BBC News: Presenters & Rotas

Ben Brown presenting from the News Olympic Studio, will he be here all week?


Pippa Thomas shows again, this time in the South of London after the Olympic Lanes open for athletes,


Simon McCoy once again in the N6 studio

Expect to see shift patterns on the News Channel being a bit higgledy-piggledy over the next couple of weeks. So far this week in N6 we've had 0830-1200 (Simon McCoy), 1200-1600 (Matthew Amroliwala), 1600-1900 (Rachel Schofield), 1900-2130 (Joanna Gosling) and 2130-0100 (Nicholas Owen/Sophie Long). It's like the early days of News 24 with those shift patterns! At the Olympic Park it's simply 0900-1700 (Ben Brown) and 1700-2200 (Tim Willcox).

Makes sense really having just one presenter in N6, whilst a lot of each hour is taken up by Olympic news with Ben Brown, Tim Willcox, Jon Sopel, Clive Myrie, Chris Eakin and Adam Parsons all outside of the normal studio. As has already been discussed though, I think it would have been better for them to just spend 15-20 minutes of each hour covering the olympics until the games actually begin, and spend the rest of the hour covering the main news stories, rather than the other way round.

Some hours Olympic coverage has only got 15-20 minutes. It is a busy news week without the Olympics, and to be fair, other stories are getting the coverage they deserve

I expect we'll see somebody else soon in the next couple of days. So far it's only been Ben and Tim in that studio for the News channel. Maybe we'll be seeing Carrie Gracie or Jane Hill turning up as they haven't been on at all this week.



To be fair that is true, but whilst I realise the BBC is the Olympics Broadcaster, I do think they've gone a tad overboard on reporting the Olympics. But you're right they have also been covering other stories in some detail.

Looking at the tv schedules on bbc.co.uk Jane is due to co-present some of the specials airing on BBC One and Two tomorrow and Friday with Sophie Raworth.

Indeed... today (Thursday; now is):

17:00-18:00 - BBC One (& News channel): London 2012 - Countdown to the Olympics
1/3: Jane Hill presents live coverage of the closing stages of the Olympic Torch Relay as it passes some of London's famous landmarks.

19:00+ - BBC One: Olympics 2012
...Before the Game (GBR Mens Team) the Olympic Torch reaches Hyde Park.

Now, it doesn't say whose going to be anchoring the coverage from 7pm before the Team GB mens football game, could be the presenters who are covering the game (i.e. Gary Lineker), or a news presenter.

Friday looks like this:

12:00-13:00 - BBC One (& News channel): London 2012 - Countdown to the Olympics
2/3: Sophie Rayworth and Jane Hill present coverage from London as the excitement mounts ahead of the opening ceremony for the 2012 Olympics.

and then...

17:00-18:00 - BBC One (& News channel): London 2012 - Countdown to the Olympics
3/3: Sophie Rayworth presents live coverage from East London ahead of the Olympic opening ceremony.

Carrie Gracie doing the late shift tonight in N8.

Seems very bizarre to see her at this time - and in that studio!

I think I'm right in saying that Carrie was a regular face of the evening shift in the early days of News 24, up until about 2003, with Gavin Esler. I believe Jon Sopel then replaced Gavin, who moved to Newsnight, and Philippa Thomas replaced Carrie, who moved to present N24 at the weekends. Eventually (if I'm right in saying so) Philippa was replaced by Louise Minchin in late 2003, who up until that point was only a relief presenter on the channel.

You're right about Carrie Gracie being one of the main weekday evening presenters about 10 years ago. Weekdays used to be Gavin Esler and Carrie Gracie; and the same shift at weekends was Chris Lowe and Gwenan Edwards/Anna Jones. It's funny - some here say it's strange to see Carrie in the evening. In fact, I'm still not used to seeing her in the morning. Somehow you get used to how it was when you first started watching the channel. Another pairing that seems wrong to me is Matthew and Jane at 11am. In my mind they're still the 4pm after school presenters!

A quick question regarding the old 4pm shift - who presented alongside Matthew in late 1999/early 2000? AFAIK, Jane Hill was the presenter of Breakfast 24 alongside Chris Eakin, as shown in the clip below of the 1999 relaunch, so it couldn't have been her until N24 started simulcasting BBC1 Breakfast in October 2000. And Sian Williams, who was the shift's launch presenter in 1997, had already left to become Special Correspondent for the Six O' Clock News.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pwnNe8J8hk

Speaking of Chris Eakin, am I right in saying he was left without a regular shift after Breakfast 24 ended in October 2000? All the main shifts were filled - Ben Geoghegan on 9-1, Bill Turnbull on 1-4, Matthew Amroliwala on 4-7, Gavin Esler on 7-11, Peter Dobbie on 11-1. I don't think it was until Bill Turnbull became the main weekend co-presenter of Breakfast that Chris Eakin was given a regular slot on the channel again - 1-4 with Valerie Sanderson.

I have to say, Naga Munchetty is a damn bloody good presenter!