BBC World News from New Broadcasting House

There does seem to be some timing issues with the BBC News box appearing on screen, almost like the synchronisation or timing is out on some templates. The news channel titles are generally fine with the box appearing when the final globe animation spins on screen before the newsroom pan, but with the One, Six and Ten the box appears some time after the music clap and final globe animation frame.

I remember the News at 5's automation going a bit astray for a few months in C with the music 'claps' out of sync with the recorded newsroom and live studio pan. What would cause this? A corruption on the template or timings on the automation that have gone adrift?

I know it's a really nigly thing but it's something I've often wondered about.

No, it's not just the box staying on screen after the sting.

The presenter starts talking, then a few seconds later the box flashes on screen, quickly followed by the DOG/clock.

I'll get a recording of it on Monday.

I'm watching the weather report on BBC WN with John Hammond. He specifically mentioned the forecast for an NFL Playoff game (Seahawks vs Vikings) taking place in Minneapolis tomorrow which will be -16°C - they even did a zoom in of the stadium in 3D. I only make a mention of this because I've never seen them divert from the regular maps during weather bulletins since I've been actively watching WN for about 3 years.

Apologies for a double post as I'm having difficulty editing my previous.

During these occasions when the overnight simulcasts when Studio C is out commission and they use Studio D are they producing from studio C's gallery or is it D's? I vaguely recall hearing that there wasn't enough money in the budget to allow control of any studio from any gallery. If it is coming from D's gallery equipped with the same equipment that C or E has?

It will almost certainly be coming from Studio D's gallery. All of the NBH BBC News galleries are equipped with broadly the same mix of equipment, and so is Studio D's (though it isn't technically in NBH)

Studio D's gallery was a retrofit (as it was an upgrade to an existing SD operation with different playout facilities) so the arrangement is different, and it will be optimised for BBC London's working style.

BBC World Service's Arabic and Persian TV galleries are currently still SD and use a different gallery set-up to the BBC News galleries. BBC Television's studio/gallery, where The One Show, Sunday Morning Live, Sounds of the Eighties and Film 2015 are made is also different again.

There are significant areas of commonality between the various areas - but they aren't identical, whereas Studios A-E are all close to identical in equipment choice, working style etc.

Does the master BBC world news feed sent to providers have the ads or is it continuous news?

Could all of studios A to E be run by a single person for a short bulletin? I believe that at least one of the BBC London weekend bulletins is run on a single person in the gallery and that a member of the network/news channel team direct the bulletin.

Am I right in thinking that World were moving to automating sound?

As part of, I think, a BBC News School Report, Mediaboy on here (one of the directors) demonstrated how just one person could run the entire headline sequence, with headline strap, video and everything changing, before fading through to the titles and the TOTH shots - I'm not sure if one person could run Studio E on their own though (IMO it still seems unlikely), and if I remember correctly Studio B is much more 'manual' in style so presumably that would be harder to operate.

Im sure short bulletins such as those used during Breakfast could easily be handled by one person. I imagine it's easier with Mosart but even if someone was using a switcher, err vision mixer, it could be done.

In September the union members representing the technical crew at the NBC O&O in Philadelphia went on strike over concerns of layoffs and automation (among other things) and one of their sticking/talking points was having one operator handle the Today Show cut ins. The station has been running Ross OverDrive for quite some time but the station was planning on having one operator handle the cut ins (the stations get 5 minutes for news at :25 and :55 past the hour and a 30' weather hit each half hour). According to NBC it is common practice at their stations and others that one person typically handles the cut ins.

I imagine even a standard bulletin without live shots (or even one or two that are pre planned and setup) could be easily be handled by two people (the director and robotics/prompter operator). After all everything is coded ahead of time and in the event of a problem they probably have a "shot box" type of panel where they could switch cameras and open/close mics. I believe for a few years during the recession the local ABC affiliate in my market was installed Grass Valley Ignite during the recession and their current control room, err gallery, looks like it was built with only three operators position.

^^^

We use Overdrive where I am. We have two directors (for whatever reason though, they're called TMPs here - technical media producers) who work in pairs. I don't fully understand all the magic they pull off, but for morning network cut-ins, one goes through each sequence on Overdrive, while all the other one does is make sure each cut-in records into the encoder and then is placed in the right timeslot during the network show. The template that we use when writing cut-ins is already coded correctly for each VO and SOT, so the TMP usually doesn't have to adjust for much (perhaps if we run a fullscreen instead of video for a story or two, or if the camera shots need to be changed if it's a single anchor day). There's not even a news producer in the booth during cut-ins — the TMP gives the anchors their time cues, and the anchors prompt using their pedals.

Obviously there might be some differences with Mosart or Ignite, but that's the general idea of how things work. I presume a BBC News bulletin, no matter from which studio, might be a little more involved just because of the cameras you're dealing with, though I could be wrong.

It's entirely possible to do short (and even longer) bulletins with a single gallery member IF the gallery is designed to accommodate it. And remember BBC regional bulletins were self-op in the 80s and 90s in many regions - with the presenter sound and vision mixing (in some cases even including VT - though there was a VT op playing in then)

Columbus and similar automation systems in the late 90s/early 00s would allow for greater automation (graphics, server playout, supers, camera moves etc.) though the cost of them had to be balanced with the cost of staff. Sound was usually (not always) manual - just put a small sound desk within reach of the director (or a mic fader in the reach of the presenter...)

Mosart would definitely allow a single operator to do a fully scripted bulletin with simple camera shots (locked off or remotely controlled) including interviews, and automatic sound mixing etc. Whether it would be cost effective? Different question.

Back in the 90s it was routine for a director to sound and vision mix, do graphics and time a regional breakfast or late bulletin with no automation, with the presenter writing the bulletin and doing their own autocue, and with the only other technical person a VT op playing in.

Is there any particular reason why the ticker is powered by an RSS feed these days rather than an actual human being except during a significant breaking news event? I don't know how often people will read the ticker but I know if the channel is on in a public space viewers will as there's no sound and they're going to get unhelpful headlines like 'David Bowie: A life in pictures' and 'Bowie's Financial Innovation'.