NG
noggin
Founding member
NG
If London is locked down - I doubt they would have been able to make it at all.
noggin
Founding member
Saturday Night Takeaway 2020
I’m sure that the producers are all thinking that it could become worse in the next 7 days. It wouldn’t seem right
IF
we ended up in a locked down situation and the show went out live.
If London is locked down - I doubt they would have been able to make it at all.
NG
Yes - to avoid 'splatter' (which is a prime Covid-19 infection route) being left on the wind shields I'd expect. Lots of broadcasters are doing this for their mics on location too.
noggin
Founding member
Coronavirus | Television News Coverage
Watching the ARD Tagesschau earlier. In addition to using microphones on long poles when interviewing people, they appear to have covered their microphones in what looks like a plastic bag or clingfilm!
Yes - to avoid 'splatter' (which is a prime Covid-19 infection route) being left on the wind shields I'd expect. Lots of broadcasters are doing this for their mics on location too.
NG
I believe the European Commission asked them to. They didn't tell them to but just asked. There is a concern that the huge surge in home working and video conferencing during office hours - coupled with lots of people no longer at work streaming video could cause issues.
I can't see a reason for the OTT companies to not do it.
noggin
Founding member
Netflix
I’m intrigued why Netflix and Disney+ are dropping bitrates in Europe but not the US. Does anyone know why or is it because there’s more regulation in Europe or less network connectivity.
I believe the European Commission asked them to. They didn't tell them to but just asked. There is a concern that the huge surge in home working and video conferencing during office hours - coupled with lots of people no longer at work streaming video could cause issues.
I can't see a reason for the OTT companies to not do it.
NG
Absolutely. This needs to be shouted loud and clear. All the old certainties and dynamics are crumbling before our eyes in horrifically rapid fashion and the major TV channels, especially BBC, need to urgently start reflecting this with their broadcasting output.
Oh, and I'm going to shout this loud and clear - FOR A START THEY SHOULD NOT INSULT THE MILLIONS OF OVER 75'S WITH A PROMISE NOT TO ROB THEM OF THEIR FREE TV LICENCE FOR A MERE 8 WEEKS MORE FROM JUNE TO AUGUST AND CANCEL IT UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.
OK - so the BBC closes BBC Two, CBBC/CBeebies, the BBC News Channel and what else to pay for them?
Over 75's licences would cost the BBC £745m.
BBC Two's budget is £381m, CBBC+CBeebies £92, BBC News Channel £44m. That still doesn't cover the shortfall.
The government, not the BBC, decided to give the elderly free TV licences...
noggin
Founding member
Coronavirus | Schedule Changes
Either way,
TV channels need to do better than sticking with endless Bargain Hunt type shows like BBC One seem to be doing.
Existing viewer demographics are out of the window.
Absolutely. This needs to be shouted loud and clear. All the old certainties and dynamics are crumbling before our eyes in horrifically rapid fashion and the major TV channels, especially BBC, need to urgently start reflecting this with their broadcasting output.
Oh, and I'm going to shout this loud and clear - FOR A START THEY SHOULD NOT INSULT THE MILLIONS OF OVER 75'S WITH A PROMISE NOT TO ROB THEM OF THEIR FREE TV LICENCE FOR A MERE 8 WEEKS MORE FROM JUNE TO AUGUST AND CANCEL IT UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.
OK - so the BBC closes BBC Two, CBBC/CBeebies, the BBC News Channel and what else to pay for them?
Over 75's licences would cost the BBC £745m.
BBC Two's budget is £381m, CBBC+CBeebies £92, BBC News Channel £44m. That still doesn't cover the shortfall.
The government, not the BBC, decided to give the elderly free TV licences...
NG
VDSL is still pretty common in the UK - cable is by no means universal.
I found a couple of dozen microfilters in my garage today. I think they've been breeding.
