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BBC One Pres problems

(February 2005)

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NS
NickyS Founding member
Inspector Sands posted:
NickyS posted:
[
Or did they just put BBC One back into TVC for Saturday night? I don't know if its all BBC One and Two has moved to the BC or whether there is still some stuff coming from TVC - perhaps someone knows. I think it's more the system than the people sometimes with the BBC Three faults - it just doesn't seem very stable.


It's all coming from the new place. AIUI they can't move back (even if they could the practical logistics of doing so would be complex)

All systems like that are unstable at first. It's only when it settles in, gets tweaked and the people using and maintaining it get used to its little quirks (of which there can often be many!). The thing is that you can't iron out all the problems before going live - it tales too long, maybe a year or so

But you would have thought the months of BBC Three and Four in the new centre would have ironed out the problems - they're all using the same equipment AFAIK. It just seems from what I've seen it's harder to recover when something does go wrong - hence the black we've experienced today. Live programmes/events seem to be the system's biggest problem.
MA
Marcus Founding member
The BBC never learns from its mistakes of the past. News24 was launched with unstable software and was a laughing stock inside and outside the industry. It took about four years for it to recover from that launch.

Now BBC1 seams to be following the example.
NH
Nick Harvey Founding member
You're resolute in your view here, aren't you Marcus?

A cynic might think you owned the company which DIDN'T get the contract to provide the new hardware!
MA
Marcus Founding member
Nick Harvey posted:
You're resolute in your view here, aren't you Marcus?

A cynic might think you owned the company which DIDN'T get the contract to provide the new hardware!


Well he would be wrong
IS
Inspector Sands
Marcus posted:
The BBC never learns from its mistakes of the past. News24 was launched with unstable software and was a laughing stock inside and outside the industry. It took about four years for it to recover from that launch.

Now BBC1 seams to be following the example.


But all automation software is unstable at the start and News 24 would have been problematic no matter what they used as it was a totally new venture. I was around when the last playout area was new and then when it was upgraded.... and there were problems. The place I work now launched with a brand new system and there were problems, but now everything is working pretty well.

You can't wait till everything is 100% until you go on air with these things there just isn't the time. At some point you have to put it on air and go with it. The good news is that with every breakdown and problem they'll learn for next time and go towards tweaking the system
JV
James Vertigan Founding member
marksi posted:
What would you prefer? A picture of some flowers perhaps?


Or the potters wheel!
MA
marksi
The thing is, if you could get the potter's wheel to air you could probably get the programme to air just as easily...
AN
Ant
marksi posted:
The thing is, if you could get the potter's wheel to air you could probably get the programme to air just as easily...

Oh 1 post till your 1000th marksi lol. As far as BBC One goes, there are hardly any mistakes on it but when there are people seem to notice it more.
TV
tvarksouthwest
Inspector Sands posted:
But all automation software is unstable at the start and News 24 would have been problematic no matter what they used as it was a totally new venture.

Seems the use of automation software is the problem itself - why not just have more bods in the control room pressing buttons and monitoring output? Computers can only do what they are programmed to do, so when things go wrong it can be embarrassing. Whereas human beings would be more reactive - if not pricier, but you get what you pay for.
MA
Marcus Founding member
Inspector Sands posted:
Marcus posted:
The BBC never learns from its mistakes of the past. News24 was launched with unstable software and was a laughing stock inside and outside the industry. It took about four years for it to recover from that launch.

Now BBC1 seams to be following the example.


But all automation software is unstable at the start and News 24 would have been problematic no matter what they used as it was a totally new venture. I was around when the last playout area was new and then when it was upgraded.... and there were problems. The place I work now launched with a brand new system and there were problems, but now everything is working pretty well.

You can't wait till everything is 100% until you go on air with these things there just isn't the time. At some point you have to put it on air and go with it. The good news is that with every breakdown and problem they'll learn for next time and go towards tweaking the system


But you have to be careful not to destroy your reputation. BBC World's took a pretty severe battering in November because of problems in BBC Broadcast..

Remember how News24 was ridiculed when it launched, not least by Network directors on BBC1 .
BB
BBC TV Centre
tvarksouthwest posted:
Inspector Sands posted:
But all automation software is unstable at the start and News 24 would have been problematic no matter what they used as it was a totally new venture.

Seems the use of automation software is the problem itself - why not just have more bods in the control room pressing buttons and monitoring output? Computers can only do what they are programmed to do, so when things go wrong it can be embarrassing. Whereas human beings would be more reactive - if not pricier, but you get what you pay for.


Simply because it's more expensive to do so!

OK, so you might get a human apology if something breaks down and a little bit of music played off a CD/MD/computer but I suppose it all boils down to what the bean counters think at the end of the day.

Why do they not iron the bugs out in the software before putting it into a production environment?

Quote:
It's all coming from the new place. AIUI they can't move back (even if they could the practical logistics of doing so would be complex)


What exactly did they move that makes it so difficult to revert back to the old system? Confused
HD
Humpty Dumpty
This weekend hasn't been BBC Broadcast's finest moment really has it?

It just goes to show that not everyone is perfect.. I'm surprised that they haven't taken more time to perfect the systems before going live. I have heard that they have a new playout software to contend with as well as their new surroundings but I agree that it is very poor indeed.... but will get better.

Some of the anti-itv'ers on here would be looking for the heads of the TC's themselves if the same had happended either in London or Leeds.

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