noggin's posts, page 247

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NG
noggin Founding member

BBC News links with CBS News Globally

The partnership started the day of the announcement. I'm sure there's still a lot of things to work out about how it'll work but sending a package over is hardly a sign of them 'hurrying up'.


If the deal works anything like the ABC one did, BBC News may well have access to a CBS server that has all their packages on, and simply selects them for export them to their own playout system.


It is possible (and quite common) to set up newsroom systems to access other servers from other stations/newsrooms, though I'm not sure how fast they can set them up. CBS News uses ENPS (though I think the O&Os use iNEWS — not sure whether the two systems can interact very much) and BBC News uses ENPS (for now), so it'd be pretty seamless to look at each others' rundowns and video (in theory!). If all that is set up, and set up for maximum ease of use, then a BBC producer could snoop into CBS' rundowns, copy and paste the story, and download the video through ENPS or another system like BitCentral in about 15-20 seconds, all without any communication between that producer and someone at CBS.

If all of that is not set up yet, then at the very least, after planning meetings, CBS and BBC's respective assignment desks are most certainly emailing each other lists of stories that their correspondents are assigned for that day and for when they are slated to air or be finished. A BBC producer could then email CBS and request the story if he or she wants to run it, and then it would be delivered via a more manual way by emailing the script and uploading the video to an FTP server.

TL;DR: it's possible BBC and CBS have already set up their newsroom systems to talk to each other, but even if they haven't, there are more manual ways of still sharing content immediately.


I'd be surprised if the video sharing were integrated at the ENPS level. You'd almost certainly do it from a separate system so you had full metadata and rights information that ENPS probably doesn't present in a running order view. Not all content CBS have in their rundowns will be shareable - as the BBC and CBS will have different contracts with third party providers.

If they have server sharing in place - I'd expect it to either be a web-based system, or possibly even still arbitrated by a human at each end to confirm rights.
NG
noggin Founding member

BBC News links with CBS News Globally

The partnership started the day of the announcement. I'm sure there's still a lot of things to work out about how it'll work but sending a package over is hardly a sign of them 'hurrying up'.


If the deal works anything like the ABC one did, BBC News may well have access to a CBS server that has all their packages on, and simply selects them for export them to their own playout system.
NG
noggin Founding member

Sky TV to go satellite dish-free in 2018


Even if they make it a Sky broadband bundle, it's still ultimately delivered over BT Openreach or OpenEir in Ireland.

Though don't ISPs handle the link to the OpenReach infrastructure in each exchange (i.e. operate their own internet backbone and interconnects) - OpenReach only provide the last leg between consumer premises and the exchange ?

If that's the case then Sky would deliver their multicast streams to each exchange - and avoid any internet delivery issues.

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Netflix is managing to service vast amounts of customers without any ISP infrastructure. There isn't really any reason Sky can't so similar although a managed IP network would give better quality but, is anyone complaining about Netflix?


Thought Netflix run at very low bitrates for their content - which they achieve by hugely optimised off-line encoding. You can't do that for live streams - so have to run at significantly higher bitrates (and HEVC won't help you as much for interlaced content as progressive)
Last edited by noggin on 19 July 2017 11:35am - 2 times in total
NG
noggin Founding member

Sky TV to go satellite dish-free in 2018

I think the current Sky Q's IP functionality is similar to the Sky+ HD functionality isn't it? Sky limited this to Sky Broadband initially, then rolled out to all ISPs, but this wasn't for massive technical reasons AIUI.

HOWEVER - this is a unicast progressive download system - what I believe Sky are proposing for their dish-less Sky is likely to be multicast. This is tied to a specific ISP, as the multicast isn't carried over 'the internet' it's inserted by the ISP (i.e. Sky Broadband) - in the same way that BT do their BT TV product. So it may well not be unicast - stream per viewer - like NowTV, but multicast - where all subscribers effectively receive the same streams.
NG
noggin Founding member

New BBC corporate font: BBC Reith


Hopefully this is the start of reforming the entirety of BBC presentation under a single font.


I do hope not - I don't think that all presentation should be using a 'one size fits all' font, there should still be scope for individual channel (and other) brands to express character through their choice of typeface.

I DO agree that having a corporate typeface that is your own property makes a lot of sense - though presumably the core BBC brand will say Gill Sans (as seen in the SPOTY graphic above)

The above point you’ve mentioned - I’d agree to some extent. The 1997 corporate rebranding of the BBC held the notion that every brand would use Gill; and the personality of the brand would not be in the logo, but in the idents and surrounding presentation.


Yes - but the world is very different to 1997, and channel brands are no longer just an on-screen identity, where a channel ident existed alongside the logo. In these days of channel brands having a life outside of TV (on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, on iPlayer, and on platforms yet to be devised) the core channel identity needs to have a life of its own - it can't rely on idents. There needs to be both a BBC brand, and a channel brand/identity. The BBC logo arguably provides the corporate identity - I'm not sure you need a corporate typeface to be used for the channel identities as well.

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The logos however, felt plain; BBC management at the time felt concerned that their channel logos needed to be more bolder; hence the introduction of the boxes.


Yes - arguably the channel colour brand worked better than the boxes themselves. I still associate BBC One with red, more than BBC News.

