Five News - New Look

Thanks noggin! What a great explanation.
I think (note: think) I've worked it out. It seems that they hold the end titles on the first three credits to get it all sync-ed up nicely with the music and fill in any spare few seconds, then when everything's in order the rest of the sequence is run (ie final credit and endcap) by someone in the gallery. The dot would indicate the closing part of the sequence has been run/'fired'? Would that maybe be correct?

and you think intelligent women watch Five? No mate.

The dot is usually to confirm that the effect is set-up correctly before it is fired - i.e. the key effect cues on a blank screen with just a white dot (or any other unobtrusive indicator) - the dot is there on a preview monitor for the vision mixer / director to see before it is fired (but that effect bank with the effect set-up may not have been cut to air) and the white dot may disappear as soon as the effect is run (or travel to indicate it is running) - or may remain if the effect is accompanied by music from the key source prior to the key source actually animating.

The appearance of the dot doesn't mean the key source has "fired" it indicates that the key source is correctly keyed (i.e. set up) ready for the effect to happen.

There are many ways of doing a programme close with a key - it can be "pre-faded" where the closing music and titles roll/source is always run at 1'00" or 30" to the end of the show (and may start with a key, a holding caption or a countdown in-vision to begin with), which allows a full musical close with no nasty cross fading between bed and sting, or you can run a closing rumble and cross fade to closing music, and separately run the visuals (or a combination of the two)

Having watched the Five News close the white dot bottom right could be the beginning of the closing animation (i.e. you see the key being cut to air as the white dot appears, and then it disappears as it runs) The Vision Mixer would probably have a preview monitor showing the keying was correct (i.e. seeing the white dot) with them only cutting the key source up just before it is needed. (Good working method in case the key fires early and needs to be recued)

I suppose it could be a cue dot from Sky to Five's presentation that they are about to finish (5" from when it disappears) - though it is not cut up for long enough and disappeared quickly, so I doubt it. It would be too easy to miss.

Someone mentioned ACA or Today Tonight on the first page, and that first headline (from what I saw - it was plenty) was textbook Australian commercial 'public affairs' reporting.

Note the frustrated, overweight, angry subject, the dramatic headline ("the tenants from hell..the owner has had enough" etc), and the aggressive foot-in-the-door interview technique. Evidently in this instance the person being chased has attempted to engage with them but then thought the better of it.

Brace yourselves for a flood of stories about wild neighbours, miracle obesity treatments, ripped off pensioners, tax cheats, overcharging plumbers, dangerous drivers and celebrities. Other than that though, the titles are quite nice and the set's OK, but going by the rather light-on news content I can't help but wonder if the UK now has its very own tabloid television show.

If you're looking for a more in-depth break down of these types of show work, have a dig around idents.tv - John's coverage of the ongoing spat between TT/ACA and the Chaser is excellent.

Graphics wise, very good. Content on the other hand was terrible.

I like the new weather graphics, very fresh.

New Look Five News now online at TV Live.

Yes it was in this interview, and she confirmed it was a move to Five that she turned down.

Well I'm an intelligent man and I watch plenty of five, including the news. All that CSI and Numb3rs is right up my street. As all new phil (I think) wrote a couple of pages back there are people who actually like this - myself and my cohort being a couple of them.

...and anyway remember they're not out to get intelligent women/men really - you people need to accept this. It is NOT trying to be the BBC or anything else, it is basing it's appeal at the 16-35 demo. I guess some of you may want to bring in the whole CDE Acorn stuff into it, but from experience young people whatever socioeconomic background tend to be on much the same wavelength.

Moz your post made me laugh, I remember when I started reading this place and your endless rants about the sky newswall, and when they got one it was pat-on-backs all round from you - god forbid the day the BBC to the six on a sofa.

I was thinking the same thing, from the clips ive seen of those types of shows, although ive never seen one in full. Is it like special reports all rolled into one, or just like Tonight here on ITV?

Natasha Kaplinsky's debut as the new face of Channel Five News attracted 1 million viewers yesterday, Monday February 18, nearly doubling the broadcaster's regular teatime news audience.

Kaplinsky's heavily promoted first Five News show following her £1m a year deal to lure her away from the BBC gained an average audience share of 7% between 5pm and 5.30pm, according to unofficial overnight figures.

Her debut nearly doubled the viewing figures for its teatime news bulletin, which previously aired in a 5.30pm to 6pm slot - now occupied by Neighbours - and averaged 550,000 and a 4% share in 2007, according to Five.

More can be read here
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/feb/19/tvnews.tvratings

I'm not so sure. In my experience, the young'uns have a lot of love for Jon Snow. Something about the never-stationary cameras and their complete resentment at covering the McCartney divorce makes me moist.

Depends what kind of show Tonight is.

TT and ACA usually have four or five stories a night (they both run 6.30-7.00pm after the local news) about the topics I outlined above. Pretty shoddy foot-in-the-door stuff, it's not where you'd go for high quality journalism. Some A Current Affair stories (I suppose the less-silly ones) are included in Nine's late news bulletin Nightline, but apart from that they're confined to the one appearance, thankfully.

Search YouTube for some comic gold, or have a look at their websites if you want more on what sort of show they are:
http://au.todaytonight.yahoo.com/
http://aca.ninemsn.com.au/

Bear in mind that these shows used to be reputable current affairs shows when they started out (ACA especially), but nowadays they're more interested in chasing ratings and a lowest-common-denominator audience. Of course they're not the only place for analysis of news, the ABC for instance has The 7.30 Report most nights which is an altogether different program.

So far the presenter is reading over pictures of the news stories and a full report from Matt Barbett on Britney Spears, now a report on Ginger people.