BBC World News from New Broadcasting House

Studio B... I was wrong about my theory about the lower thirds, it looks like the lower thirds are still generated by the respective gallery as the Outside source lower thirds were wonky on the news channel but it was perfectly aligned on World News.

I think the lower thirds are usually added downstream of the galleries, so they can (in theory) put out different straps on both services during simulcasts. World would put up a name super for the British PM but domestic services wouldn't, for example.

Yes, each output can have its own viz engine to do its own style of captions. This is how during simulcasts different logos and tickers appear beneath the straps. Actually the viz engines are independently making their own straps, tickers and logos in the style set by the automation. While in theory this means you could have different captions on each channel, in practice during simulcasts the captions are slaved, so that as the originating gallery puts up a caption, a corresponding caption is created in the slaved gallery too, styled accordingly. It's possible to put British Prime Minister on World while nothing goes out on the channel (the PM is one of those people the news channel doesn't normally caption, like the Queen) but that's quite a lot of effort for one caption!

I believe someone mentioned that the location straps are static and are one style?

As an aside could program that's going out on both channels from the same studio output different video feeds? Say if something major happened in the UK where everyone in the UK know where it is that warrants international coverage could you put up different video feed or a multi shot? I'm thinking a situation where the NC could take the aerials from G-TAKE (who named it that) while world would have the aerials and a map on screen.

This is done daily - one gallery plays out the 8pm London regional news to the London region while also playing out a weather forecast to the HD channel.

Is it the same for the 0830 edition of Business Live when World takes adverts and the bulletin continues on the NC?

No, the adverts and countdown on BBC World are not produced by NBH galleries, but instead done by Red Bee.

Are the ad breaks counted down by a producer in the BBC Gallery by RedBee or is automated where the gallery sends an automated signal? And does Red Bee automatically switch back to the BBC Gallery output at the bottom and top of the hour?

Im just wondering because here in the US there's something of the like - cable channels have a standard encoded signal that counts down the time and triggers when the cable system can insert their own ads. The same thing essentially happens with the broadcast networks during Primetime even though they have timing sheets.

No it's run like a normal playout operation with the director at Red Bee liasing with the gallery producing the news at Broadcasting House. There's no need for an automated trigger as it's only going to one playout suite


However a system like you describe in the US is used after the channel leaves London so that adverts can be added by local providers. Though Red Bee do insert adverts and originate a couple of 'local' versions as well as the core output

There are no pulses or trigger tones used. In almost all cases, live programmes going out on BBC channels are in talkback contact with the presentation suite for the channel they're broadcasting on. Timings for on and off air times are usually confirmed before transmission. As the BBC UK services don't have ads (and therefore commercial minutage restrictions to worry about) live programmes are usually given some leniency as to their off air time, so have always been taken off air manually by the pres director. This can come as something of a shock to staff members who have come from virtually all other broadcasters where an off air time is fixed and absolute unless there's a dire emergency!

Now on World, where there are ad breaks (and regionally split breaks at that) things are slightly more complex, but still done in quite a "BBC" way.

The gallery making programmes for World output themselves to the Pres, who listen to the gallery talkback. The on air time is always the top of the hour, pres play the countdown. Now let's consider the centre break. The timing for this isn't fixed. The news director gives usually at least a minute's warning, then manually calls "opt out opt out" at the appropriate time. Pres will opt out all regions scheduled to switch to advertising, opt unsold regions to a Breakfiller, or sometimes regions will actually stick with the news gallery for the This Week in History Breakfiller that is played out from news. Occasionally the centre break is longer than a minute, so news run a sting, then cut back to the presenter for an intro and a package. This all has to be carefully back-timed so that the end of the package and the cut to the studio wide shot happens at the same time the end of the break occurs for the other regions. To help with this, there is a counter in the news gallery which gives the duration remaining on the break.

Things get more complicated overnight, where the news gallery is making bulletins for World and sustaining the news channel. World Pres continue to do all the opting and switching for the world regions, but the news gallery fill with uk back half hours, uk trails and countdown. A sequence of particular complexity is at 0540ish. World Business Report finishes, world pres opt out, news cut back to the news presenter who reads an intro to a uk centric package, then the rest of the break is filled by a trail for BBC One's Breakfast programme, before news offer a wide shot of the studio, World pres opt back in time for the Quarter Heads and the newspaper review.

Incidentally, Red Bee were taken over by Ericsson some months ago and they have renamed themselves Ericsson Briadcast Media Services.

I remember someone saying you could hear the talkback if someone selected the alternative soundtrack but was removed after BBC world news went digital, is talkback still there on the master feed?, I am guessing it's not needed as world pres in London deal with all the ad breaks.

CNN International have a trigger which sounds like a very fast dial tone pulse.

Back at television centre, world pres used to create a core service of BBC world, with the famous Breakfiller in all the breaks. In those days a pulse would be sent out to trigger breaks (a VBI pulse I think) and partner stations would play in ads locally. There were in addition cue dots added by pres and a talkback count to breaks as a backup or for any stations which were operating manually. That talkback feed was carried on one audio leg of the output, but stripped off by the partner stations. Occasionally it did slip out to air if things were incorrectly patched! World Pres in those days used to do European opts themselves and ads to South America, but all other streams were dealt with locally. It meant a lot of phone calls should there need to be a news report during regionally opted programmes! Since the move to the Broadcast Centre, all streams have been dealt with by the playout suite.