BBC News Channel: Presentation

Does anyone else find it quite annoying how BBC Arabic and BBC Persian often get the better deal than BBC News Channel and BBC World News? On the other hand, BBC Persian viewers are lucky to have a great channel, presentation-wise anyway.

Better newsroom set, better, more consistent graphics, better countdown (their countdown music is great!), graphic animations are better and more dynamic. Proper window view and great use of camera angles. And they do this on probably a smaller budget than BBC News. Their range of programming looks very good as well.

I really can't wait for BBC News to move into BH. I'll be interested to see if we get more flexible, better studio space, and at least better on-screen graphics. Our title sequence isn't bad, but get rid of Gill Sans and more exciting graphic transitions on the DOGs.



This looks great, and looks like it's from the Arabic studio. This is more what we want for the likes of Breakfast of something.

Presumably they'd need the original template and elements to do it. I wouldn't be as easy as just inserting an alternative picture on top

It won't be a deliberate policy it'll just be someone without the correct graphic who had to make it up in a hurry and improvised. It will probably surprise some here that most people in TV don't fuss or worry over the intricacies of making sure they have the right logo or version of music.

Absolutely, I didn't expect it would be easy - but not beyond the wit of a BBC staffer who is fond of presentation...

Matt is still on the link that they use when they are waiting for BBC 1 to be ready instead of the countdown.

No my point was rather that putting the channel logo in a big box above the NC DOG is part of the design - and has featured that way on nationals before, too. This looks pretty bad, but is often then implemented badly with wrong logos, ratios or colouring. I wasn't suggesting the latter was deliberate, but that overall the design is hideous.

And if the BBC didn't want professional-looking presentation that lined up and was consistent, why spend £500,000 contracting Lambie-Nairn to make graphics that would line up and be consistent across the BBC?

Doesn't surprise me. It's nice that Media Boy has come on here and said he finds the new countdowns frustrating too (working for the News dept.).

On a similar note, I wonder what they'll do for the build up to the TOTH when they move to BH, will they keep a similar theme of reporters being shown reporting in the field ending with a shot of the new W1 building/BH or maybe go back to something like this from 2003 which I always liked and never really dated...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-65o2gtjdQ

This was always my favourite countdown sequence, the music, clips (some still being used on the countdown today) and clips of inside the newsroom was imho the best.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHdzuo9MKfM

The only 'good' thing to say about the new countdown sequence is that the pips start at 10, rather than 7 or 9 as before, so they've fixed one problem and created many more in the process! But the current World ones are just shocking, especially the end music being botched on to the end.

OK. Gill Sans is not good, at least, for BBC News. Then, can a new font, based on Gill Sans, specially designed for BBC News by someone (If it exists. Well, think about relations between Sky's new corporate font and Sky News' new font.), or Hoefler & Frere-Jones' new thing, Ideal Sans, be a good replacement?

Was the 8pm Summary cancelled last night or was it moved to BBC Two with the other programes?

TOTH just then used the usual countdown, introduced in 2010.

That would be the 90 second version which wasn't replaced, still played on a loop into 22.00 seven nights a week.

I didn't think it was played of a weekend, plus it didn't sound like the 90 second version. The 90 second version has a slightly bigger build-up to the 30 seconds mark whereas this one didn't, like the previous 60 second version.

Maybe a wrong button pressed...