The Newsroom

General Election Thread

Discussion/speculation/predictions (February 2010)

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WO
Worzel
Where will they broadcast from, studio wise?

I would have thought that TC7 would be the best studio as it's the largest and is a bit more flexible than N6 (which I hope they don't use) or N9's small set. I also hope they don't use that washed out Westminster studio where the Daily Politics comes from either, studio wise it's awful and the picture quality always seems extremely poor.
JO
Joshua
gonzo posted:
Here's My Prediction;

Con 321
Lab 249
Lib 51
Oth 31

I think by the polling averages, that will be the result.


I bloody hope not.

Anyway, presentation will be interesting - I've noticed on the BBC they've had an election logo, with coloured dots, it looks quite good. Also in the 2005 election they broadcasted from that huge studio, I'm not sure of the name but that was a very nice setup.
PE
Pete Founding member
Worzel posted:
Where will they broadcast from, studio wise?

I would have thought that TC7 would be the best studio as it's the largest and is a bit more flexible than N6 (which I hope they don't use) or N9's small set. I also hope they don't use that washed out Westminster studio where the Daily Politics comes from either, studio wise it's awful and the picture quality always seems extremely poor.


election nights usually come from TC1 not least as they need the massive space to fit all the workers in as well.
WO
Worzel
Hymagumba posted:
Worzel posted:
Where will they broadcast from, studio wise?

I would have thought that TC7 would be the best studio as it's the largest and is a bit more flexible than N6 (which I hope they don't use) or N9's small set. I also hope they don't use that washed out Westminster studio where the Daily Politics comes from either, studio wise it's awful and the picture quality always seems extremely poor.


election nights usually come from TC1 not least as they need the massive space to fit all the workers in as well.


I have one question, when BBC News moves all it's output to the new building which is in development in BH in 2012 - where will the election coverage come from because I wouldn't thought they'd be able to use TC1 as it's at TVC?
JA
jamesmd
Hatton Cross posted:
gregmc posted:
David Dimbleby was on 5 Live this afternoon and revealed that they had rehearsed their Election broadcast last weekend over Friday/Saturday using mock election results in real time. Maitlis, Robinson,Vine and Cellen Jones all part of the team. I imagine presentation/graphic side is all worked through and its just a matter or ironing out any errors and waiting for it to be called now then!


That's interesting. In 1997 BBC Two put out a highly watchable doc about election night broadcasts which showed footage of the 97 election night rehearsals (including the amusing sight of Paxman firing questions at an empty chair) this was done on the full election night set in TC1.

However, if they did the same last weekend isn't this studio in use for So You Think You Can Dance? If so, did they just rehearse in a smaller studio and pretend the size was bigger than it actually was - or are budgets so tight these days that the days of rehearsals on the full set in the same studio as 'the big night' are now over?


Suspect we might see a Children In Need/Strictly compromise?
IT
itsrobert Founding member
Worzel posted:
Hymagumba posted:
Worzel posted:
Where will they broadcast from, studio wise?

I would have thought that TC7 would be the best studio as it's the largest and is a bit more flexible than N6 (which I hope they don't use) or N9's small set. I also hope they don't use that washed out Westminster studio where the Daily Politics comes from either, studio wise it's awful and the picture quality always seems extremely poor.


election nights usually come from TC1 not least as they need the massive space to fit all the workers in as well.


I have one question, when BBC News moves all it's output to the new building which is in development in BH in 2012 - where will the election coverage come from because I wouldn't thought they'd be able to use TC1 as it's at TVC?


Isn't the election coverage technically by BBC Events? I didn't think it was a News production.
DA
Davidjb Founding member
Worzel posted:
Hymagumba posted:
Worzel posted:
Where will they broadcast from, studio wise?

I would have thought that TC7 would be the best studio as it's the largest and is a bit more flexible than N6 (which I hope they don't use) or N9's small set. I also hope they don't use that washed out Westminster studio where the Daily Politics comes from either, studio wise it's awful and the picture quality always seems extremely poor.


election nights usually come from TC1 not least as they need the massive space to fit all the workers in as well.


I have one question, when BBC News moves all it's output to the new building which is in development in BH in 2012 - where will the election coverage come from because I wouldn't thought they'd be able to use TC1 as it's at TVC?


Well if they still own/operate TVC by then, then there is no reason why they cannot continue to use TC1. If TVC has been closed down by then, there are plenty of studios the BBC can rent out if need be. It doesn't have to come from the same site as the News Centre. Infact it's only come from the same site since they moved the news over from BH in 1997/8.
NG
noggin Founding member
itsrobert posted:
Worzel posted:
Hymagumba posted:
Worzel posted:
Where will they broadcast from, studio wise?

I would have thought that TC7 would be the best studio as it's the largest and is a bit more flexible than N6 (which I hope they don't use) or N9's small set. I also hope they don't use that washed out Westminster studio where the Daily Politics comes from either, studio wise it's awful and the picture quality always seems extremely poor.


election nights usually come from TC1 not least as they need the massive space to fit all the workers in as well.


I have one question, when BBC News moves all it's output to the new building which is in development in BH in 2012 - where will the election coverage come from because I wouldn't thought they'd be able to use TC1 as it's at TVC?


