If i remember correctly BBC 1 News will relaunch in March/ April time and will incorporate virtual reality into the set. Personally i think this could be a step back.
NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No virtual reality! What is wrong with a simple news studio, rather than the stupid American style studios of ITV and SKY?
BBC News should definately begin to consider its future look, style and output across all areas. What is not needed however is a knee jerk reaction to the latest competitor rebrands, otherwhise we have that awful cyclical feeling of everyone rebranding in turn, and never get to relax into a new style.
They should take their time, look at what the competition does best and then, most importantly, better it, not copy it.
There seems to be too much "...they do this, we should too..."
That's what I'd like to see, but I think you're all right, and there'll probably be changes come May/June (they always go over deadline and there's nothing to restrict them)
If i remember correctly BBC 1 News will relaunch in March/ April time and will incorporate virtual reality into the set. Personally i think this could be a step back.
Presumably in April when Anna leaves and Sophie returns...
Set : No Virtual Reality PLEASE. Real newsroom if possible (but probably can't happen untill the move to BH.
Music: More dramatic, perhaps a need to return to the orchestral music similar to the 93-99 era, perhaps with a more upbeat theme.
Areas: Hard set for national bulletins, and soft set for the progoramme between 7 and 7:30 (which may start in April I suppose) and the soft set for breakfast (with a special desk which is wheeled on for Moira)
Presenters: It depends what happens with George Alagiah, but I would like to see it as follows.
Breakfast: Bill Turnbull, Sian Williams (Weekdays) with Phillip Hayton and Louisa Preston (Weekends)
One: Frank Gardiner (Mon-Tue), Sophie Raworth (Wed), Fiona Bruce (Thur-Fri)
Six: Dermot Murnaghan (Mon, Wed-Fri) Fiona Bruce (Tue)
Six Entertainment: Natasha Kaplinsky (Mon-Thurs), Andy Peters (Fri)
Ten: Huw Edwards (Mon-Wed), Darren Jordan (Thurs and Fri), Sophie Raworth (Sun)
Also we would have a version of the 10:00 News on Saturday, on BBC News 24 with Sophie Raworth.
Newsnight: (Pooled) Current Presenters, with Fiona Bruce as an addition for relief.
The current set really does look old and I will be glad for a change.
I agree that the titles have lost their 'touch' and now just drag their heels with very little signifying dramatic news. The regional titles (excluding London) and Breakfast however still work for me as they offer interesting variations with something a little more dramatic signifying news.
The main problem with the national set is the size. The roof is way to low and is too wide, making it look like a shoebox. A total redesign is needed - perhaps with a rectangular desk as opposed to this circle that we have at the moment. The colours need to be changed to blend in with N24 and the backdrop would look more effective were it a shot of the actual newsroom like in the cream era. The screens are way too large and I would personally have two television screens, like Breakfast currently, either side of the desk. In the far right hand area I would have a larger CSO screen for special reports with a sofa in for entertainment news.
Camera angles used on the nationals really are poor with no variation. I would firstly bring back camera operators as opposed to them being controlled from the gallery and then have a variety of different angles used.
As for presenters I would:
Breakfast: Jon Sopel and Sian Williams (Mon-Thurs) Bill Turnbull and Kate Silverton (Fri-Sun) with Simon McCoy and Mishal Hussein as relief
One: Sophie Raworth (Mon-Wed), Darren Jordon (Thur-Fri)
Six: Dermot Murnaghan and Jane Hill, Darren Jordon and Fiona Bruce(relief)
Ten: George Alagiah (Mon-Wed), Huw Edwards (Thur-Fri)
Weekend: Fiona Bruce, Huw Edwards (Relief)
Natasha Kaplinsky would move to N24 (replacing Jane Hill), Matthew Amroliwala would replace Jon Sopel on N24 with Tim Willcox and Julian Worricker replacing Matthew. Kate Silverton would saty in her usual shift Mon-Wed with Carrie Gracie on Thurs-Fri and also on Sat and Sun mornings.
Titles - go for a different colouring scheme. I think the reds and blacks far too dark and depressing.
Studio - definently ditch the plastic look and have an improved backdrop. They need to make more use of space - it always look quite huddled. Remember the studio in 1993? That was huge compared to the current one.
Presenters -
Breakfast -
BILL TURNBULL AND SIAN WILLIAMS (Mon-Thurs)
PETER DOBBIE AND MISHAL HUSAIN (Fri-Sun)
ONE -
MOIRA STUART
FIONA BRUCE
SIX-
JANE HILL AND DERMOT MURNAGHAN
TEN-
HUW EDWARDS AND SOPHIE RAWORTH (Two, instead of one - do you think we'd see that happening?)
Also -
"It depends what happens with George Alagiah, but I would like to see it as follows"
- is George considering to leave or something? Do fill me in ________________
Jane Hill: Good evening and welcome to a Kaplinsky-free BBC!
An idea which I have seen in my head many times, is something very similar to the 1993-1999 look along with many features from both todays look and the 1999-2003 look.
As you can see, there is a picture on the wall. Make this into a newswall, make the walls ajustable that they can be made white, red and purple. Just so its adaptable. Then there would be the main area; around where the presenter in this above image, would be a shot of the newsroom like a balconey looking down on the newsroom. When needed, the camera would have the newsroom as the main shot. When the newswall is needed, a side shot with the camera resting on te desk wouldnt be so bad.
