AN
Andrew
Founding member
A bit stilted, surely they could fill for a minute, recapping the top story or even just having a chat?
I'm guessing though they had to come off air as the closing link would be generic to both versions where the weather will have gone head as usual?
I'm also surprised they do the weather fully live, and not pre-recorded a bit ago.
I'm guessing though they had to come off air as the closing link would be generic to both versions where the weather will have gone head as usual?
I'm also surprised they do the weather fully live, and not pre-recorded a bit ago.
LS
Lou Scannon
A couple of notable deviations from the usual fully sub-regionalised ITV News West Country programmes in recent weeks…
5th November:
All news and weather was done-and-dusted by 18:25 (the weather doesn’t usually even *start* until something like 18:28 ). When we mixed from the post-weather sting back to the studio at 18:25, the ‘windows’ were now showing the generic CGI ‘gallery’ backdrop (tackily unrealistic - *shudders*), rather than the Tamar bridge view, and was clearly now live pan-regionally. Ian & Kylie threw to a live OB of Bob Cruwys at a bonfire-lighting in Wellington, Somerset - a location clearly chosen as it would seem acceptable to viewers in both sub-regions.
1st December:
They were clearly anticipating that a decision about whether the NHS doctors’ threatened strike would or wouldn’t be going ahead to be announced shortly after 6pm. (Ultimately, I don’t think a decision was actually announced until much later that evening IIRC?). The first 6-minutes (I think?) of the programme was live pan-regionally, again with the horrible ‘gallery’ backdrop. The pan-regional version of the opening title sequence was used (not generally needed since the 2013 changes).
The pan-regional top headline and package was a regionalised version of the national NHS strike story - i.e. its potential impact on “hospitals in the region”. They only talked vaguely about “the west country” as a whole, avoiding name-checking specific towns/cities (or even hospitals) for obvious reasons. The remaining opening headlines after the top story were clearly sub-regionally split, as what I saw was all Devon & Cornwall stories (and the post-headlines sting I saw was the Smeaton’s Tower-only version, not the Clifton/Smeaton one).
The last element of the dragged-out top story was correspondent Katie Rowlett in the studio to update us on latest developments. When she’d finished talking, we stayed on the camera angle of just her (with the side ‘window’ behind her still showing the ‘gallery’ view), whilst we heard Ian Axton out of vision say “thank you, Katie”. We then lingered on Katie in silence for slightly longer (presumably to allow the pre-recorded “East” edition of the programme to start getting played out), before finally cutting back to a two-shot of Ian & Kylie - by which time the three ‘windows’ behind them had been changed to show the Tamar backdrop.
5th November:
All news and weather was done-and-dusted by 18:25 (the weather doesn’t usually even *start* until something like 18:28 ). When we mixed from the post-weather sting back to the studio at 18:25, the ‘windows’ were now showing the generic CGI ‘gallery’ backdrop (tackily unrealistic - *shudders*), rather than the Tamar bridge view, and was clearly now live pan-regionally. Ian & Kylie threw to a live OB of Bob Cruwys at a bonfire-lighting in Wellington, Somerset - a location clearly chosen as it would seem acceptable to viewers in both sub-regions.
1st December:
They were clearly anticipating that a decision about whether the NHS doctors’ threatened strike would or wouldn’t be going ahead to be announced shortly after 6pm. (Ultimately, I don’t think a decision was actually announced until much later that evening IIRC?). The first 6-minutes (I think?) of the programme was live pan-regionally, again with the horrible ‘gallery’ backdrop. The pan-regional version of the opening title sequence was used (not generally needed since the 2013 changes).
The pan-regional top headline and package was a regionalised version of the national NHS strike story - i.e. its potential impact on “hospitals in the region”. They only talked vaguely about “the west country” as a whole, avoiding name-checking specific towns/cities (or even hospitals) for obvious reasons. The remaining opening headlines after the top story were clearly sub-regionally split, as what I saw was all Devon & Cornwall stories (and the post-headlines sting I saw was the Smeaton’s Tower-only version, not the Clifton/Smeaton one).
The last element of the dragged-out top story was correspondent Katie Rowlett in the studio to update us on latest developments. When she’d finished talking, we stayed on the camera angle of just her (with the side ‘window’ behind her still showing the ‘gallery’ view), whilst we heard Ian Axton out of vision say “thank you, Katie”. We then lingered on Katie in silence for slightly longer (presumably to allow the pre-recorded “East” edition of the programme to start getting played out), before finally cutting back to a two-shot of Ian & Kylie - by which time the three ‘windows’ behind them had been changed to show the Tamar backdrop.
DA
Apologies if this isn't the correct thread, but I couldn't find anything specific to BBC West that wasn't archived.
