The itv evening news was cut short this evening for another disaster appeal by Adrian Chiles.
It was quite interesting to see a "Ceefax 638" logo in the corner of the screen! Which then begs the question - does Teletext still exist and why arent teletext page numbers displayed on ITV(or any TV channel) anymore?
I don't see the need for a seperate studio for News at Ten, but if they're still in the Theatre of News I do think simply changing the backdrop and the lighting would make alot of difference and could make the programme much more distinctive.
Changes need to be made across the ITV News programmes though - at the very least the backdrop needs changing, but what is really required is a new studio IMO. It will be four years in February, which is probably about the average for a news studio.
I also think that a new studio could be created. I do like the idea of a seperate feeling to the bulletin. I had the idea of having one studio but using it in different ways. A bit like channel 4 do with channel 4 news and more 4 news, even if it is something simple like moving the desk.
In this way they could use the current studio, maybe adding a new desk on a platform that could swing around the studio.
Thinking about it, surely it wouldn't be too costly to change the studio to create a straight screen as opposed to the curve. As they're keeping the technology, but changing the actual set.
The curve cost about £1m so I don't think it would be as simple as "just moving it". But with the tweaks to come in soon and no big graphics then I can see a new set coming some time in 2008 as the graphics wall would become obsolete, and a more traditional set such as the one used over on the BBC would come into place.
I agree, angular sets work better than curved ones.
I don't know if anyone else caught that brief look at a potentially new aston during the late news tonight. It was shown in the wrong ratio (in 16:9) and it was completely blue. I wonder if that is a taster for what is to come when they switch to widescreen in just over a week? I hope so - the graphics should have been made blue a long time ago.
I'm pretty sure I remember reading somewhere that they ditched the numbers because on digital teletext subtitles were no longer on 888.
Thats true but I think what he meant is the 600 pages here usually is the Broadcaster's teletext page of whats coming up or competitions, transmitter infomation That became defunct in 2005/2006 I think..
http://teletext.mb21.co.uk/gallery/ancillary/
Well with Teletext digital page numbers are generally the same as the analogue service.
It's the BBC where page numbers are different throughout the service - they only number index pages and any numbered pages which don't appear on Ceefax have dodgy 4 number digits.
Going way OT but BBCi is no match for Ceefax - but Digital Teletext is a seemless replacement.
I don't know if anyone else caught that brief look at a potentially new aston during the late news tonight. It was shown in the wrong ratio (in 16:9) and it was completely blue. I wonder if that is a taster for what is to come when they switch to widescreen in just over a week? I hope so - the graphics should have been made blue a long time ago.
Could it not be the one used for when correspondents are on the phone?
No it was definitely different to anything I've seen before. It was used during the report on the ship which went under near Antarctica. It was shown in the incorrect aspect ratio (so we saw the whole aston but it was squashed into 4:3) and was definitely blue (like the studio) rather than the current teal. It was pretty similar to the current astons, but the logo was slightly different, IIRC.