I doubt BBC2 will go regional. If they've stripped out the facility in most centres I doubt they'll want to put it back in. It'll probably stay as it is. Even when things are fully digital, people will still expect BBC1 to carry the regional news (especially if some areas are only going to get a basic 5 channels on one digital multiplex on DTT as it's been rumoured several times).
They haven't strpped the facility out of most centres, AFAIK it is still there in the main regions.
After analogue switch off there will be no BBC2 opts at all as the regions have never had the facility in the first place
It is my understanding that the 5.58 might not be a strictly legit opt., but a cheeky lets see if we can get away with covering a network trail sort of thing.
A friend tells me MTD have been given a dressing down for this before, but doesn't know whether it has now been ok'd by london.
Makes me laugh - the BBC are spending all this money on promoting their digital services and making the BBC more value for money when they don't even have the facility to provide a proper regional facility on BBC2! What is this, the 1960s? It's a shoddy situation for someone in Northern England to expect to sit through half an hour of London News on his DTT box just cos some has-been British tennis player is losing another quarter-final at SW19.
Interesting to find out what the average ratings for a Henman game on BBC1 are.
Interesting to find out what the average ratings for a Henman game on BBC1 are.
In 2004, when a Henman game was broadcast on BBC One, it peaked with 11 million viewers at 8.15pm, just over 1/2 the avalible audience, it even beat Coronation Street.
Also in past years, when they have been up against one another, I think that the Tennis on One has beaten the News on Two
Also in past years, when they have been up against one another, I think that the Tennis on One has beaten the News on Two
Of course, the reason the news is moved is that BBC bosses are worried that if the match stayed on 2, the ratings situation would be reversed, as there's still a perception of BBC2 as a minority channel in some quarters.
You have to remember that most of Henman's matches (well all Tennis matches really) happen at any time, though the BBC on the safe side makes sure that there's at least one channel covering a game between 12.00pm and 9.00pm. Usually decisions to switch the News are somewhat last minute, especially if it is half way through a game, then it feels quite weird to leave the game.
Though I think this is alright when it is a crucial important game, but 99% it's usually Henman's first game that he loses. Though it's very annoying when you have no Analogue alternative and you have to watch BBC London News, which would probably get it's highest ratings ever.
I know they can't Regionalise English BBC Two, due to the high cost and the lack of regional programming, but I think there should be a BBC Two North Digital, which shows The Super League Show (which feels like it'll never be on BBC One), but if a situation occured, it could show either North West Tonight or Look North, which would make a bit more sense.
BBC2 English regions are still used every year when the Tennis moves the 6PM news hour to BBC2.
Only on analogue. Or am I mistaken?
Yup - no English Region can opt out on BBC 2 Digital (Sat, Cable or Terrestrial). And as rightly said above - some cannot opt on BBC2 analogue either! Yes, the Tennis and a few other major broadcasting moments have in the past shunted the newshour onto BBC2, but it always results in a lot of complaints from within the BBC, not only because of the digital limitation, but also because, even for regions that do manage to opt on BBC2, the ratings for such programmes are often poor in comparison to what they would have got on BBC1. Those in charge often seem to say that BBC1 is the nation's favourite channel and that major sporting and other milestones need to be on the channel even if it does mean that as a on-off, regional news gets shunted onto BBC2.
But it's clear that there are still trails going out on BBC2 in various regions and the occasional programme:
Restoration had pan-regional opt outs on BBC2 on Sundays in it's last series, for example
.
But (with the sole exception of The Superleague Show, I think) it seems that the days of regular regional programmes in England on BBC2 are over.
Were the Restoration Opts on analogue only? Or they also happen on DTT? I seem to remember at the time that some sort of special technical 'lash-up' was made at TVC to allow for this opt on BBC 2.
Any such lash-up would also have had to happen at each regional centre I guess
Perhaps. The analogue regional opts would still have taken place at the regional centres. The playout for the DTT opts (I think) occured at TVC, and were then sent to the regional DTT transmitters. I could of course have got entirely the wrong end of the stick on this one, but I do know that Restoration was not a straightforward regional opt.
As far as I remember they just showed one different region each week on the BBC TWO England, though I could be wrong. Stupid to schedule a regional programme on a channel that is not regional.