I think the new countdown music is fantastic! Its sounds a lot more lively, builds the countdown up to more of a "climax" and is something different for News 24. Okay I can't help but say, funky!
As lovely as this new countdown is - and it is lovely - I'm wondering just what the thinking behind it is. There are now so many facets to the branding of N24 - and BBC News in general - that I'm starting to wonder if there's anyone actually in overall control of how it's all supposed to look, or if people are given free rein to change things as they please without discussing things with anyone else.
We now have the new countdown music, at odds with the headline bed and slower-paced titles audio.
We have the whooshes and red 'streams' which seem to be a rather mismatched extension of the BBC NEWS BBC NEWS BBC NEWS streams that fly around on the title sequences.
We also have the N24 promos, with music and visual elements that don't link to anything else on BBC News, with the exception of the promo endboards which are a similar style to those used on other promotions.
The font used for the countdown numerals isn't used anywhere else in BBC News output.
We still have title sequences that are predominantly black, while we have sets that are predominantly white with frosted plastic/glass elements.
...and even when changes are made, we see terrible cock-ups like the "squashed" N24 Tower logo that was seen by viewers for a full day, and graphics that didn't come close to lining up for weeks after the beginning of simulcast of the Nationals.
It also doesn't help that while those in power think that the highest priority for presentation is to make the N24 logo 8% bigger in the Tower, the reliability of the tOG system remains questionable, and the effects of that are seen daily with info supers animating on- and off-screen seemingly at will.
So yes, it's nice that we've got a new countdown to all get excited about, but what would be really nice, what I'd
really
like to see is a bit of consistency across the brand, at least
some
evidence that there's thought going into these changes, because at the moment, every change I see looks like it's happened because someone in a BBC office had too much time on their hands and thought it would be 'cool' to update something.
Good remix. Thanks beeb!
