BBC ONE English Regions on DSAT

As has been pointed out though if you move the tennis to BBC 1 you then comprehensively knacker anybody who has set their video to record the tennis. If tennis is billed as on BBC 2 anybody wanting to watch tennis will find it. This attitude of BBC1 is the flagship channel is outdated.

There is no excuse for arbitrarily moving programmes onto the other channel in such circumstances when it will interfere with the ability of programmes to be transmitted. This isn't just the sub-opts that are going to be affected but DTT in all English regions except London.

If the BBC is not prepared to put the investment in to make both of its main networks capable of opting out on Digital services it has no business moving regional programmes to BBC2.

Pictures have now appeared on Cambridge, but no programme details on the banner as yet.

Channel Islands still black.

Proper Channel Islands feed unlikely to available for quite a while (possibly as late as the Autumn) - as the kit required to create a BBC One Channel Islands digital feed has yet to be installed in Plymouth and Jersey AIUI. (There will be a link between Jersey and Plymouth to feed the Jersey studio output back to the UK, the opting in and out of the digital BBC One South West Plymouth feed will be done in Plymouth, and then this BBC One Channel Islands feed will be sent back to London for uplink to DSat. The actual feed will only be available to CI residents via DSat - as there is no DTT on the Islands yet...)

Oooh - I can actually watch BBC ONE CB now. I must say though, that the announcer in Wales this morning is much better than the woman in London.

My loyalties shall rest with BBC ONE Wa

Has the postcode allocated encryption ended then?

I still can't get Wales, Chris, so I THINK it's just the "third" transponder with only CB and CI on which isn't encrypted.

No, the rest of the regional stations aren't working yet.

I've just watched BBC Look East. Yes the titles are lovely, but the studio - YUCCKKKKK!!

Worst thing is the wideshot with the weather included - the blue backdrop spills EVERYWHERE. Look East Looks Dreadful.

I've never appreciated the true quality of Wales Today. The studio is probably the best of any of the regional news studios.

Is Sara the only presenter to sit on the desk?

And I remember exactly this same argument happening last year (and the year before that, although it was on TV Ark's forum then) and it'll probably happen next year too.

I'm afraid I don't subscribe to this 'BBC1 is the flagship channel therefore any major events have a divine right to it' crap.

The facts are:

1) BBC1 is the most regional channel the BBC have.

2) BBC2 is not as regional as BBC1; English regions only exist on analogue terrestrial, and some English regions don't exist at all.

3) The Tennis is network programming which is the same regardless of which BBC region you happen to be in.

4) The regional news still needed to be shown.

5) Everyone who can receive BBC1 can also receive BBC2 - some people on here need to remember that we are not the 1960's anymore

Based on those facts, the obvious solution yesterday was to move the tennis to BBC2 and keep the news on BBC1.

It's not fair to identify regions as being 'minor' due to their geographical/population size. If editorially such 'minor' regions are the only to provide proper coverage of their patch (which by definition they are) then they are important to the people in that region. When there was a ready made solution available - move the tennis to BBC2 and keep the news on BBC1, it should have been followed. Arguing on the grounds of this 'it should be on BBC1 because it's wimbledon and bugger the fact that a channel with a fully regional infrastructure, and the only channel to have regions on digital platforms is being wasted by showing a network programme whilst a channel with a weaker regional infrastructure has to struggle with providing a lesser regional service' position is stupid.

All that was needed to move the tennis to BBC2 was for at 5:57 BBC2 would start carrying wimbledon coverage, whilst a caption appeared telling BBC1 viewers to change to BBC2 now, then a few seconds before 6PM Sue Barker could have announced that any viewers remaining on BBC1 should now change to BBC2 to carry on watching Wimbledon. Viewers of the tennis have to press a single button and are straight back with it, whilst the regional news can go out on the channel to which it is most suited.

What was best for the viewers yesterday was surely providing Wimbledon coverage for everyone whilst still providing regional news for everyone. Moving tennis to BBC2 so the news can be on BBC1 was the only way of providing that. Keeping the tennis on BBC1 in the name of weak 'wimbledon is being watched by millions so it would be a crime against humanity for it to be watched by millions on BBC2 instead' arguments was not the way to go.

If this argument was over possible moving of the tennis to BBC3 then those arguing in favour of the BBC's policy yesterday would have a very definitate point, but when it's over a BBC1 vs BBC2 issue, any argument in favour of what they did yesterday was weak at best; it DOESN'T matter whether the tennis is on BBC1 or BBC2, it DOES matter whether the regional news is on BBC1 or BBC2 .

That the BBC have done this again this year I find very odd when they have allready signed the death warrant for English regions on BBC2. When they are finally gone altogether, will they still shunt regional news to BBC2 leaving the whole of England watching LDN? Will those arguing in favour of yesterday's argument still be twittering on with their weak 'BBC1 is the flagship channel and therefore...' arguments then?

Wales Today seems to have the biggest studio, the largest screen, the largest [fake] backdrop and the longest programme [it was longer than both Scotland and NI yesterday].

From my viewing of any other regions, I think the South and North Newcastle walk about a lot, but don't sit on the desk/stand on stairs/sit on stairs like restless Sara does. But then others don't have a studio like an activity playground.

Plus, it's one of the few programmes to have only one presenter, Southampton, Newcastle and London are the other *main* regions to have the one presenter. I daresay the opts have only one though, Close Up East has just the one.

It'd be nice to have a couple of presenters again on WT, Jamie and Claire, or Sara and Jason. But there are already twice the number of people BBC Wales need to have in as it is, with people needed for 2W News also. But it would be nice.

Thats what generally happens when anyone else is playing instead of Henman.

BBC1 carry a match from say Centre Court, Then at 5.35pm BBC2 carry another match from say Court Number 1. At about 5.57pm BBC2 change to carrying the Centre Court match and then at 5.58pm Sue Barker tells viewers of BBC1 to change to BBC2. There is even an overlap so absolutely no coverage is lost.

If they had have kept to this last night nothing would have had to be dropped except BBC2 would have run 10 mins late but Today at Wimbledon could have been shortened to 50 mins

Saw my first look tonight of Close Up from Look East. It was ok. But he was that awful presenter??! When do they play out there titles? Also what was wrong wrong with the sting colour on the plasma?

I too saw Look East's Cambridge version tonight (until the last 7 or so minutes) up until it was time to switch back to see Paul Hudson's Emley forecast.

I was quite surprised at how 'nearly local' it was with reports from near King's Lynn, about the A47 needing coversion to dual carriageway, the reports from Peterborough etc..

This is exactly the show I need for reports south of me. Very impressed, carry on!!