I forget do they require separate installation from the phone company or could they set up the lines using the filters as needed? I ask as I remember sometimes during sports events local radio stations use ISDN boxes and have broadcast from the hotel rooms. I doubt the hotel rooms and their private system offer ISDN lines to the room
ISDN in the UK is a separate install. I'd be amazed if hotel phone exchanges allowed for ISDN interfacing and call routing - though it is possible to use a regular phone to dial into an ISDN modem in some cases (where it behaves as a TBU I believe). However if the broadcaster is a regular user of ISDN it's entirely possible that the hotel has the ability to patch an RJ11 or RJ45 socket in a room to an incoming ISDN line - allowing ISDN paid for by the broadcaster to be routed to a specific room's socket manually?
(In the UK we'd use a regular UK phone socket connection for ISDN - which aren't RJ11s - though often hotel phone systems use RJ11s or RJ45s)
noggin
Founding member
The Sky News Thread
I forget how is an ISDN Line any different from a DSL and a generic phone line. DSL is a relic here in most of the US, my family had it from like 97–2001 before switching to Cable. All I remember is that for DSL we had to add filters on every phone jack and connected the phone line to an external modem.
VDSL is still pretty common in the UK - cable is by no means universal.
I found a couple of dozen microfilters in my garage today. I think they've been breeding.
I forget do they require separate installation from the phone company or could they set up the lines using the filters as needed? I ask as I remember sometimes during sports events local radio stations use ISDN boxes and have broadcast from the hotel rooms. I doubt the hotel rooms and their private system offer ISDN lines to the room
ISDN in the UK is a separate install. I'd be amazed if hotel phone exchanges allowed for ISDN interfacing and call routing - though it is possible to use a regular phone to dial into an ISDN modem in some cases (where it behaves as a TBU I believe). However if the broadcaster is a regular user of ISDN it's entirely possible that the hotel has the ability to patch an RJ11 or RJ45 socket in a room to an incoming ISDN line - allowing ISDN paid for by the broadcaster to be routed to a specific room's socket manually?
(In the UK we'd use a regular UK phone socket connection for ISDN - which aren't RJ11s - though often hotel phone systems use RJ11s or RJ45s)
NG
Do these presenters typically have ISDN lines or were they setup? If they were setup would it be reasonable to ask the BBC to pay for them as it’s used for work?
I think key presenters and reporters have had ISDN lines for a long time. Andrew Giligan's fatefull 2003 report on R4's Today was made via ISDN I recall.
However, I suspect many are/will be connecting via their domestic DSL Internet connections these days. I think BT cease new ISDN installs very soon?
I forget how is an ISDN Line any different from a DSL and a generic phone line.
ISDN is not hugely different in physical cable terms to a regular phone line AIUI (it may take more twisted pairs) - but in connection technology it is VERY different to ADSL/VDSL/Cable.
ISDN provides 2 x 64kbps data connections. Very low bitrate compared to ADSL, VDSL, DOCSIS and the FTTP systems - BUT it is circuit switched not packet switched. It works very similarly to a regular phone line. Each ISDN line has a 'phone number' and so you dial-up an ISDN circuit to make a connection between two places. Once that connection is established you have a full-speed circuit switched connection between the two (*) with no contention, no packet loss, no drop out. It's a very sensible solution for voice connectivity - and is so ubiquitous here pretty much any broadcast TV or Radio outlet will be able to cope with it for audio.
The data isn't 'internet' - it's point to point (in the same way connecting two computers directly via dial up would be).
(*) HOWEVER some ISDN providers are now using IP connectivity to route traffic between their ISDN subscribers...
DSL is a relic here in most of the US, my family had it from like 97–2001 before switching to Cable. All I remember is that for DSL we had to add filters on every phone jack and connected the phone line to an external modem.
AIUI from friends who live in the US and Canada - it's only a relic in urban and suburban areas. If you are in rural areas that don't get cable - then ADSL or Satellite are the only real options (with some wireless connectivity also in some areas)
British Telecom were planning to replace the local copper phone loop to the exchange with fibre in the 80s, but commercially that only made sense if they could also offer TV services (effectively becoming a telephony and cable TV operator). The government of the day, under Margaret Thatcher, saw that as a monopoly-in-the-making so veto-ed it. We could have been ahead of everyone else (fibre can be repurposed many times with new fibre technologies - the expensive bit is rolling out the cable) but are now miles behind the rest of Europe.