Anyway - now showing at an Internet-enabled device near you: Points West LIVE!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-england-35230866?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live&ns_linkname=568b905e3c0000a1a28add75%26Take%20a%20tour%20around%20the%20studio%2610:08&ns_fee=0#post_568b905e3c0000a1a28add75
Anyway - now showing at an Internet-enabled device near you: Points West LIVE!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-england-35230866?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live&ns_linkname=568b905e3c0000a1a28add75%26Take%20a%20tour%20around%20the%20studio%2610:08&ns_fee=0#post_568b905e3c0000a1a28add75
LS
Lou Scannon
The first 6 minutes of tonight's ITV News West Country were live pan-regionally, with the pan-regional title sequence and the 'gallery' studio backdrop. There was no opening headlines rundown of any kind. The top story was about a motorway vehicle incident near Bridgewater in Somerset, with a throw to an OB of Bob Cruwys live at the scene.
The last element of the top story was a full-screen map graphic. When we cut back to the studio, the Clifton backdrop was being used by mistake as the 2nd story (about someone from Camborne, Cornwall) was read out. Kylie's awkward hesitation as she started speaking was clearly because she was aware that the wrong backdrop was being used, and gave away that it was the "Plymouth" edition that was entirely live tonight.
By the next studio link, the correct backdrop (Tamar) was now in use. However, the furthest left of the three back wall 'windows' was showing a daytime version of the view (therefore mismatched with the other screens)!
By the next link after that, the backdrop was now finally fully correct (night-time Tamar view on all screens).
The weather forecast was done slightly earlier than would usually be the case (ending at something like 18:28:30). The final 90-seconds(ish) of the programme was live pan-regionally again ('gallery' backdrop and all), throwing to Bob in Bridgewater again for the latest on the top story.
The last element of the top story was a full-screen map graphic. When we cut back to the studio, the Clifton backdrop was being used by mistake as the 2nd story (about someone from Camborne, Cornwall) was read out. Kylie's awkward hesitation as she started speaking was clearly because she was aware that the wrong backdrop was being used, and gave away that it was the "Plymouth" edition that was entirely live tonight.
By the next studio link, the correct backdrop (Tamar) was now in use. However, the furthest left of the three back wall 'windows' was showing a daytime version of the view (therefore mismatched with the other screens)!
By the next link after that, the backdrop was now finally fully correct (night-time Tamar view on all screens).
The weather forecast was done slightly earlier than would usually be the case (ending at something like 18:28:30). The final 90-seconds(ish) of the programme was live pan-regionally again ('gallery' backdrop and all), throwing to Bob in Bridgewater again for the latest on the top story.
LS
Lou Scannon
Between 18:06 and 18:28 tonight, viewers in the "east" would've been seeing their (pre-recorded) sub-regional version of the programme. Presumably with the correct (Clifton) backdrop at all times.
All the early problems with the backdrop after the 18:06 split were unintentional errors on the live "west" edition only, and were fully resolved soon enough.
The only parts of the programme that were pan-regional tonight were the first 6 minutes and the final 90 seconds.
It would be silly to only ever have a 'gallery' backdrop, seeing as 99% of the time all bulletins are fully sub-regional for their full duration. These forays into pan-regionalness are only on an occasional and ad-hoc basis.
If anything ever happened like, say, the wrong version of an entire bulletin being played out to the wrong sub-region, then the backdrop being "out-of-region" would be the least of all problems - As all of the news stories being read out would also be from "out-of-region" too!
Having a generic backdrop at all times "just in case" would therefore not actually be of any meaningful benefit to viewers in such a scenario.
All the early problems with the backdrop after the 18:06 split were unintentional errors on the live "west" edition only, and were fully resolved soon enough.
The only parts of the programme that were pan-regional tonight were the first 6 minutes and the final 90 seconds.
It would be silly to only ever have a 'gallery' backdrop, seeing as 99% of the time all bulletins are fully sub-regional for their full duration. These forays into pan-regionalness are only on an occasional and ad-hoc basis.
If anything ever happened like, say, the wrong version of an entire bulletin being played out to the wrong sub-region, then the backdrop being "out-of-region" would be the least of all problems - As all of the news stories being read out would also be from "out-of-region" too!
Having a generic backdrop at all times "just in case" would therefore not actually be of any meaningful benefit to viewers in such a scenario.
BR
Although having a fake "real" backdrop which randomly changes to a gallery occassionally isn't great either.
Also as I think the recorded programme is recorded immediately between the live broadcast it's possible the region with the wrong backdrop was pre-recorded. They'd probably not have the time (or the inclination) to re-record it.
Between 18:06 and 18:28 tonight, viewers in the "east" would've been seeing their (pre-recorded) sub-regional version of the programme. Presumably with the correct (Clifton) backdrop at all times.
All the early problems with the backdrop after the 18:06 split were unintentional errors on the live "west" edition only, and were fully resolved soon enough.
The only parts of the programme that were pan-regional tonight were the first 6 minutes and the final 90 seconds.
It would be silly to only ever have a 'gallery' backdrop, seeing as 99% of the time all bulletins are fully sub-regional for their full duration. These forays into pan-regionalness are only on an occasional and ad-hoc basis.
