The One Show with Adrian Chiles and Nadia Sawalha

So, as I understand it, there would be one national presenter fronting Nationwide, and included in the hour would be opt-outs to the regions for the local headlines??

Can't see this working at all - am very surprised people haven't started to criticise the BBC for what seemingly looks to be a dumbing-down of regional television news. If this move was considered by ITV, which we don't even pay for directly, it would get shot to pieces by the forumers!

I would not really call it dumbing down of regional affairs at all. The opt will last aproximatley 20 minutes, which is only 4 minutes less than the opt out at the moment. If the programme follows the same format as the last Nationwide, then there will also be a chance for the regions to have a presence on the main networked programme as well, being key to discussions. If anything this programme will create more analysis of British affairs, with both a regional and national perspective being expressed.

How exactly do you draw the conclusion that this is "a dumbing-down of regional television news"?

The suggestion is that this programme will be an hour-long programme mixing national news with a full opt-out which is speculated to last at least twenty minutes. I'm at a loss to understand how this constitutes "dumbing-down". At worst, it's a reduction in length, but it's frankly rather naive to suggest that a shorter length would mean less intelligent coverage. If anything, shorter available time would arguably mean that there'd be less time available for fluff, which would likely prompt more focused regional news coverage in the available time.

Frankly, I think the BBC are to be commended for ditching the standard formula that usually sits after 1830, even if only for a month, just as I think it's commendable that ITV are investing a good deal of time and resources on their local broadband TV project (although I believe the BBC laid the groundwork with the Hull project). If they don't try it out, how will they know if it works? The BBC is exactly the place for this type of experiment; commercial broadcasters are less likely to take gambles like this at the risk of destroying a winning formula at the expense of viewers and therefore ad revenues.

There will of course be plenty of lively discussion during and after the trial which I look forward to greatly, but nobody can predict with certainty the fate of the trial until it's rolling.

Of course you are entitled to your opinion, and I respect it, but I would like to see some qualification of such seemingly vacuous statements as the one you made above. "Dumbing-down" of regional news just doesn't seem to me to be an automatic product of this trial.

i think the point is that the 6.30 regional programmes are not failing by any means in terms of ratings or audience appreciation. their diversity are in-fact part of their success. ranging from sit-up-straight news in scotland and northern ireland to the young-n-hip bbc london to the end of the pier show in east yorks and lincs.

fair enough you don't like the fluff, but the ratings suggest that there is a sizable population who do.

i am not talking about graphics or names, it is the content that is the key. and this nationwide format is a one-size fits all london imposed straight jacket more than the integrated news-hour ever was.

for the bbc to butcher their main (well ... only) slice of regionally devised and controlled programming just so they can try and steal a few viewers away from emmerdale is appalling, especially in the age where itv are actively decreasing their commitments to regional broadcasting.



from the information i have seen i would not describe the investment into the itv broadband project as "a good deal", and the once a day loop of re-hashed look north in hull certainly isn't groundbreaking. i think however the investment and format of the bbc midlands local tv project is far more meaningful, admittedly still leaving me cold as a viewer much of the time but no doubt with time it will improve.

Well I think this is a key point.

Also, from a reverse perspective, a serious/tragic national story that would naturally be recapped at the end of the 6.00 news can be handled with sensitivity at the top of the regional news that follows, even if their programme is pretty much fluff for the whole half hour.

If such story ended the local news, the return to 'Nationwide' can't really accommodate this in the same way.

I can see people being irritated having to fish through the Metro digest column-esque lot of items to find their local news programme, which will doubtless begin at an odd time.

I can't see what incentive there is to stop on with it if you have managed to watch your local news either.

By all means trial it mind you.

Let's see how this goes. It could well work out fine. But having reflected on my own and others' posts on this particular thread, with regard to the choice of presenter, the most suitable is probably Ms Kaplinsky! Let's face it, if the BBC wants to introduce a magazine style programme, with a balance of serious news and lighter stuff, with regional input, then all they are doing is replicating a well worn format that has been around for ages, and, in fact, an evening version of "Breakfast". (which is what Nationwide really was anyway, and vice versa).

All that said, why shouldn't Ms Natasha Kaplinsky be considered as a suitable presenter? Of course, there are several others (JH, SW, DM, JS, MH, KS, SM......) who could equally do it, but Natasha Kaplinsky is a known face and probably has the right mix of heavy / light experience to carry it off.

I would not be surprised if the BBC pairs her up with Bill Turnbull for this one-month experiment in August.

James

Oh, and of course, BIG MOIRA at the newsdesk to bring us the.........news, I guess.

That's the format!

And I thought Lord Reith was dead ?

Heaven and Earth is moving to Granada's studios when it relaunches in May (?) said a recent press release, so I presume this one's about to bite the dust too.

I really can't see the point of resurrecting a "Nationwide" style programme. My local programme (Spotlight) just about manages to fill 25 minutes with reasonable news items of local interest, I certainly don't want to watch the drivel from an area I don't know about or live in.

6.30-7.30 is far too late for this slot. By 7.00pm most people are tired of news and want to watch something else.

I suspect this "trial" will be a dismal failure. It's not exactly a good time of year to test it anyway, most people are either on holiday or outside enjoing the weather (assuming it's not all bad in summer).

Of course it'll be a failure. To see the identities of individual news programmes lost will be awful for the BBC - sure they are being maintained within a "Nationwide" style show, but it's just ridiculous.

Why have regional news in a programme called Nationwide? When I go down the road and buy a Coke I don't expect Tango in it.

I feel although my point about "dumbing down" may have been disproved content-wise, yes, we may lose the flully stories about the sheep with five legs from Langton Matravers. However, I feel that the BBC are "dumbing down" the identity of the programme itself, by dumping the regional title in favour of a bland nothing-word.

I can only see ITV being the winners of all this. People are too parochial these days give a care about the small Welsh village that has been complaining to Orange about the erection of a phone mast.

I just feel that, if there are any people who do not automatically know that "regional news on the BBC is at half six", they'll check their TV guide to see BBC News at 6.00 and Nationwide at 6.30. If this won't confuse the average pensioner [sorry to be stereotypical, but I feel its these lot that might get confused the most], I don't know what will.

Surely the "average pensioner" is likely to remember the original Nationwide?