In the UK we continue to push our twisted pair phone line further and further. ADSL2+ is the minimum offering (max of 24Mbs - but often much lower), VDSL (offering around 70Mbs max) and VDSL with G.Fast (offering up to 300Mbs) are the fastest connectivity over a regular phone line. VDSL requires cabinet based DSL interfaces close to properties, ADSL keeps them at the exchange. Confusingly VDSL is often described as 'fibre', just as Virgin's coax DOCSIS cable-based systems are... (The Fibre doesn't reach your home)
In Europe - because cable (which is usually coax based and can support high download speeds of 30Mbs-1Gbs but only modest upload speeds <100Mbs) hasn't been universally rolled out (and thus there isn't an existing coax cable buried infrastructure) a lot of countries have jumped directly to fibre. in Portugal ~50% of broadband connections to domestic homes are now fibre FTTP/FTTH. In Sweden almost every town has fibre networks installed by the local council that are then leased to broadband providers.
In the UK FTTP/FTTH is only really available in new build housing developments and apartments or in rural towns and villages that have successfully organised a critical number of subscribers to make it worth a company installing fibre infrastructure (with some government support)
noggin
Founding member
The Sky News Thread
Do these presenters typically have ISDN lines or were they setup? If they were setup would it be reasonable to ask the BBC to pay for them as it’s used for work?
I think key presenters and reporters have had ISDN lines for a long time. Andrew Giligan's fatefull 2003 report on R4's Today was made via ISDN I recall.
However, I suspect many are/will be connecting via their domestic DSL Internet connections these days. I think BT cease new ISDN installs very soon?
I forget how is an ISDN Line any different from a DSL and a generic phone line.
ISDN is not hugely different in physical cable terms to a regular phone line AIUI (it may take more twisted pairs) - but in connection technology it is VERY different to ADSL/VDSL/Cable.
ISDN provides 2 x 64kbps data connections. Very low bitrate compared to ADSL, VDSL, DOCSIS and the FTTP systems - BUT it is circuit switched not packet switched. It works very similarly to a regular phone line. Each ISDN line has a 'phone number' and so you dial-up an ISDN circuit to make a connection between two places. Once that connection is established you have a full-speed circuit switched connection between the two (*) with no contention, no packet loss, no drop out. It's a very sensible solution for voice connectivity - and is so ubiquitous here pretty much any broadcast TV or Radio outlet will be able to cope with it for audio.
The data isn't 'internet' - it's point to point (in the same way connecting two computers directly via dial up would be).
(*) HOWEVER some ISDN providers are now using IP connectivity to route traffic between their ISDN subscribers...
Quote:
DSL is a relic here in most of the US, my family had it from like 97–2001 before switching to Cable. All I remember is that for DSL we had to add filters on every phone jack and connected the phone line to an external modem.
AIUI from friends who live in the US and Canada - it's only a relic in urban and suburban areas. If you are in rural areas that don't get cable - then ADSL or Satellite are the only real options (with some wireless connectivity also in some areas)
British Telecom were planning to replace the local copper phone loop to the exchange with fibre in the 80s, but commercially that only made sense if they could also offer TV services (effectively becoming a telephony and cable TV operator). The government of the day, under Margaret Thatcher, saw that as a monopoly-in-the-making so veto-ed it. We could have been ahead of everyone else (fibre can be repurposed many times with new fibre technologies - the expensive bit is rolling out the cable) but are now miles behind the rest of Europe.
