BBC News: Presenters & Rotas

I like the chemistry between the presenters on the NC so wouldn't want to see the channel go to one presenter. In fact I think it would make the channel even more stale.

For me there seems to be too many presenter doing reletivley short shifts.

What are the shift patterns for the News Channel?

Monday to Friday is, usually:

830-11 (Simon & Carrie)
11-1, 130-2 (Matthew & Jane)
2-5 (Jon & Louise)
5-6 (Huw)
630-10 (Ben & Joanna)
1030-1 (Chris)

Saturday:
10-4 (Maxine)
4-7 (relief)
7-midnight (Clive or Annita)

Sunday:
9-1 (Nicholas)
1-7 (Maxine)
7-midnight (Clive or Annita)

I found this site useful, although it's mostly not fully complied with.

second week in a row on the 11am shift for Julia!

Never a bad thing!

Jon Sopel is presenting 5 Live Drive this evening.

Just saying.

Indeed, was surprised to hear him on 5 Live, hope they don't steal him for good!

I wonder if something like
8.30am-12
12-5 (with a break for the News at One)
would be workable? Longer shifts but with two presenters shouldn't be so bad. That would be 2 presenters every weekday 'saved'. Also do weekday evenings really need two presenters? Daytimes I understand because of breaking news, but that is less likely in the evening

I also wonder if a weekend shift could be saved. If a breakfast presenter stayed on a hour or two longer, and maybe a couple of BBC World bulletins were simulcast then possibly could eliminate a shift?

And going away from the News Channel, maybe combine the 8pm summary with 60 seconds (removing the 8pm 60 seconds in the process). Certainly plenty of options to cut down on presenter costs

At the weekend I think the should equal the shifts out so when Maxine is away they don't have to use two presenters to cover.

0900-1400 Nicholas Owen or other NC presenters
1400-1900 Maxine (+ plus 12pm news on both days)
1900-0000 Annita or Clive (+ plus evening and late BBC One news)

That means we only have three presenters even when Maxine is away. To save costs further use the evening presenter for BBC One also!

I was also considering something similar, keeping two presenters but for longer shifts. Single handed presentation during the week, given the amount of breaking news and interviews, would be a lot tougher than weekends currently are, and without any of the filler programmes. Having two presenters would also allow periods in each shift for each presenter to be 'relieved' without needing a new presenter to cover.

The other possibility would be having the News at One presenter stay on for an hour or two - something that already happens on Bank Holidays and has happened in the past (during the 'pilots' of the One being in with the NC Sophie Raworth stayed on until 2, and I remember a period where both Raworth and Kaplinsky made occasional daytime appearances). This is clearly a lot easier now that the programme is made by the NC and comes from the same studio and team.

I've often wondered why the 8pm bulletin needed a separate presenter other than the Beeb wanting someone more senior on (but then Ellie Crisell..?).


Your weekend plan won't work as Breakfast in Salford will be 7-days a week (apparently) - so it's hard to see how that could work. And I'd be hesitant about merging any NC and WN shifts, even at weekends, as the potential breaking news dilemma would outweigh any savings. I think you'd be better off reorganising weekend shifts to allow some of the more familiar presenters - such as Maxine Mawhinney, Nick Owen, Clive Myrie and Tim Willcox - to present the main evening BBC 1 bulletins as part of the usual evening shifts. To me, that's where there's a waste.

I think that's an excellent point.

I think you may have attributed that quote to the wrong poster there...