BBC Regional News

Now that Wales Today has finally been revamped, I think all BBC nations and regions have now been updated from their original "map" look - and many regions have been updated twice.

So who do you think has got it right.

I think titles wise BBC Wales have done themselves proud - a good variation of the theme and an obvious link to the main BBC titles. My only complaints are there is too much clutter on the end cap - and possinly it would look better with a black, rather than white, background.


As for the studio, North West Tonight is probably the best. A nice screen and well used studio.

And graphics wise, the BBC News astons seem to be quite random but I like the Newyddion ones.

Anyhow, whats your opinion?

Well BBC Scotland still has the same map titles since 1999, albeit with the addition of more red to them last year, and the music is still the same. But I would expect all this to change when they move studios.

I would say Points West has best music, but Newsline has the best titles and opening. And best studio would be BBC Midlands Today, you can't beat a * real * newsroom in the background. ( Hint to BBC Scotland !!!! )

As I have said a couple of times, North West Tonight has got the look right, as it has a mix of the old and the new, the old being the view of Manchester, the New being the intergrated big screen, the circular white desk, sofa-bench area.

Wales Today has gone for the same sort of approach too and their revamp has paid off as it looks more up to date, unlike Reporting Scotland, that is awful, why on earth did they get rid of their desk!?!

I mean the look is bad enough, but programme content is just as bad. The programme is in dire need of complete overhaul, but in terms of a new set and editor / producer ( whoever ).

I have said that there a two options to improve Reporting Scotland.

Either move the main 6.30 programme into the newsroom set, like the other bulletins, but maybe present some of it from actually inside the newsroom, and not just the wee set that looks onto it. They could either revert back to the one presenter format, and that would work, considering the newsroom desk is only big enough for one person, or they could have two presenters, whereby the two revovle between sitting at the desk, and being in the actual newsroom.

Or they could improve on the main 6.30 set.

http://thetvroom.com/area-b/images-bbc-scotland/images-2004/main-6.jpg

From looking at the above photo, throughout the programme the two presenters could present from in front of the left screen ( where they are actually standing ), but bring back the backdrop of Glasgow. Then the smaller screen on the right could be used for handing over to OB's, and the sports / weather presenter could present from in front of that one. And therefore completely ditching the fake newsroom backdrop. I think they need to experiment a bit with camera angles, maybe a bit more slow panning of the camera etc, rathe than a fixed shot. So, the presenters could either stand up, or introduce some sort small desk for the presenter to sit at. ( Maybe similar to Sally's desk on BBC South Today ).

But I won't hold my breath for BBC Scotland to implement any changes until they move home in 2007.

Whilst they looked quite nice, I think the fundamental problem of the backdrops featuring views of a particular city (and probably the reason why most of the regions have binned them) is that they instantly alienate people who live elsewhere.

I can imagine people in Edinburgh being unhappy at having to look at a picture of Glasgow. Similarly Look North has always had a problem of being viewed as Leeds-centric, and so the old backdrop of Leeds City Centre probably did little to change the views of those in Sheffield and Bradford.

For Reporting Scotland i would add a N24 style desk, but blue, in the current studio, and make the 'full screen' the same as the other smaller screen, and have the real newsroom projected, or at least a half-decent mock-up.

If you go down to Cardiff bay, you can see the Wales Today camera nailed to the side of the Assembly building. It looks nothing more than your average CCTV camera.

Sadly, seeing as the new Assembly building is currently being constructed right in front of the camera, BBC Wales have had to use old looped footage of the bay (which constantly 'jumps' when used on air). So it's no longer any fun going down to the bay at 6.30pm and dancing around like a nutter to try and get on telly!

I think the camera position will have to be moved when the new Assembly building is completed, seeing all the camera can see now is just a roof of the new building.

It will confuse a lot of viewers though, because everyone seems to think that BBC Wales's studios are IN Cardiff bay. Where in actual fact, BBC Wales is based a mile or so away (as the crow flies) in leafy Llandaff.

Don't you mean as the fish swims?

Glad you agree. I think it is the best by far. Chris just needs a decent co-host alongside him now rather than that Amanda.... Why did Susan have to leave. She was excellent! There is a void no in the Points West Studio.

When Look North had their live view of Leeds City Centre there was also the excitement of wondering whether the camera's resident spider would make an appearance. One morning it decided to spin a web across the lens and appeared twice the size of Claire Frisby.

Wales Today had a spider on its camera too. That was until one horrific morning when the little windscreen wiper on the lens (yes, they had a wiper on the camera!!) started to clear the water away, thus killing Mr Spider in cold blood

Nick, have you seen the state of the River Taf? Apart from a few rotting corpses of animals and humans and industrial waste, there's nothing else in that river!