BBC News 24

Because it's automated I think - besides, you aren't missing much.

And regarding the .45 headlines, during the first showing of WBR (00.30) and ABC's "World" News (01.30) we get them due to the break, but for the 04.30 WBR we just get a promo and back to the programme.

Maybe not, but I still feel that Ben prefers to be out in the field. It's where these guys really come into their own. Handcuffed to a desk is constraining and NONE of them do it full time. If you look at the likes of Ben, Lyse Doucet, George Alagiah, Jonathan Charles.......they all are compelled - from time to time - to get back out into the action. I am pretty sure most of them have it as a clause in their contracts. None of the above would enjoy being studio-bound for the rest of their lives.

Does N24 have a different version of WBR than BBC World's, with more UK related business stories? Does it come from the same studio as World's WBR?

Its the same WBR thats on at 2215BST on BBC World I think.

These days it is a straight repeat of the BBC World version - which comes from the BBC World studio in London, and the BBC New York studio.

There used to be a BBC News 24 version called Business Today - but it was axed to save money. (Though how much it saved is debated)

Can't really see the point of them using the red ticker when the breaking news strap is on screen. It doesn't add any more information. They should show the normal ticker when the breaking news strap is on, giving the other headlines.

http://www.rp-network.com/tvforum/uploads/breaking.jpg

Think you're missing the whole point of the ticker there! The Strap gives basic details the ticker gives a little more in the way of details.

I think you might be missing the point there. The ticker was giving the information (not quite word-perfect):

"DEFRA SAYS THE FIRST EVER CASE OF BLUETONGUE DISEASE IN BRITAIN HAS BEEN FOUND IN A COW AT A FARM IN SUFFOLK"

...whereas the strap actually says the same thing, but more succinctly:

BLUETONGUE DISEASE
1st UK case found in Suffolk cow


Perhaps the ticker should give more information than the strap, but at the very beginning of most breaking stories, there is so little to report, that to have two information sources simultaneously duplicating the same details in varying degrees of verbosity is excessive and rather pointless.

I think that what they should have done was run the BREAKING NEWS strap and sting, and leave the strap up for a couple of minutes before removing it and letting the ticker do the job, particularly because N24 was in the middle of Sportsday when the news broke.

I'm all in favour of prioritising and drawing attention to breaking news, but I don't think that should always come at the expense of other programming - if they're not going to cut into the programme that's on to report it, it's probably not urgent enough to drop the baby over it, in which case confining the breaking news during live non-rolling programming to the red ticker seems perfectly sufficient for the sake of a few minutes.

Either way, there's no real reason to have both breaking news ticker and strap on at the same time with such limited information - either keep the strap and leave the white ticker running other headlines, or pack the red ticker with what little information may be available on the breaking news (adding to the information as it becomes available), and stop the strap from blocking the screen unnecessarily.

The same information in two parts of the screen comes down to a problem with one of two things: the workman or the tools. Either the gallery staff don't see a problem with filling the screen with multiple instances of virtually no information at all; or the policies in place to govern how graphics are used in certain situations are insufficient, so as to allow such poor usage of graphics.

I'm concerned now that after such a rant, I may appear somehow passionate about what I'm saying, but I assure you that is not the case - I just really enjoy proving people wrong. It's like a drug to me.

I also really enjoy rimming, but that's largely irrelevant here.

Is it the same person who adds information to the ticker that also controls the straps?

Not always - no.

I thought this was the case. Hence why you can get a situation where the ticker and strap display similar information. I assume the ticker only gets updated every so often or when some breaking news occurs.

Sky News' graphics work quite well in that sense. As the news comes in, the yellow ticker comes up, then when the presenter refers to it, the breaking news strap comes up and the normal ticker resumes.

In fact, sometimes when there is so little to report on a small breaking news story, the presenter doesn't refer to it at all and just lets the strap 'do the talking', which I think is completely acceptable when there is little information available.