is that it is the Cambridge studio, but if it is they've disguised it very, very well and it certainly looks like a permanent thing and not just a one off.
Here's the Cambridge studio in comparison, courtesy of TV-Live:
It does seem to be the Cambridge studio. I am not a regular viewer of the Politics Show and certainly didn't notice when I watched today. Looking back though the screen behind Etholle does suggest Cambridge. Norwich's is noticeably bigger (presumably due to ensuring an appropriate size relative to the studio itself).
I'm not convinced it's permanent but the Cambridge studio is far more flexible than they've previously had and benefits from being in the full corporate style. I would imagine that it can just as easily be adapted for PS as Norwich can.
This weekends Politics Show for BBC East includes a live debate from the Cambridge studios over the Libyan situation. Does this mean they have spent the past few weeks testing out the Cambridge studio or has the Politics Show moved permanently? If it has I wonder why.
