I believe its the gallery on the previous hour that broadcasts the countdown and then the studio opts in to the output dead of 2200 so that no countdown is shown on BBC 1 if it mistakingly opts in too soon. You can tell the output switches over galleries by the sudden end to the countdown and silence into studio shot with no background sound from the countdown.
I notice it when Studio E (end of 4pm hour) plays out the countdown and then Studio C opts in at the end of the countdown but quite noticeably cuts off the last tune in the countdown.
The countdown sequence ends at xx:58, 2 seconds before the scheduled time, so BBC One and Two etc can get a clean opt in.
The 1800 and 2200 countdowns are played out by C during normal times, but I noticed that NC usually switches from C to E at 2158 or 2159 for the countdown this year and that makes the countdown before the Ten longer than the other hours’. And I don’t know when the arrangement began.
Previous weeks NC switches to E - which is playing the countdown - after the weather or the last trailer ends. But on Wednesday and tonight, they played the countdown from C first, and then crashed into E.
Last edited by FrancesC on 19 June 2020 11:31pm - 3 times in total