In the UK we continue to push our twisted pair phone line further and further. ADSL2+ is the minimum offering (max of 24Mbs - but often much lower), VDSL (offering around 70Mbs max) and VDSL with G.Fast (offering up to 300Mbs) are the fastest connectivity over a regular phone line. VDSL requires cabinet based DSL interfaces close to properties, ADSL keeps them at the exchange. Confusingly VDSL is often described as 'fibre', just as Virgin's coax DOCSIS cable-based systems are... (The Fibre doesn't reach your home)
In Europe - because cable (which is usually coax based and can support high download speeds of 30Mbs-1Gbs but only modest upload speeds <100Mbs) hasn't been universally rolled out (and thus there isn't an existing coax cable buried infrastructure) a lot of countries have jumped directly to fibre. in Portugal ~50% of broadband connections to domestic homes are now fibre FTTP/FTTH. In Sweden almost every town has fibre networks installed by the local council that are then leased to broadband providers.
In the UK FTTP/FTTH is only really available in new build housing developments and apartments or in rural towns and villages that have successfully organised a critical number of subscribers to make it worth a company installing fibre infrastructure (with some government support)
NG
Either via a reverse IP vision circuit from the studio, or just remote IP-controlled prompter panel (which is now an option offered by most prompter manufacturers) Either way I'd imagine it was scrolled by the main operator back at base.
noggin
Founding member
Coronavirus | Television News Coverage
I am curious how they are handling prompting, doesn’t look like she’s controlling a prompter or her husband.
Either via a reverse IP vision circuit from the studio, or just remote IP-controlled prompter panel (which is now an option offered by most prompter manufacturers) Either way I'd imagine it was scrolled by the main operator back at base.
NG
I think the point of these daily briefings is to counter the severe criticism of precisely that 'tipping off' taking place.
Unofficial briefings from an anonymous source (Dominic Cummings presumably...) to a single political journalist, detailing official government strategy in a non-transparent manner.
A situation like this needs to be handled publicly, in the open, and by people with full accountability and responsibility for the situation.
The Health Secretary publishing an article in the Daily Telegraph, which was initially paywalled, has also not gone down at all well...
noggin
Founding member
Coronavirus | Television News Coverage
If something significant is to be announced the media will be tipped off anyway, as they were the other day.
I think the point of these daily briefings is to counter the severe criticism of precisely that 'tipping off' taking place.
Unofficial briefings from an anonymous source (Dominic Cummings presumably...) to a single political journalist, detailing official government strategy in a non-transparent manner.
A situation like this needs to be handled publicly, in the open, and by people with full accountability and responsibility for the situation.
The Health Secretary publishing an article in the Daily Telegraph, which was initially paywalled, has also not gone down at all well...
Last edited by noggin on 16 March 2020 9:17am - 2 times in total
NG
Well we should expect more from the BBC since we pay for it.
Anyone who buys products advertised on ITV is funding ITV... We pay for commercial TV too - just in a more indirect way. (We also pay for product advertising on channels we don't necessarily subscribe to...)
noggin
Founding member
ITV News
BBC One managed a 25 minute news bulletin at 10pm, ITV just 13 minutes - although afterwards they did manage back-to-back sponsored national & local weather forecasts which were different. Who should I trust about the predicted temperature in Plymouth tonight, Heinz Beanz or GWR?
I was rather surprised to see ITV's programme preceded by a commercial for "P&O Ferries Spring Offers". I suspect that wasn't money well spent.
I was rather surprised to see ITV's programme preceded by a commercial for "P&O Ferries Spring Offers". I suspect that wasn't money well spent.
Well we should expect more from the BBC since we pay for it.
Anyone who buys products advertised on ITV is funding ITV... We pay for commercial TV too - just in a more indirect way. (We also pay for product advertising on channels we don't necessarily subscribe to...)
NG
That's assuming that you've got the back-office, technical staff and talent available to actually get the programme to air in the first place. I wonder how much longer ITV can maintain their weekday 'live from 06:00 to 14:00' model?
There will be no shortage of freelance TV production team and crew available. So many events have been cancelled there are a lot of people available.
noggin
Founding member
Coronavirus - Impact on live/recorded shows
This Morning might have to resort to DTL or phone ins for certain guests.
That's assuming that you've got the back-office, technical staff and talent available to actually get the programme to air in the first place. I wonder how much longer ITV can maintain their weekday 'live from 06:00 to 14:00' model?
There will be no shortage of freelance TV production team and crew available. So many events have been cancelled there are a lot of people available.