Sixty Minutes

I;ve always wonder about this era of BBC news, did it really fail because of the "



If it was done better there could have made it more stream line, and connected better? It was strange trying to fit everything under one umbrella, it even had Watchdog slotted into it before being spun into its own show.

Then there was the musically revamp for no reason. Wales Today, never took the revamp muisc did any other BBC area refuse the updated music? I think spotlight used the music for another year or so. From what ive also seen a few areas had proper opening etc while others just had short sting?





Revamp:


with original Wales today 60min music


With the programme scrapped its resulted in BBC putting in clear one hour block between Daytime and evening line, which ITV would not follow suit for 15 years.

IIRC the music was changed because the original mix was considered a bit too light and plinky-plonky for serious news headlines. Sadly the updated version sounded a bit thin and hollow.

As for the intro to the nations and regions, Wales' introduction was totally different in style to the others' generic style. I don't know if they made it in house, but I guess that might have something to do with why their music didn't change. Although worth noting that Wales' music was a slightly different mix anyway.

I remember having quite a soft spot for the theme music (even though it is actually really quite horrible!).

The Wales Today titles wer visually very different to how Spotlight's were (don't remember seeing other nations/regions during this period):
http://www.tv-ark.org.uk/mivana/mediaplayer.php?id=1d42997ff37dd1d1d54c811c2bdcd5f1&media=bbcspotlight60mins1&type=mp4

(I quite like that there's a nod at the start of these titles to the previous - slower paced - set:
http://hub.tv-ark.org.uk/dsplus/m.php?p=bbcspotlight1981.rm

There could be something in this, in your first clip the news was coming from a different location, presumably N1 or N2 at TV Centre, with the main programme from Lime Grove.

The end of Sixty Minutes.

From what I remember the BBC mucked up Nationwide by making it too serious with Dimbleby and it was axed due to the ratings tanking. Sixty minutes was supposed to be a revamped nationwide - even the original set was a redesigned version of the Nationwide popular period. Much f the public criticism was about the look of the programme I seem to remember complaints about the 'orange catapillar'.

I was surprised that it was cancelled so quickly, but then again as a schoolboy at the time, I had never particularly liked Nationwide, so this revamped version wasn't a favourite either.


It seemed to provide to much trivia, which could be better done at the local level - and was in later years.

I think the graphics (orange caterpillar) were nice at the time, and in the North West they tried to at least 'appear integrated' by using an opening sequence that included a model of the 'caterpillar' in front of the desk.

However, what replaced it was amazing in presentation terms. I'll never forget the dramatic music and CGI graphics that greeted me at 6pm on 3 September 1984.



Significantly better than the 'Orange Caterpillar'.

There's a lot about this in The Last Days Of The Beeb by Michael Leapman. The problem with it was that they had to make a load of compromises, because it was supposed to be very much integrated and very slick, but you had news and current affairs as separate departments, both of whom had their own opinions and wanted to do their own bits separately. This was in the days where, as Jenny Abramsky said, there was an occasion where the news bulletin at the start of The World At One said a postal strike was still going on, and then The World At One immediately contradicted the bulletin because they announced it was off. They had the exclusive and they didn't want to tell the newsroom because it was their story.

So on Sixty Minutes you had the same thing, where both departments wanted priority, and the regional departments as well. Indeed, as Leapman points out, the aim was to have the news and news analysis together, with the local news after, which seemed more logical than the days of Nationwide where you had the national news, the local news and then analysis of the national news again. However, the regions demanded they went out at six o'clock because that was the best slot. That meant to do the national bits together they would have had to start at about 5.15, which was too early, or do the regional news first and go on until seven, which was considered the "wrong" order and would go on too late. So in the end you had the exact same order as Nationwide and there was no point in changing it, really.



The reason it was axed so quickly, according to Leapman, was because Scotland wanted to opt out of everything but the news and do an extended Reporting Scotland instead, and Alasdair Milne convinced them to at least show it for three months (presumably why it was referred to as Sixty Minutes Scotland with the potential to fill the whole hour, I guess) and then they'd have another look at it. So they had to have another look at it after three months and decided to axe the whole thing.

The whole thing is a bit like the arguments between ITV and STV, it's all very well arguing about who does what when but there is the danger that you end up just confusing viewers and you end up with no audience. When it ended, they could at least go to the regions and say it was all very well demanding to go on at six but if it was getting no viewers there was no point arguing about it.

You'll note the billing for the first Six O'Clock News goes on for ages...
http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/70fc2a4ec59c40d196e82ce1e538d4ed
...and that was almost certainly to point out it wasn't just The News, because current affairs were still going to make a contribution to it.

Of course there ended up having to broadcast later anyways. Someone said it was Micheal grade who pushed for Sixty mins to be axed and have a powerhouse 6pm news.



I never know that, do you know what months that was? its a shame there no videos of this on online.

Looking at the clips, it seems that 'Dessy' seemed a poor choice of initial anchor.

As a young child I thought the sig tune was excellent and didn't some regions continue to use it? spotlight and Points West often use it on anniversary programme montages.

I seem to remember Nationwide as being a quirky, very British programme and I enjoyed watching all the mad regional stuff. I feel sure there can't have been eccentric items every night though and the clips that get repeated ad nauseum (Egg Jumping, Broom Balancing et al) can't have been an every-night occurrence. I definitely felt that when Dimbleby got shipped in, the programme had lost it's sense of humour somewhat.

I remember looking forward to Sixty Minutes as it was much heralded at the time as bringing a successful American Format to the UK, combining news analysis and regional input. When it actually started, it did seem very un-joined-up. Lots of presenters at separate desks, presenting different things, regions all tied together with a homogenous look (which kind of defeated the object of being regional - I've never quite got the argument that everyone needs to look the same, as viewers themselves generally see one national programme and their regional one, so why does it matter if the regional ones themselves don't all look the same?)

The Sixty Minutes theme never cut it with me. It's pretty tacky sounding now and I remember thinking even then it wasn't terribly "newsy".

The classic Six o'clock News that replaced it was, IMO, the start of the BBC's very formal news presentation era. Definitely serious, perhaps imperious, possibly a bit schoolmaster-y in delivery (Sit up, pay attention, this is stuff you should concentrate on).

Well, the first three months, obviously.