The Newsroom

BBC Breakfast - 16th July onwards

Split from BBC News (UK) presentation - Reith launch onwards (July 2019)

This site closed in March 2021 and is now a read-only archive
IT
itsrobert Founding member
Jay Lee posted:
Neil Jones posted:
Its a shame we don't seen analogue clocks any more on TV in the UK. Telemation proves that they can integrate with the graphics without taking up an obscene amount of screen space, and of course they were common in the 1980s what with Breakfast Time and TV-am having them, though sadly they seemed to fall out of favour by the time the 90s came along. I think by 1992 it was only TV-am who were still using an analogue clock (but of course by that stage the clock wasn't the only thing they still holding onto!)


Someone will correct me but I'm pretty sure the analogue clock on BBC Breakfast News lasted throughout both its original look (1989-1993) and its corporate blue virtual reality era, 1993-1997. It was only in June 1997 (?) when Breakfast News was revamped away from the virtual reality look that the clock went "digital" and converted to numbers.

You're spot on, Jay. That's my recollection too - June '97 for the change to the digital clock.
BA
bilky asko
WW Update posted:
JamesWorldNews posted:
WW Update posted:

Maybe this is a British thing, but if you stopped a stranger on the street and asked her for the time, would she really say "It's 27 minutes to 4"?


We'd round it up to "three thirty-five" or "twenty-five to four".


I understand the rounding issue, but Hatton Cross wrote that he perceived "33 minutes past three" (and presumably "three-33") as incorrect, which surprised me.


Here's a handy guide:

*
IS
Inspector Sands
m_in_m posted:

I’ve seen that for the Today programme but I don’t know if that is used on all programmes. I don’t believe they use it on TV bulletins - perhaps the Today programme audience are very vocal with time mistakes.

Or they just remember their long time presenter Jack De Manio, who always struggled with the time:


(clip from Random Radio Jottings: http://andywalmsley.blogspot.com/2017/10/today-at-60.html )
NG
noggin Founding member
WW Update posted:
Hatton Cross posted:
Mentioning no names - Nihal on Five Live - when you go to the bottom of the hour news headlines late again.
The time is not 33 minutes past 3 as you keep refering to it on air.
It's 27 minutes to 4.


Maybe this is a British thing, but if you stopped a stranger on the street and asked her for the time, would she really say "It's 27 minutes to 4"?


It's certainly usual to express times after 'xx:30' as 'to' the next hour, rather than 'past' the previous hour, but you'd usually round to the nearest five minutes and use 'nearly/almost/coming up to' or 'just gone'

If it was 1533 then most Brits would say "It's just gone half-three" or "It's coming up to 25 to 4"
Josh, WW Update and itsrobert gave kudos
MA
Markymark
Inspector Sands posted:
Neil Jones posted:

I'm sure CBeebies used to use analogue clocks at some point on their trailers?

Yes I think they still do. Channel 4 did too when they had their circles logo.


Talking about primary school and growing up, I still base my thinking of the 24 hour clock on 4pm being 1600 because of seeing it on our only 24 hour clock - on our video recorder while watching TV after school so it was the first 24 clock time I knew


I had a watch at the age of 4, my parents attributed me being able to tell the time to being obsessed by the TV continuity clocks.
BTW to this day my mother says 'Five and Twenty to Three', to say 2:35
BR
Brekkie
Smart watches may be changing this but I'd have thought most adults have who wear a watch have an analogue one rather than digital anyway. I suspect in the case of radio it's a case of the script saying "it's XX past 3" so they go with that, and generally speaking radio seems to like accurate time checks rather than "it's nearly 25 to 3".
RK
Rkolsen
Brekkie posted:
Smart watches may be changing this but I'd have thought most adults have who wear a watch have an analogue one rather than digital anyway. I suspect in the case of radio it's a case of the script saying "it's XX past 3" so they go with that, and generally speaking radio seems to like accurate time checks rather than "it's nearly 25 to 3".

Many radio stations I’ve seen (including the ones at the BBC) on the IDS displays show the time written out.
SP
Steve in Pudsey
Believe it's a standard feature in Vilor studios.

I remember Chris Moyles doing a bit taking the piss out of the old school practice of doing time checks in the format "it's seven twenty, twenty past seven"
MI
m_in_m
Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a special countdown ahead of 0600 that ended at Media City instead Broadcasting House? Given it would play out seven days a week and I believe two of those would also be on BBC One I think it would be a nice touch.
RN
Rolling News
m_in_m posted:
Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a special countdown ahead of 0600 that ended at Media City instead Broadcasting House? Given it would play out seven days a week and I believe two of those would also be on BBC One I think it would be a nice touch.

I think it would be a bit jarring if the countdown clock all of a sudden went from the bottom right of the screen to the middle of the screen.
NE
Newsroom
m_in_m posted:
Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a special countdown ahead of 0600 that ended at Media City instead Broadcasting House? Given it would play out seven days a week and I believe two of those would also be on BBC One I think it would be a nice touch.


That's a great ideal. You should comment on Paul Mullen's Vimeo and plant the idea. He creates the countdowns.

https://vimeo.com/user1836997
BR
Brekkie
Contracts is probably the obvious reason why it doesn't happen but you would think on the Sundays they don't have MOTD they'd run Breakfast through to 10am.

Newer posts