All the early problems with the backdrop after the 18:06 split were unintentional errors on the live "west" edition only, and were fully resolved soon enough.
The only parts of the programme that were pan-regional tonight were the first 6 minutes and the final 90 seconds.
It would be silly to only ever have a 'gallery' backdrop, seeing as 99% of the time all bulletins are fully sub-regional for their full duration. These forays into pan-regionalness are only on an occasional and ad-hoc basis.
Although having a fake "real" backdrop which randomly changes to a gallery occassionally isn't great either.
Also as I think the recorded programme is recorded immediately between the live broadcast it's possible the region with the wrong backdrop was pre-recorded. They'd probably not have the time (or the inclination) to re-record it.
LS
Lou Scannon
Although having a fake "real" backdrop which randomly changes to a gallery occasionally isn't great either.
True.
When each region did the inevitable "how we built our new set" item on their respective launch-day 6pm programmes, most/all specifically mentioned/showed that the "windows" are a series of TV screens. So, there is no intention to pretend that the view is really there.
However, I agree that it is visually jarring for it to randomly change on occasion.
Previous pan-regional backdrops used (2013-2015 back projection) were flat, static photo-montage images. Therefore, they worked better with the "window" concept, as they logically seemed like they could be a printed image on a "roller-blind" that had been pulled down over the supposed "window".
The "gallery" being a view with 3D depth, and an apparent "room" beyond the windows, lacks the same cohesion of course. After all, a real window wouldn't magically switch between overlooking an outdoor view sometimes, and an adjoining room at others.
Also as I think the recorded programme is recorded immediately between the live broadcast it's possible the region with the wrong backdrop was pre-recorded. They'd probably not have the time (or the inclination) to re-record it.
Fair point.
Yes, I suppose if the recorded opt is done "as live" (and particularly if it's done very shortly before broadcast, e.g. 17:20-17:50), then the presence of mistakes would remain and are no proof of it being live.
DE
My daughter is in a TV commercial being shown in the ITV West region (Bristol), I live in Devon so needed to add the West region to my Sky box.
So at 6pm I checked I'd added the correct channel (they're all listed as ITV!!!), and there was Kylie Pentelow presenting with Clifton Suspension Bridge (I think) as background. Turned back to 103 and there she was with the Tamar Bridge behind her!!
Which one is live, if either? How long has this been going on?
Shame I get ITV Central West as my HD version.
So at 6pm I checked I'd added the correct channel (they're all listed as ITV!!!), and there was Kylie Pentelow presenting with Clifton Suspension Bridge (I think) as background. Turned back to 103 and there she was with the Tamar Bridge behind her!!
Which one is live, if either? How long has this been going on?
Shame I get ITV Central West as my HD version.
LS
Lou Scannon
So at 6pm I checked I'd added the correct channel (they're all listed as ITV!!!), and there was Kylie Pentelow presenting with Clifton Suspension Bridge (I think) as background. Turned back to 103 and there she was with the Tamar Bridge behind her!!
Which one is live, if either? How long has this been going on?
Which one is live, if either? How long has this been going on?
This kind of thing has been going on since 2009.
ITV's Plymouth/Plymstock operations moved from the old Westcountry Television studio building to a different facility, which is strictly just a newsgathering office with no studio.
Since then, both the "Westcountry" and the "HTV" versions of the programme have come from literally the same studio/set, at the existing "HTV" (as was) building on Bath Road in Bristol, with the same presenter(s) & crew doing both programmes.
Therefore, for each and every bulletin, one version is pre-recorded shortly before broadcast, and the other version is done genuinely live. By showing the differing Clifton/Tamar backdrops on the five monitors, they make each version of the programme look distinct.
Which version is recorded and which is live, varies dependant on the day's news stories.
Similar amalgamations happened in all ITV plc sub-regions (e.g. both sub-regions of Central come from Birmingham, but the East Midlands version shows a Nottingham backdrop).
EDIT: If/when they ever get around to adding an ITV West Country HD, you can bet your life that only the "east" version will be available pan-regionally, as I'm sure it's the more populous of the two sub-regions (which I believe is the main deciding factor).
Currently, East Midlanders are stuck with Central West HD, North & West Yorkshire are stuck with Calendar South HD, and Meridian South/Thames Valley viewers are stuck with Meridian East HD, for example.
So, here in Devon we'll still not be getting the right ITV HD regional news. But at least e.g. Bristol/Bath news isn't anywhere as geographically distant for us as e.g. Birmingham/Stoke-on-Trent news is!
Last edited by Lou Scannon on 7 January 2016 7:12pm
ST
I don't think even the most gullible of viewers has ever believed that the studio had real views overlooking the two bridges.
Previous pan-regional backdrops used (2013-2015 back projection) were flat, static photo-montage images. Therefore, they worked better with the "window" concept, as they logically seemed like they could be a printed image on a "roller-blind" that had been pulled down over the supposed "window".
I don't think even the most gullible of viewers has ever believed that the studio had real views overlooking the two bridges.