BBC News Thread

I'd hardly call it 'butchering' the end of every news broadcast. To me it makes sense to 'hand' to the regional news. I never understood why we ran a trail at 1830 and then had a regional symbol into the local news when we had opt out headlines at the top, for example. It's joined up television - and hopefully it flows. Is it really that bad that we've lost a wide shot and a move at the end of programmes?
I think that the BBC1 controller has a point - run your popular regional news late and the casual viewer that might channel surf may, just may, stay with you. I agree that the die hard Emmerdale or Corrie viewers wont, but he's not targeting them.
BBC Worlds so called 'invisible' opts are nothing to do with 'holding' viewers. They were introduced to prevent sting, after sting, after sting as the commercial breaks at different times on different streams were introduced. If they hadn't done that it would have looked rediculous if your stream was not opting out.
As for the presenters introducing the programme that was only decided because the Controller wanted Headlines at half past the hour... so it made sense for the presenter to intro the programme.
I know on a forum that discusses TV Presentation people want to see a return to the old days of wide shot, lights down and music stab... but things move on!
(But don't worry - I'm sure in a few years it will all go full circle!)

The problem is the simulcast. It's so awkward saying something like, "On BBC News 24 the Six O'Clock News hour continues, but here* on BBC One we join our news teams across the UK"

(*and they actually say that, despite the fact I'm watching on News 24!!!)

They should either end the 6 properly and have distinct programmes on News 24 and BBC One after, or do it a lot more tidily.

Surely the tidiest way to do it would be like they do when the main BBC One bulletins occasionally come from the News 24 studio at weekends. They end the Six by saying something along the lines of "On BBC One we hand over to the BBC's news teams where you are"...[pause..regions opt] --> [change to wide shot] whilst on News 24 they remain with N6 and on the video wall to the side they bring up the presenters in the News 24 studio for a proper hand over with friendly banter - like the News 24 presenters do when handing over to the weather. Alternatively, if that was felt to be too messy because the News 24 presenters would then be handing over to someone else - sport? then George and Natasha could hand over directly to the sport presenter.

The pause wouldn't really matter because it would be obvious to News 24 viewers that BBC One regions are opting out.

Best solution:

Ditch the simulcast. Go back to the original way of things.

What about News 24 just playing the 6 sting straight after the weather (weather presenter would just finish as normal without acknowledging the presenters in N6) and the headlines coming from N8. N6 could then just do the BBC One thing as normal.

As it is we get a recap from N6 and then a recap minutes later from N8. What's the point.

They actually do it differently on at Ten on a Sunday night when it seems to work. They promo News 24 pause which is where News 24 picks up and then go on to introduce Panorama on BBC One.

Moving on from the Six now to the Ten and it's always annoyed me how at the very end Huw would plug Newsnight but the programme is usually into it's first report.


Here rather than going to the local news at 10.25 I'd have the weather first (in the studio like the other bulletins) and then have a proper close of the programme, with Huw saying that the local news followed on BBC1, Newsnight on BBC2 and the Ten o'clock News Hour on News 24.



P.S. Changing topic, but where do the presenters of the News Headlines on BBC News Multiscreen come from. Are they there just to present the bulletins, or are they reporters or producers assigned to the bulletins each day?

Yes, it annoys me as well. Really, he should say:

"Newsnight started 3 minutes ago over on BBC2, so you've missed the start, but from everyone on the ten o'clock team, goodnight."

Why? It always struck me as a waste to have two main news bulletins covering the same news from the same news department with the same tone simultaneously, and implicitly gives either the BBC1 or N24 viewer inferior coverage (and since the main correspondents always did the BBC1 news, do the maths...)

Bills on the six tonight I think.

Where's George? We has Jane Hill earlier in the week, George on for just a couple of days and Bill today (If Greg is correct)

It is Bill today. George hasnt had a break for a while actualy, or maybe because its Friday? Lots of presenting teams are different from the norm on Fridays.