Personally I don't mind the new graphics for the countdown. The font used previously didn't match anything on the channel, so a move to Swiss is welcome IMO. I also think if it had a coloured background it'd look too cluttered with the DOG there as well. As someone has already said, maybe combining the two would have made sense.
It's a shame as well that they've not made an effort to include more recognisable images of the UK outside London in the countdowns. They do seem rather capital-centric to me.
I wouldn't mind a News 24 logo if it was in the centre of the screen and not on a DOG (á la the 1999 countdown). I'm also disappointed that the countdown isn't dissimilar to the old one (just basically replacing DIN with Swiss and moving the clock to the other side of the screen) and that the data streams haven't been updated to fit in with the titles. (The graphics men still don't seem to have worked out how satellite reciever dishes work.)
This new countdown doesn't look too bad at all although I think the actual timer would stand out more if it had a red background as previously. If this was done then I think that the DOG could be linked in and wouldn't look so out of place.
Kate striding down the Millennium Bridge is great! But where's Jane? They could have her with perfect hair and then a data stream whoosh past with the resulting wind-swept OB look!!!
But the way its phrased certainly sounded so. Some days ago CNN Intl had something similar in their flipper that goes "An American helicopter crashed into Baghdad accidentally". It sounded as if it would be okay to crash outside the capital.