On the left of the newswall would be a sofa area. Used for both breakfast and newsnight.
But the BBC wouldnt have this amount of space to do this!
Its all a bit if and when with the revamp. As far as I understand the final decisions on what goes where has yet to be made. As for ITV news' latest look I'm not convinced that its anything to should about. Trying to fit a square simulation of grays inn onto a circualr set doesn't look at all right. I can't quite put my finger on it but it doesn't work.
The Yorkshire local news studio is a real mess the old blue is still evident but with this old look Barclays Bank green/blue is weird. At least the news on Yorkshire is reasonable.
Thanks for the replies - not very often people agree with my criticisms of the BBC!
Not too sure what to suggest - anything would be better.
One idea for the desk is to have one in the style of the BBC News globe/ribbons logo. I think they should keep the logo, but have a different titles formation.
They need proper story graphics rather than the pathetic strap - and the astons need improvement - even if it's just adopting the News 24 look.
As for regional news - it needs to decide whether it wants to be strongly linked with the national branding - or individual to the region. At the moment we are somewhere in between - and it just looks amateur!
Presenter wise, I don't rate Sophie Raworth and Kaplinsky at all, but being realistic I think one of them will get the 1pm slot.
Personally I'd move Huw back to the 6pm news, and move Newsnight from BBC2 and air it in an hour-long slot (inc. regional news) on BBC1 at 10pm - with George Alligiah joining the Newsnight team, and The World moving from BBC4 to BBC2, anchored by Kirsty Wark each weeknight at 8pm.
At weekends I think for the sake of BBC1 the Sunday 10pm bulletin needs to be more flexible - and this month it has been, airing in later slots to allow uninterupted drama and film at 9pm.
One idea for the desk is to have one in the style of the BBC News globe/ribbons logo. I think they should keep the logo, but have a different titles formation.
They need proper story graphics rather than the pathetic strap - and the astons need improvement - even if it's just adopting the News 24 look.
As for regional news - it needs to decide whether it wants to be strongly linked with the national branding - or individual to the region. At the moment we are somewhere in between - and it just looks amateur!
Presenter wise, I don't rate Sophie Raworth and Kaplinsky at all, but being realistic I think one of them will get the 1pm slot.
Personally I'd move Huw back to the 6pm news, and move Newsnight from BBC2 and air it in an hour-long slot (inc. regional news) on BBC1 at 10pm - with George Alligiah joining the Newsnight team, and The World moving from BBC4 to BBC2, anchored by Kirsty Wark each weeknight at 8pm.
At weekends I think for the sake of BBC1 the Sunday 10pm bulletin needs to be more flexible - and this month it has been, airing in later slots to allow uninterupted drama and film at 9pm.
Interesting ideas. Personally I think the whole Globe/Ribbons theme needs ditching like a hot potato. It simply doesn't work and to be honest the best representation I've seen of the idea of streams of news is the news 24 countdown. Imagine a title sequence with them in it and not simply a exploding globe and silly words flying aimlessly around. I mean, do they actually go anywhere? It's weak and it doesn't work.
In terms of the pres this needs to be brought into line with any look on N24/World. It's simply not acceptable for such lapses as the dip, dip effect we see on the national. As my dear mother would say, Where's the pride?
Regional news is somewhat ambigous again, seeming to have some regions maintaing the previous network look and other's introducing their interuptations of it. It looks (although in some cases not without considerable effort) sloppy and ununiformed. I'd like to see a look adpated from the national to the regions/nations to provide more coherence between bulletins.
Not sure about merging Newsnight with BBC One. The 1/6 and 10 should remain as entities in themself with Newsnight given an extra 10 minutes, make it 60 minutes and moving Geogre to other them in exchange for Ms Wark.
Agree with the Sunday's issue. There should be a unified bulletin during the weekend of 10 minutes of National at 1 and 5 with 5 minutes of regional following it and then simply having a flexible "evening bulletin"
As for Breakfast it really should return to the clear cut news/showbiz divide, remove the sofa from serious news pres and have it merely for chats etc and maybe consider, if it's remaining in the shoebox effect studio a rectangular desk ala BBC 3's Liquid News.
I have read the comments posted for this, and I have to say that while I agree with the comments BBC News needs a new look, I do not think that changing presenters will help. Just look at SKY and ITV; their ratings fell after reshuffling the rota.
I think that it would be nice for Sian Williams to have a bigger slice of the cake, yet doubt that will happen now. She has been a presenter for many years now, and I hoped she'd be in the same ranking as Kaplinsky at the Beeb (yet Natasha got the gig as Sophie's stand in!)
I would like to see Darren take over the One. However, I would want Sophie to remain on the Six and Huw and Fiona stick with the Ten. The weakest and most wooden must be George, yet he is still better than many on opposing channels.
Replacing presenters like a bin liner is not the answer to quality news both in image and content.
I The weakest and most wooden must be George, yet he is still better than many on opposing channels.
Totally agree on this, George in the studio is dull and wooden. George as a correspondant is excellent. So what if george were to become the Chief News Correspondent or something to this effect doing special reports for the 1 6 and 10?
