Could someone enlighten me whether or not during Children In Need there are still regional opt-outs on the night? Also at what time(approx)?
I can remember Nigel Jay at a desk with a Pudsey in the North West a few years back.
I remember BBC NW's CIN opt outs, it was either Dianne Oxberry in a studio with people getting their leg hair waxed or Nigel Jay in a Gyles Brandreth Jumper in a phone tower somewhere in Manchester, if not I think he wore a home made Pudsey jumper.
See that's what we want to see instead of endless musical acts in London.
Isn't it strange that the welsh, northern irish and scots here want less regional opt outs during CiN and the english want more!
The point is that CiN is carried by Terry Wogan and the professional production value in London. If you live in Scotland you unfortunately are subjected to "Scottish themed" music acts (last year's highlight was Darius for f*cks sake) introduced by talentless local news TV "celebrities". You would have thought that digital TV would have brought the onset of choice to non-Sky digital subscribers (e.g. Telewest here)- i.e. "press red now for a professionally produced program from London, or stick here for a Scottish band nobody's ever heard of, introduced by Reporting Scotland's Weathergirl!"
Yes, the traditional sort of regional opt-out finished a few years ago, now they just have short 5 minutes films about how money was raised and where it went in your region. They're quite subtley done now, unless you're really concentrating you don't notice that they are regional bits.
I'm almost definite BBC NE&C had live opts last year.
Am I the only one who is distinctly uninterested by CiN? OK so it's all for a good cause and that, but the whole thing is just tiresome rubbish, the same every year. It just pales in comparison to Comic Relief, which actually makes me feel almost inclined to dig into my pockets. And I say
almost
. It's all just naff pap - seeing Eastenders "stars" and BBC News presenters do silly things just doesn't appeal to me whatsoever.
Yes, the traditional sort of regional opt-out finished a few years ago, now they just have short 5 minutes films about how money was raised and where it went in your region. They're quite subtley done now, unless you're really concentrating you don't notice that they are regional bits.
I'm almost definite BBC NE&C had live opts last year.
So does anyone know if we are going to have English Regional Opts this year??
I think the Children in Need show is poor now compared to the early nineties. It's line up is based around the cast of EastEnders and BBC News, with very few original ideas. The show also struggles in comparison to Comic Relief in pulling the money in - CIN normally get around £10m on the night compared to £30m+ for Comic Relief.
I also think Terry and Gaby are not the draw they once were, with a couple of new hosts needed. Maybe Terry and Gaby could host the 7-10pm slot, with a couple of new hosts brought in for the post-news slot, with Terry and Gaby returning for the end of the evening.
Since 2001 (I think) the regional set-up for CiN has changed. Until 2001 each region mounted their own, live, locally produced, Children in Need regional opt-outs.
Then in 2001 they decided to change things. To keep the regional feel, but add "network" production values, the network programme organised a number of regional OBs, which were carried on the network. The regional opt-outs were reduced mainly to "where the money has gone" film opt-outs.
However last year (in fact maybe since 2001) - some (or all of) the regions which had network OBs in their patch were able to use these OBs for their regional opts - mainly to link into and out of shorter "where the money was spent" films.
Whilst the show is slicker as a result - and the OBs get bigger names performing because they are networked - part of the charm of CiN has been lost.
However this may also be connected with the increasing difficulty English regions face in making live, non-news programmes. The newer regions have fewer "production" facilities - and often had to rent in OB trucks, freelance camera crew etc. (Gone are the days when the Bristol, Pebble Mill, Milton Keynes and Manchester centres had production studios and proper OB units that were available for CiN.)
In Northern Ireland it is like Scotland... we "opt in" to Network rather than opt out for Children in Need. The "best" bits of network are recorded and shown later. The show is introduced locally and there are traditionally rather silly bits like Donna Traynor dressing up and singing...
Luckly for those of us in the South, BBC CIN NI normally give out an ROI telephone number to donate too!
