The Newsroom

Flash flooding in Cornwall

BBC v ITV v Sky (August 2004)

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AP
AdamP
johnofhertford posted:
c@t posted:
johnofhertford posted:
Am I missing something?


Yes.


OK, thanks - very helpful.


What you're missing is that c@t never has a good word to say about News 24, so even when they beat Sky hands down, as they did on this occassion, he has to find something to complain about.

He has been known to complain that BBC News costs far more than Sky, so it's slightly strange that he now wants the BBC to get a fleet of helicopters (although only covering England, I notice, so presumably he thinks nothing worth covering happens in Northern Ireland, Scotland, or Wales).
GS
Gavin Scott Founding member
I don't want to see helicopters becoming a mainstay of television news, and I couldn't care less about what Germany or (especially) the US do. They are hardly the paragons of virtue when it comes to TV news. Most of the chopper output I see is car chases (yawn).

Events like Boscastle are thankfully rare, and I thought the pooled RAF footage was more than sufficient.

More than that there is only so much information you can gather from 300 feet, and I'd rather see money spent on OB trucks for footage which is at least at eye level.

Sky *have* a chopper, and can barely use it effectively.
MA
Marcus Founding member
c@t posted:
AdamP posted:
And I'm saying that the proper way to operate helicopters is not to own them, but to have access to them when needed.

It would be incredibly expensive to have a helicopter for each regional centre. We'd be talking about a dozen of them, and they're not only expensive in themselves, but the kit required to broadcast live is also pricey, and having a pilot (sorry, twelve pilots) hanging round waiting for something to happen would also cost a fortune. If BBC regional centres were to do this, they'd probably have to lay off several journalists in order to pay for it.

And the number of times in a year when a helicopter is really necessary could probably be counted on the fingers of one hand. Of course in America, all those local stations who have helicopters feel they need to get as much use out of them as possible, so send them up for every car chase, resulting in loads of coverage for stories which really don't deserve it.


Well, it is clearly a matter of opinion and not a case of right and wrong.

I would say the proper way to have aerial footage is not to take two hours to hire a helicopter, get a crew to it, film footage, go back to base, take the tape back to base, edit it, send it out to London so it can go on News 24.

I would say three helicopters would suffice - one for south of England, one for the Midlands, one for the North. They can cover ground very quickly. They can be used for sports events, for street carnivals, for floods, traffic jams, etc. etc.

Fear not, the BBC will be up to it in 10 years time.


where do you suggest these things are based. IF say the South of England one was in London, then given the Helicopters speed is about 150 MPH it would still take 2-3 hours to get to Cornwall. And that's assuming you had a full crew on standby all the time.

Simply not practicable. The job can be done much quicker by chartering stuff when needed. Surely the fact that Sky has a Helicopter but failed to get any pictures from Boscastle proves this
CA
cat
AdamP posted:
What you're missing is that c@t never has a good word to say about News 24, so even when they beat Sky hands down, as they did on this occassion, he has to find something to complain about.

He has been known to complain that BBC News costs far more than Sky, so it's slightly strange that he now wants the BBC to get a fleet of helicopters (although only covering England, I notice, so presumably he thinks nothing worth covering happens in Northern Ireland, Scotland, or Wales).


I'm flattered that you know so much about my views.

I'm relieved I've never paid that much attention to yours.
LO
Londoner
Square Eyes posted:
Surprisingly, they also had ex ITV national weather forecaster, Alex Hill on a link from London to explain the weather side.

Where on earth has he been over the last how many years ? Haven't seen him in ages.

He is currently appearing on Live with Alastair Stewart, and is described as the "head of the Met Office in London".
RE
Reuben
Alex was back on Lunchtime News. Thank god he doesn't appear on forecasts, needs a shave, hair cut and smaller glasses. But then so do I Smile

8 days later

FU
fusionlad Founding member
Spotlight have 2 presenters in Boscastle again tonight, for the 'reopening' of the village.

Craig Rich also back for another night.
CA
cat
Whirley Burley was up in the air in her helicopter on Sky.

Not sure how much fuel that thing can take, but she was up from mid-morning to early afternoon. Presume they must've landed in a nearby field.
IS
Inspector Sands
ITN have a helicopter, but it is very underused despite being hired out to other broadcasters.
JO
johnofhertford
c@t posted:
Whirley Burley was up in the air in her helicopter on Sky.

Not sure how much fuel that thing can take, but she was up from mid-morning to early afternoon. Presume they must've landed in a nearby field.


Only a week late then

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