The NEW Central West and BBC Midlands thread

have the guys in leeds given up and gone home?

we were treated to a completely still, silent ident before rock legends at 11.30. i believe the central version of the new ident has yet to be seen. is the once slick and proud central tv now being tx-ed from an old vcr in the basement at kirkstall road, leeds? i suppose as long as the adverts play out ok, everything's fine

Following on from the appearences of such people as Nick Owen, Andy Gray & Cannock Chase 'regular' Stan Collymore, at Ottakers Walsall, the locals were treated to an appearence by one man local history writing machine Carl Chinn yesterday, signing yet another book about the Black Country.

(I didn't join the queue. I just hid round by the DR Who book section & observed proceedings for about half an hour !)

(We've had some new people join our office this week, & the boss has let them put their radio on quietly! Only drawback, it's b***dy Beacon FM !)

Well...the new ITV1 Central ident finally appeared tonight at 7:30pm!!!!

They decided not to say "you're watching ITV1 Central" though...at least the Central name appeared at last!!!!

Bit of WM news now.

Ed Doolan is being inducted into the Radio Hall Of Fame. (For further details, goto the BBC Press Office website, English Regions link, then the WM link)

Mollie had 'Big Al ' Miller as a guest on Monday, because Al's car had been written off, so Mollie had given him a lift into Brum, because she lives near him, so he ended up doing the early travel bulletins from the Mailbox, rather than Trafficlink Towers via ISDN, but I gather the two are near each other, so presumbly he was able to do CWR's brekky bulletins as usual.

Sticking with Mollie & Children In Need, the listeners have been bidding to spend Thursday morning with Mollie, & Al as well, plus on Friday, you will have to keep an eye on the telly as she is planning to do some acrobatics behind the likes of Kay Alexander, or whoever's doing the brekky bullys on that day.

Other things mentioned as regards CIN on WM, is Doolan organising a kids party ! (Bless the little buggers IMO !)

Shefali is appearing in Brum City Centre on Friday morning, by the big wheel thing(I think), assisted by the lovely Cayte Walker, according to on air mentions, & Shef is at the Pillbox public space in the evening too!

(There is also a CIN special on Friday between 7 & 10 on WM too! What's the betting it's Daz Hale in charge ! Remember when local radio used to devote the entire night to CIN Not any more !)

Mollie also mentioned the WM Toy Appeal for Xmas is starting soon, because she's down to drive the bus!

(I shall have to do some p*** taking by text at some point, along the lines of 'Aren't you the clippy then?' & 'Do you have room up top ?')

Nuff said.

worth watching bbc one midlands tonight - timeshifting all the later programmes until close - according to digiguide

ENTERTAINMENT: The Gospel Entertainment Music Awards
Channel: BBC 1 Midlands 01
Date: Tuesday 16th November 2004
Time: 23:15 to 23:55 (38 minutes left)
Duration: 40 minutes.
Alison Hammond introduces the UK's premier gospel music awards from the Bethel Convention Centre in West Bromwich. Guests include Heather Small and Patti Boulaye.
(West Midlands only)

FILM: Rambo: First Blood
Channel: BBC 1 Midlands 01
Date: Tuesday 16th November 2004
Time: 23:55 to 01:30 (starting in 36 minutes)
Duration: 1 hour and 35 minutes.
Fast-paced action adventure in which a brooding Vietnam veteran is pushed too far by the sheriff of a small American town. After being wrongfully arrested, the former Green Beret escapes and leads lawmen and an army detachment on a cat-and-mouse chase through the mountains. Followed by two sequels - Rambo: First Blood Part II and Rambo III.
Director: Ted Kotcheff
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, Brian Dennehy, David Caruso, Jack Starrett, Michael Talbott
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 1982, 2 Star)

MAGAZINE PROGRAMME: See Hear
Channel: BBC 1 Midlands 01
Date: Wednesday 17th November 2004
Time: 01:30 to 02:15 (starting in 2 hours and 11 minutes)
Duration: 45 minutes.
Magazine programme for the deaf community.
(Widescreen, Repeat, Signed, Subtitles)

SCIENTIFIC DOCUMENTARY: Horizon
Channel: BBC 1 Midlands 01
Date: Wednesday 17th November 2004
Time: 02:15 to 03:05 (starting in 2 hours and 56 minutes)
Duration: 50 minutes.
Dr Money and the Boy with No Penis.
Poignant documentary about David Reimer, whose penis was burnt off in a botched childhood circumcision operation. He was raised as a girl and his case became a scientific sensation - hailed as proof that what separated the genders was nurture, not nature. Then, as a teenager, he turned himself back into a man, married and raised children. Tragically, in April 2004, after years of torment, he committed suicide.
(Widescreen, Repeat, Subtitles, Signed)

GARDENING: A Year at Kew
Channel: BBC 1 Midlands 01
Date: Wednesday 17th November 2004
Time: 03:05 to 03:35 (starting in 3 hours and 46 minutes)
Duration: 30 minutes.
Alan Titchmarsh narrates a series telling the story of a year in the life of Kew Gardens. Ray and Roger go plant hunting in Japan. Britain's rarest orchid is transplanted to the wild in a secret location. Jon spends his birthday at the top of Kew's tallest tree.
(Widescreen, Repeat, Subtitles, Signed)

NEWS: Joins BBC News 24
Channel: BBC 1 Midlands 01
Date: Wednesday 17th November 2004
Time: 03:35 to 06:00 (starting in 4 hours and 15 minutes)
Duration: 2 hours and 25 minutes.

we started off well with 2 regional trailers - and a box-less tai-chi ident - how fab

oooh they put up a "Rambo follows at 12.05" aston just then - white on blue.

So how's this all working? Have they got all of the programmes cued and ready to play out trailers and all from the Mailbox, or are they putting out the gospel awards and then London will take over playing a separate feed for the midlands?

Either way, it's good of them to it.

Though thinking about it, would they have been able to do this at Pebble Mill, or would things have been cropped, or is that only source material that was cropped?

id imagine the programmes are being played from the mailbox off tape or server.

they did time shift at pebble mill - last years bbc mids sports awards the timeshifted the late film - and bbc north and north west took pebble mill's continuity into the film and the film itself. it was of course all cropped to 14:9 though last year.

fantastic that its all seemless and 16:9 this year though!!

3 local trails after the gem awards, then a bbc one midlands skateboard ident into rambo

"coming up later here on 1, a year at kew, but first strong language and violence as sylvester stalone stars in rambo: first blood"

No, the Mailbox will opt out for the whole lot. Normally seperate copies of the programmes are sent up on tape in advance, although it would be possible to send them up a line in advance or at a push record the programmes off air and play back them back later.

When London and the South did a similar thing back in the spring the trails, idents and Weatherview were all recorded onto server off-air from network BBC1 and played out half an hour later.

Someone's in for a long night, they normally drop a programme the same length as the first programme to get the region back onto the national schedule as soon as possible. None of the programmes are the right length tonight

Presumably written and recorded locally, none of the network announcers would call it '1'!

hehe yes - i do believe "on 1" or "on 2" has been forbidden since 1997!

oddly enough its a different voice that i do not recognise - must be another random bbc mids person. it wasnt the usual voiceover bloke who's name i do not know but he works behind the scenes at midlands today. i was behind him in the canteen the other day, very disconcerting, i was waiting for him to day "now the six o'clock news followed in half an hour by midlands today".