The Newsroom

Newsround

Afternoon Edition to be Scrapped (November 2019)

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JW
JamesWorldNews
The BBC proposes to significantly reduce television news coverage aimed at younger audiences on the CBBC Channel, and divert funding to more online news content for younger viewers.

Part of the proposal could see the removal of the iconic teatime edition of (John Craven’s) Newsround.

Yet another institution being tossed on the scrap heap, or genuinely a sign of the times?

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/11/16/bbc-scrap-teatimenewsround-bulletin/
Last edited by JamesWorldNews on 16 November 2019 1:59pm
NJ
Neil Jones Founding member
To be honest I'm surprised Newsround is still running in its current format, I thought it would have been integrated into either presentation or wrapped around a sort of "FYI Daily" insert (except on a much higher production value) by now.
BR
Brekkie
Does it rate better in the morning? I'd have thought if it is about cost cutting it would be easier to prep an afternoon bulletin.
RD
RDJ
To be honest, after watching the quality of the programme nowadays this probably isn't surprising.

I've just watched the full evening programme yesterday on iPlayer. It was just a 5 minute promotion for Children in Need and that days Blue Peter for the whole programme. The only other news was a brief mention about dropping likes on Instagram.

The problem with diminishing Children's TV news is that it's going to counteract with a drop in audiences for the 1/6/10 towards the future when they become adults themselves. If they are actively pushing children to get their news via the internet - that's set them up for life.
JO
Josh
Does it rate better in the morning? I'd have thought if it is about cost cutting it would be easier to prep an afternoon bulletin.

The morning bulletin is watched widely across primary and some secondary schools across the country every day.


I was expecting this to happen sooner or later. Moving the afternoon bulletin from 4:20pm to 4pm was the final nail in the coffin for me.
James Mobbs, one of the boffins behind the new look Newsround sums it up completely:


Last edited by Josh on 16 November 2019 1:53pm
MI
TheMike
At a time when CBBC's audiences are falling, moving Newsround quietly earlier and earlier to a time when its target audience may not have arrived back home didn't seem a wise move.

However, it makes perfect sense if you wanted to get rid of the programme without much fuss, by showing how the audience has fallen, or on the basis of being out of sight, out of mind.

This is a form of managed decline and is another example how bosses at the BBC are playing a strategic game as much as running a broadcaster.

There is however more involved than you might realise:

What the Telegraph article doesn't tell you is how the reduction to just one 5-10 minute programme a day will result in a reduction of first run programme hours on CBBC by 50 hours a year that will not be replaced by new programming. The quota is to be cut accordingly. That's an extra 50 hours of repeats.

Ofcom also proposing to put in safeguards that force the BBC to show half of all new children's content on CBBC and CBeebies linear channels.

This sounds like the two children's channels being put on life support until such point that commercial operators have started to close linear children's channels, and the BBC is free to do the same with their services. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the remaining Newsround and some breakfast time children's programmes make a reappearance on BBC Two at some point in the future, as part of the inevitable wind-down.
KE
kernow
At a time when CBBC's audiences are falling, moving Newsround quietly earlier and earlier to a time when its target audience may not have arrived back home didn't seem a wise move.

However, it makes perfect sense if you wanted to get rid of the programme without much fuss, by showing how the audience has fallen, or on the basis of being out of sight, out of mind.

This is a form of managed decline and is another example how bosses at the BBC are playing a strategic game as much as running a broadcaster.



This sort of thing is nothing new. They did similar things with programmes like Top of the Pops and Newsnight Review, shortly before they were axed.
JO
Josh


BM
BM11
Could be seen as a bit unethical to encourage further internet use in children considering concerns some have.
In twenty years BBC News will all be online - the population who have no desire to use it will fell further marginalized.
SP
Steve in Pudsey
I see Newsround as being like the adverts on commercial TV - the more populist programming on CBBC is there to get the PSB stuff - of which Newsround is the most obvious - in front of an audience, like the programmes on ITV are there to get people to watch the adverts between them.

There seems to be a bit of a slippery slope here.
BR
Brekkie
Josh posted:
Does it rate better in the morning? I'd have thought if it is about cost cutting it would be easier to prep an afternoon bulletin.

The morning bulletin is watched widely across primary and some secondary schools across the country every day.


I was expecting this to happen sooner or later. Moving the afternoon bulletin from 4:20pm to 4pm was the final nail in the coffin for me.
James Mobbs, one of the boffins behind the new look Newsround sums it up completely:



Basically repeating exactly the same mistake as with BBC3.
KE
kernow
Josh posted:




Shows that this move is not only jeopardising the future audience of BBC News, but also their future journalists.

Many of their current journalists started their careers in Newsround, in a way that many mainstream presenters started their careers in children's tv.
Jeffmister and Brekkie gave kudos

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