BBC Breakfast - 2018 Refresh

I think Watchdog uses space in "The Studios" That isn't a BBC building and so would incur costs for rental.

Watchdog isn't broadcast from a BBC building in Salford, it comes from the Mezzanine area of Dock 10's 'The Studios' reception area, and currently uses a Dock 10 control room.

Didn’t ITV spend thousands installing that in Studio 7 for Daybreak only for them to give up when it looked dodgy on camera?

No - Daybreak used a smart glass system that actually dimmed the windows.

This Morning used Rosco's polarising system (or a similar system) for the last few years they were on the South Bank and it worked pretty well. The BBC also used it for the BBC Persian studio and the Beijing Olympic studio (and ISTR that Pebble Mill used a similar technique in their foyer studio)

You might be thinking of when the BBC were going to use smart glass when they moved into New Broadcasting House but scrapped it in favour of a traditional screen.

Would the group of screens introduced a year or two back (that make it look more like one of the London studios) make it slightly less of a issue as they could be used as a backdrop rather than the newsroom behind that they used during the Olympics?

Doesn't matter how many filters you apply to the window is the sun is shining directly into the window, or if it's pitch black outside, which it would be for half the year.

It shouldn’t be much of an issue though - Today has been doing this since 1996 and Good Morning America since 1999. Granite they are in the city but they both have home base facing much larger areas. Yes, they start an hour later however they deal with pitch blackness as well during the winter months. They do things like rotating and moving home base during those times - which I’ve been told is partly the reason why Today’s set got a turntable (but they since dropped rotating the desk as the backdrop is such a part of the show.)

Edit: I didn’t realize the sun didn’t rise until [url&https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/uk/manchester?month=12&year=2018]8:25 a.m.[/url] in Manchester during December.

When you peered through the window you light have noticed that there's more then just a studio there. There's at least two studios and a large newsroom integrated with them, might even be some radio studios too. All those screens and people behind the sports newsreader arent just props and extras. I'm not sure but I think the sports programmes have facilities adjacent, that's a big operation especially on a Saturday.


I think there's a lot more sports news output than you think. It's not as simple as just switching the studios around, there'd be presenters and production staff traipsing up and down the stairs all day. Either that or a total reorganisation of the building

All that so an empty dark plaza can be seen on TV every morning

I think the main issue with the set is those white pillars between the screens which then mean that the screens used for DTL contributors are really awkwardly placed.

How does the Studio compare in size to Millbank? Would something similar to their new set work? Or even the curved one Leeds have?

Yeah that is a really bad flaw of this current studio it’s not so bad for the presenter to our right but the one on the left really is odd but it’s been like this since 2013, six years and even with the sofa falling apart, the bbc insist on changing nothing as long as it beats Piers Morgan’s GMB.

I remember a user creating a mock for a redesign of the current studio that made more sense.

Edit: I’ve found the mock thread https://tvforum.uk/thegallery/new-set-salford-41403/ but unfortunately the links have expired.