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Sure, bringing all BBC branding into line does make some sense; at the same time, it should be bold, modern and fresh. I’d take the ITV 2013 rebrand and Sky’s streamlined refresh last year as evidence of this.


I agree that ITV have a nice look - but I'm not convinced the channel brands serve ITV2-4 as well as ITV. Sky have a very strong corporate look - but it's very 'one note' - which is fine for a Pay-TV operation. I'm not sure Radio 3, 1Xtra, BBC Four, BBC World Service Radio and CBeebies all sit quite as strongly within a common look.
NG
noggin Founding member

New BBC corporate font: BBC Reith

Joe posted:
I DO agree that having a corporate typeface that is your own property makes a lot of sense - though presumably the core BBC brand will say Gill Sans (as seen in the SPOTY graphic above)

Presumably you mean the BBC blocks - nothing else in the graphic uses Gill Sans.


Yes - I'd call the BBC blocks the core BBC brand. They were the only thing in the graphic that was Gill Sans (or a slight tweak thereof?)
NG
noggin Founding member

HDTV TS Files

Ah - I was aware of the modified firmware for the Freesat boxes, but not of the Foxy software.
NG
noggin Founding member

This Morning

When This Morning moves into Television Centre next year, I wonder how drastic a set change will be in place?


I'd imagine they'll put a new set in rather than moving the existing one to TVC, and whilst there could be some common design concepts, presumably it would also be a chance to update the look? Plus they will need a solution to the lack of windows in TCs 2 and 3. (I'm guessing large screens will be used if they decide to retain a window-based look)
NG
noggin Founding member

New BBC corporate font: BBC Reith


Hopefully this is the start of reforming the entirety of BBC presentation under a single font.


I do hope not - I don't think that all presentation should be using a 'one size fits all' font, there should still be scope for individual channel (and other) brands to express character through their choice of typeface.

I DO agree that having a corporate typeface that is your own property makes a lot of sense - though presumably the core BBC brand will say Gill Sans (as seen in the SPOTY graphic above)
NG
noggin Founding member

North American Affilliates/Network Set Design


No offense but what do you expect on a tour of a US based TV company. It's worth noting that the first electronic television was successfully demonstrated in San Francisco.

Yes its the distinction between television and electronic television that confuses the issue. American Philo Farnsworth is credited with the latter which is the system that succeeded


And it gets quite interconnected too. Baird had - I believe - licensed Farnsworth's Image Dissector electronic camera technology as a potential live source for his TV system - which otherwise relied on a mix of flying spot cameras and intermediate film... (ISTR that a fire caused Baird to lose quite a lot of equipment - including his Image Dissector cameras?)

AIUI the image dissector had a lot of practical issues - mainly around sensitivity, Zworykin's development of an electronic camera (not entirely his own work - it used technology partially developed by others) gave rise to the electronic camera that became the basis of the first cameras used on the Marconi 405 line system the BBC launched their 1936 service using.

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And supposedly the oldest transmitting station is WRGB in 1928.

Oldest but it certainly wasn't the first. There had been transmissions of TV in the UK, US and Japan before that.

It's one of those technologies with lots of firsts as it's development took place in many places at roughly the same time


Yes - it was always when not if TV was going to happen I think. It was an idea that arrived before the reality had actually developed - but it was clearly going to be 'a thing'.

It's amazing that in 10 years we went from something that was essentially an all mechanical, narrow-band, 32 line system to an an all electronic, wide-band, 405 line (377 line active) system that was so much better it was actually described at launch as 'high definition' (!)
Last edited by noggin on 17 July 2017 10:02am
NG
noggin Founding member

Daily & Sunday Politics

Although I can't see it being axed, I can see why Neil would drop SP ahead of the others. It doesn't have a unique selling point and lives in the shadow of Andrew Marr on Sunday's. It is generally Marr who gets the big sound bites from the big names.

Plus there is now increased competition for soundbites from Peston on Sunday and Sophy Ridge on Sunday.


Though to be fair - that was the case in years gone by too - when there was a Sunday morning (Steve Richards did one for a while) and lunchtime political show (Andrew Rawnsley ISTR?) on ITV/GMTV - along with the Sky equivalent. ITV ditched all their Sunday political shows for a while - and Peston is kind of half-way between the two in schedule terms. They all generated sound bites.
NG
noggin Founding member

North American Affilliates/Network Set Design


No offense but what do you expect on a tour of a US based TV company.


I kind of expected a TV company with a news arm to tell the truth. The guide basically said TV was invented in the US and NBC was the first in the world to do it...


Don't mind US firsts being discussed, and wouldn't expect the BBC to be referenced - but the BBC did get there first with a regular (and by that time, all electronic) TV service starting in 1936... Saying NBC was the worlds first TV broadcaster? Wouldn't expect that...

I've done tours of NHK in Japan, SVT in Sweden, NRK in Norway and quite a few other places. They all correctly referred to the BBC AND their own history... It all felt a bit parochial at NBC if I'm honest.

When was your tour? It sounds like something done during the GE era and the American superiority complex.


2000 I think.

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Today they were rehearsing the weekend editions of Nightly News in the studio with the expectation of starting next week.





Oh my... I try never to judge a set by anything other than the broadcast camera output - but...