BBC announcers go bananas

There are some good announcers. Don't forget BBC NI's Michael Selby, nothing short of a legend following his farewell piece to the balloon!

On the whole, I reckon that were appropriate, a nice deviation into something slightly light-hearted is welcome. I'm not suggesting that before a Royal event we have the announcer colloquially introducing it as 'Live coverage here on BBC1 of the Jubilee procession. Now who's taking bets on one of the horses dropping its load before the day's out, eh?'

However, in the case of the late night schedules where fewer people are watching, a bit of light relief is pleasant. The message still comes across yet without the stiffness and lifelessness that many complain about happening elsewhere such as on ITV1 with their endless 'This is ITV1' announcements.

Hmm - have to say I got it instantly, and I'm in your age range, Simon.

I'd rather have some links with a bit of character, where appropriate, than the bland "Now on BBC One - " type introductions we used to get, to be honest.

oooh, I missed that one. Nasty Scottish opt out, I do like the more relaxed ones although they are not suitable for prime time.
ITV's annos are just dire though. Such a pity.

In the case of ITV, it seems the best announcer is on during the night, the bloke who says 'its now 3.26am, you're watching ITV1, Owen Thomas is waiting with the headlines' in a much more natural and meaningful way than that dire women who's on during daylight hours

I've noticed more of the 'personality' announcements from Auntie over the last few months and I think they work really well.

ITV should take note!

"Make sure you get some Zs in"? I'm 29 and it took me a few seconds to twig...

Yes, Simon, but you're a 29-year-old fogey! I'm older than you, and I knew immediately what the announcer was on about... but I guess I've led a less sheltered life than you...

If I had heard that announcement, I wouldn't have been offended. Then again, it's just me.

I don't think it's a case of reaching down to the next generation or "dumbing down", but being more casual and conversational. I don't see a problem with that.

There was a good announcement on Channel 4 last night after 'Smack the Pony' :

"Right, that's enough vulgarity for one night, next up clean, family entertainment with Graham Norton... no, that can't be right."

I think announcements should be more light hearted, though there are some that make you cringe - I remember once a guy did a silly voice and tried to crack a joke. It was embarrassing.

"This is BBC4. Don't get any Zs in. Come on, please wake up..."

my favourite is still the one where TLC ended with one of the characters holding an amputated leg and the man gave a trail for One Foot In The Past.

I'd have to agree Simon, you are a moaning old fogie.

I have to agree as well. I love these kind of announcements. At least they're making an effort, which is a lot more than can be said for ITV at present.

Actually, although dire, I prefer the new ITV1 announcements over the old ones.

I mean, the old ones were rubbish. In the style of Maggie Mash:

"Now in this region, which is your local one, Night and Day.

To begin with, Fiona is trying so hard to handle her split with Mike that she fails to communicate with Tom and is under the impression that he has broken up with Frankie. When Mike visits her to talk about it, she gives him the cold shoulder. He retreats back to Natalie who is obsessively looking after him and Duncan. She even warns Fiona to stay away from Mike and let her take charge.

Meanwhilst, Roxanne is being over protective of her baby and is making a frustrated Della stay home from school and do all the housework. Della goes to Rachel's school play auditions just to escape the house. When she finds herself alone with the baby she decides to discover what all the fuss is about…

Then, Della feels like Cinderella. Dennis has moved back home leaving her sharing a room with the twins while Roxanne is still acting strangely and forcing her to look after the house. She talks to Alex about the problems with the baby and he offers to baby sit so she can see Josh. Unfortunately thanks to Steph, Josh never arrives.

Finally on tonights episode, Rachel tells Lucy about Sam and Jane. When Sam returns from the pub, she refuses to let him in and with encouragement from Rachel banishes him for good. Having been beaten up by Dennis for upsetting his sister, Sam takes his belongings and leaves the street.

There. You needn't bother watching now. Over on ITV2, more Pop Rivals."

why are you talking about the shows on ITV?