The Newsroom

BBC Arabic

What the... (January 2013)

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CR
Critique
I just flicked over to look at BBC Arabic, and they're coming from a VR studio, and not what I would call their 'normal' home (from the death star titles era). The studio is in the style of the NBH studios, but clearly not a real studio - picture quality seems quite bad and there's quite a bit of fuzziness about it all. There was a wide shot, which looked quite cramped, but I unfortunately didn't cap it, but here's what I did get:

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Can anyone shed any light on this, as to where they are, what happened to the other studio and so on? I'd suggest that they're in Studio A at NBH, but the desk is far too small, and it generally seems too cramped.
EY
the eye
Looks like a CSO whiped up for a parody or something
CR
Critique
I'm not quite sure what the programme is, but she mentions bbcarabic.com every few minutes, and they've got some software which is capturing what's on her computer screen, and showing it fullscreen on TV - all quite odd.

EDIT: Just cut to a wide shot, giving a better idea of the space they have (or lack of it), and after 20 minutes, a normal head-on shot to read a story...

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And one of their reports just failed... After the presenter presented a segment looking at the wrong camera a few minutes prior.
Last edited by Critique on 27 January 2013 4:02pm - 3 times in total
NY
NYTV
My guess is that BBC Arabic may end up getting a new set similar to BBC Persian.
Then again, BBC Arabic and Persian has had their respective homes since the launch.
AC
aconnell
Same presenter is back in the normal studio now with no differences. Could be maintenance? World used to go to N9 for the same thing.

Another thought. I wonder when/if BBC Arabic and Persian are going to adopt the new BBC News graphics.
GE
Generic
Arabic and Persian will be getting a revamp. Possibly in 18 months time. Their virtual studio is SD unlike Studio A.

C
CR
Critique
Indeed, they're back in their normal studio. Is the newsroom backdrop fake? I know they got virtual set extensions, so is it all fake? If it is, then it's far more convincing than the one in TC7 and N6. They're at a videowall which I think is at the other end of their studio, and the podium the presenter is using doesn't seem to be able to fit a computer in, so they've came up with an interesting solution...

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It's really quite a messy 'fix' to the issue, as instead of a laptop, they've instead put a massive desktop there. Also, a shot showing that area of the studio, which makes it seem quite large...

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In addition, what studios do Arabic/Persian have access to? Arabic obviously have the studio they're in at the moment (the 'normal' studio), which has two presentation areas at separate ends, along with the virtual studio, and BBC Persian has their studio with windows looking out onto London, but they also seem to use the Arabic studio too.

Sorry about the odd influx in posts about this, but it's very rarely talked about, and the studios and the like all interest me.
Last edited by Critique on 28 January 2013 4:38pm
DT
DTV
I believe the two BBC Arabic Presentation Areas are Separate (Studios 34D and 44D). Also the Videowall set is also used by BBC Hindi for BBC Global India. However the other World Service Bulletins use the BBC Russian Set or the Newsroom.

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