"BBC WORLD"

It might be true that World's news output remains excellent, but I'm afraid this is more than can be said in terms of the overall journalistic content. There was a time when weekend programmes were aimed at delivering extra interviews and analysis of the wolrd's economic and political shape, thus adding to the dedication of the channel to provide a picture of the issues that make the global agenda. I feel that nowadays that dedication fails to materialize in the weekend programming. The've opted for a more lifestyle-like kind of output, which creates a discrepancy between weekdays and weekends that is almost comparable to CNBC's. Apart from Dateline London and some occasional interviews, I seldom watch the weekends programmes.

On to the FoxNews allusion in the Sunday Times' article now. FoxNews isn't a newschannel, whatever themselves may claim to be. It is sort of an opinion station where a handful of so-called journalists with strong views and sharp minds come up to, in ordrer to express their beliefs. The rest of the output stems from an attempt to persuade viewers that those people are journalists and that therefore their discourse is fully trustworthy and shouldn't be taken with a grain of salt. However appalling BBCWorld's output may have become, it is purely illegitimate to purport to compare it to the one of a disguised-as news channel.

That was wierd just now on BBC World, the weather had just finished and then a Baselworld ad started playing but there was no sound, but! the sound we were hearing was that of the breakfiller, when they ad finished the breakfiller continued and we could see it too. random.

And I miss Mishal Husain, when is she coming back to World?

It's the lifestyle programmes which bring in the money for the channel. I know it's the wish of the channel management to reduce the ammount of lifestyle programming, but it has a cost and will not be done overnight

Shes staying at breakfast, if i understand correctly.

Kirsty Lang is great on The World, I really think that's her programme. I really like Zeinab Badawi, too (I hoped she would become Hardtalk's main presenter at the time Tim Sebastian went to Qatar) but I think she should go back to BBC News and Kirsty back to The World. It's not to promote or demote anyone, I just think Zeinab Badawi is better at keeping the pace of a News Bulletin while Kirsty Lang is more suited for an in-depth analysis programme like the World.

Personally, I'd completely revamp "The World" it's content is frankly abused by the sloppy pres of the programme. Kirsty's OK, not sure I can always "relate" to her. Zeinab should return to BBC World, possibly with Kirsty and a new team, or an old one, brought in.
Dark/Orange worked. Lime Green doesn't, doesn't fit with BBC World, or Four and frankly looks like a bolt on rather than a fragship world news programme.

fragship? Is the programme Chinese? (joke)

DO NOT under any circumstances put Kirsty in a newsreading position. She's awful - constantly looking like a deer caught in the headlamps, constantly fluffing and just generally doing a bad job. Keep Sissons on THE World and pop Zeinab back on BBC World.

Actually Kirsty seemed pretty well suited for The World Today, as shown a few days ago when she done it a couple of days!

Did she? I've always found her to be very cold and unwelcoming... in fact yeah I agree, she's perfect for anything on BBC News

The music of the News 24 countdown is so much better, why didnt World go with that when they made their own sequence?

Err, obviously cos they wanted to be different and of course they probably wanted to still have it feature their signature tune, and it goes just well...

I caught a 50 second countdown earlier... very good.

Couldn't agree more.

Unlike the likes of Martine Dennis and David Eades, who introduce The World Today - "...and you're watching The World Today from BBC News" - with something of a sense of occasion, like you're watching something that should actually stand out of the schedules rather than just another half hour of news followed by WBR, Kirsty Lang hurries through the intro as if it's offensive, and then shuffles methodically and clinically through every single package intro, two-way and hand-over that comes her way. She has all the warmth of an ice cube, all the wit of a maths teacher, and all the charm of a tree stump.

At this stage I'm sure that the 'comedians' among TVF's membership will at this stage wish to interject with stories of how their maths teachers were quite witty, how they've enjoyed many a warm ice cube, and how they often enjoy the endless charm of tree stumps. I'd like to preempt such vacuous comments with this statement: "Shut up."

On BBC World, I've found Lang to be utterly cold, tiresomely bland, and really just an all round bore.