Isn't the election coverage technically by BBC Events? I didn't think it was a News production.


No - it's a BBC News production, and has been for a good number of elections (The BBC News Live Political Programmes unit are key in the planning of it).

BBC Events doesn't really exist any more - it has had a chequered history in recent years. For a while it was BBC Sport and Events (which made sense as the skills for sport and events are quite similar - live multicamera), then Events moved to Factual, and now is part of Entertainment (I guess because Events has most recently done stuff like Live8, LiveEarth etc.).

Most of the Events staff have left, most of the shows made by BBC Events (One Man and His Dog, Come Dancing, Crufts etc.) have either been taken off-air, or if they have returned they haven't been made by the same department. There is a small core team who ensure the BBC can continue to cover state occasions - but there are very few staff researchers, APs, producers etc. - most have left over the last 5-10 years.
NG
noggin Founding member
Davidjb posted:

Well if they still own/operate TVC by then, then there is no reason why they cannot continue to use TC1. If TVC has been closed down by then, there are plenty of studios the BBC can rent out if need be. It doesn't have to come from the same site as the News Centre. Infact it's only come from the same site since they moved the news over from BH in 1997/8.


Only Radio News moved from BH in 1997/1998 when the News Centre opened on the TVC site. TV News has been based in TV Centre since the late 60s when it moved from its original home in Alexandra Palace, and I think that co-incided with it going colour. TV News has never previously been based in BH...

Until the late 80s, there was a separate TV current affairs department based at Lime Grove (which did Nationwide, Newsnight, Breakfast Time etc.), but John Birt merged the News and Current Affairs departments when he was Deputy DG, and the Current Affairs stuff moved to TVC.

You're right though - there is no major reason why the Election programme should come from a studio in the same building as the news studios are based - though having a lot of connectivity between them is probably important (so TVC and BH are likely to be easier to integrate than a 3rd party studio and BH - though the BBC has used ITN's studio facilities for virtual graphics in local election shows recently...)
DA
Davidjb Founding member
noggin posted:
Davidjb posted:

Well if they still own/operate TVC by then, then there is no reason why they cannot continue to use TC1. If TVC has been closed down by then, there are plenty of studios the BBC can rent out if need be. It doesn't have to come from the same site as the News Centre. Infact it's only come from the same site since they moved the news over from BH in 1997/8.


Only Radio News moved from BH in 1997/1998 when the News Centre opened on the TVC site. TV News has been based in TV Centre since the late 60s when it moved from its original home in Alexandra Palace, and I think that co-incided with it going colour. TV News has never previously been based in BH...

Until the late 80s, there was a separate TV current affairs department based at Lime Grove (which did Nationwide, Newsnight, Breakfast Time etc.), but John Birt merged the News and Current Affairs departments when he was Deputy DG, and the Current Affairs stuff moved to TVC.

You're right though - there is no major reason why the Election programme should come from a studio in the same building as the news studios are based - though having a lot of connectivity between them is probably important (so TVC and BH are likely to be easier to integrate than a 3rd party studio and BH - though the BBC has used ITN's studio facilities for virtual graphics in local election shows recently...)


Was Sport based at BH? I remember when News 24 first launched the sport came from St. Elsewhere to start with, was it BH?
NG
noggin Founding member
Davidjb posted:

Was Sport based at BH? I remember when News 24 first launched the sport came from St. Elsewhere to start with, was it BH?


BBC TV Sport were based at Kensington House (a studio-less production office building now known as the K West Hotel) with studios at Lime Grove and then TVC. I think TV Sport moved to offices in TVC around 1995ish when Docs, Sport & Events, Science & Features etc. all vacated the building (moving either to White City or TVC)

However News 24 started in a very odd way. It wasn't part of the TV News bulletin operation, it was initially part of the BBC Continuous News division (also home to FiveLive, Ceefax and BBC World - I think). Thus the sport news on News 24 was made by the Radio Sport News division (might not have been their accurate name) which also did the sport news on Five Live.

Because N24 launched a little under a year before the News Centre was finished, the Radio Sport team were still at BH, so they got a very simple (and horribly basic) TV operation at BH (with the infamous "presenter operated mic switch") prior to moving to their better operation in the News Centre. ISTR that the sport bulletins moved to their new home at the News Centre a week or so before News 24 moved from their original operation just outside the News Centre, to the News Centre space (now occupied by BBC World News)

Sport News has had a bit of a nomadic existence, wandering between being part of News and Sport - though now both are in the same Journalism division it makes life a bit less complicated I guess.
NG
noggin Founding member
Incidentally - there has never historically been a huge TV operation based at BH - though there was a small multi-camera studio there (or possibly Bush) at one point in the 60s/70s I believe (as well as the old remote DTL studio) I think, bizarrely, some Welsh language shows came from there at one point...

BBC TV started at Alexandra Palace, then expanded into Lime Grove, Riverside studio and TV Centre (plus the TV Theatre and a few other places). Slowly the other studios were vacated as TVC studios were finished and then the requirement for studios changed, but BH was never a major TV studio operation.

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