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"Ringmain" is a fairly old fashioned term now, and I think a BBC only one. In radio, several audio channels were piped around the newsrooms and staff could use rotary selectors to switch between whichever audio feed they desired, John Simpson describes his first days in the newsroom as believeing everyone to be earnest and very serious, utterly committed to their listening, until he discovered that most of them were tuning in to the cricket.
At TV Centre, it was an analogue RF based distribution system, so that a number of tv channels could be received on any analogue tv screen plugged into an aerial socket. Tv Centre had (I think) as many channels as could be squeezed into the standard rf range for U.K. Television sets. I don't remember the picture quality being particularly good, but it was fine for viewing purposes. There were several bookable channels, which could show internal 'programmes' like major staff announcements from the director general and so on, or previews of new programmes when new seasons were launched. There was also an internal teletext channel "InFax" which showed things like studio bookings and so on (I think, it's a long time ago!)
Ringmains in other bbc buildings depended on what was available in the building and what budget (and local need) there was to provide the service. In some smaller stations is could be just one or two additional channels to those available locally on analogue television.
Now it's all digital and in BH, each desk has three boxes on it: a free to air tuner used for audio channel listening, a small free to air tv, and a control and audio mixing box (that's the item with green buttons on it, referred to above). You can set the tv to view any one of several hundred channels, the set to box to listen to a radio station, audio feed or output from a studio, plus the audio from your PC also goes through the box, so you can switch that into your headphones too. Some desks have more than one tv screen on them (programme and channel editors for example, who like to be across several news broadcasters at once) and they have control boxes that can look after multiple receivers.
It's a bespoke unit made by Sonifex specially for the BBC, but is featured in this press release on their website https://youtu.be/e9Gz3CFhuxg. Most desks in Broadcasting House have them.
Back to other bbc buildings though, and things are increasingly delivered digitally via IP.
At TV Centre, it was an analogue RF based distribution system, so that a number of tv channels could be received on any analogue tv screen plugged into an aerial socket. Tv Centre had (I think) as many channels as could be squeezed into the standard rf range for U.K. Television sets. I don't remember the picture quality being particularly good, but it was fine for viewing purposes. There were several bookable channels, which could show internal 'programmes' like major staff announcements from the director general and so on, or previews of new programmes when new seasons were launched. There was also an internal teletext channel "InFax" which showed things like studio bookings and so on (I think, it's a long time ago!)
Ringmains in other bbc buildings depended on what was available in the building and what budget (and local need) there was to provide the service. In some smaller stations is could be just one or two additional channels to those available locally on analogue television.
Now it's all digital and in BH, each desk has three boxes on it: a free to air tuner used for audio channel listening, a small free to air tv, and a control and audio mixing box (that's the item with green buttons on it, referred to above). You can set the tv to view any one of several hundred channels, the set to box to listen to a radio station, audio feed or output from a studio, plus the audio from your PC also goes through the box, so you can switch that into your headphones too. Some desks have more than one tv screen on them (programme and channel editors for example, who like to be across several news broadcasters at once) and they have control boxes that can look after multiple receivers.
It's a bespoke unit made by Sonifex specially for the BBC, but is featured in this press release on their website https://youtu.be/e9Gz3CFhuxg. Most desks in Broadcasting House have them.
Back to other bbc buildings though, and things are increasingly delivered digitally via IP.
