Now the lines go straight from the South Bank or Leeds, direct to the transmitters the world has moved on.
Yes...but when the feed up to the transmitter disappears...that blue screen is what the transmitter will pump out...is it not?
If I'm not mistaken, one TV Forumer in one of the English regions did report a sighting of this very caption within the last six months.
With regards the teletext style caption that Andrew has just posted, the last sighting that I recall of that type of caption was when Ch 4 suffered a power failure in the 1990s:
Okay Mike, have it your way. No point in me wasting any time, as you won't listen anyway. Discussion closed.
Nick, I am merely going on evidence that has been posted on this site in recent months.
If a feed from the South Bank to a transmitter site is lost - i.e., nothing is being sent up the line to the transmitter site from LNN for example, I simply do not understand how an LNN-branded caption would be broadcast...unless it superceded our old blue captions, as the standby screen at the transmitter site...which would be a bit bizarre I must say. Far better to have an apology going out than some meaningless LNN twaddle.
Here in UTV land (a different set-up I know), I have seen this blue ITV branded caption go out in the last couple of years where UTV's feed to the transmitter site has been lost for one reason or other.
Without wanting to get involved in an argument, my understanding is that the blue screen feeds are NTL's responsibilty and are the default source when the main TX feed is lost. This differs from the BBC/Crown Castle position in that if a BBC transmitter loses it's main TX feed it will automatically switch over to an off-air re-broadcast of it's nearest neighbour.
Without wanting to get involved in an argument, my understanding is that the blue screen feeds are NTL's responsibilty and are the default source when the main TX feed is lost...
Precisely, Mark. When the feed to the transmitter site is lost, that blue screen *should* be broadcast. How the heck that LNN caption would go out is beyond me.
If Nick would care to enlighten me/us as to how this KRS/LNN caption has superceded the old blue screen, I'd certainly be quite interested in the explanation.
Right, now we've got people who actually know what's going on involved, am I not right that if everyone at the South Bank went out on the pavement on a picket line, once the automation got to the end of what it had pre-programmed, all the outgoing lines would drop to captions similar to good old 67/75, but obviously with different numbers on them because the lines would be different local end numbers?
As a feed would still be going out from the South Bank, the transmitters would still be seeing something and, therefore, not insert the blue screen of death.
As a feed would still be going out from the South Bank, the transmitters would still be seeing something and, therefore, not insert the blue screen of death.
Now Nick, at the very least you're being mischievous here. You know fine well that the basis of my argument thus far has been ***if there was no signal going up to the transmitter***. In this circumstance, the blue caption *will* be generated.
The reason that this debate got started in the first place was your suggestion that the KRS caption had somehow superceded the old blue screen. The blue screen was no more...things had "moved on'"..."you wouldn't get the old blue screen of death, as that was an IBA caption."
NTL has been looking after the blue apology screen since the demise of the IBA.
If all the staff at the South Bank just walked out in some sort of lightning strike and just left things running (bit unrealistic)...well, of course some sort of feed will be still going to the transmitter, so the blue screen will not get triggered in this circumstance. As I have pointed out previously, it is *only* when someone pulls the feed to the transmitter that the blue apology caption will be broadcast.
And kindly don't patronise me by proclaiming "...now we've got people who actually know what's going on involved...". I do know what I'm talking about. You're the one that needs to go off and get your facts straight.
If the schedule at LNN were to get to the end - black would be present on screen. As anyone in radio is more than well aware, when you get to the end of your playlist at the end of the evening there will be silence as there is nothing there to be played.. there will be no servers cued, tapes ready, slides available saying ANYTHING.
I may be correct in saying that with some automation, of you have a studio selected and your schedule ends then it may stay with that studio rather than generating silence.
On an occassion as a strike, the network directors would simply fade to black on the network mixer and walk away.
This will not happen due to the number of people working there on a freelance basis. This would ensure at least, someone to load tapes.
The network and regional schedules are identcial in all but commercial breaks and occasional regional programming.
As far as I'm aware, the signal leaves STC and goes straight to the various NTL/Crown Castle transmitters for broadcast.
If there is a technical problem with the feed from STC an apology caption can be generated from the transmitter site which will be for that particular service/transmitter.
This is a very unlikely event.
Here in Canada, when the CBC technicians and staff go on strike, we get countless reruns, no local news and the national news is run for 30 minutes from Toronto(with very cheesy production values, incorrect astons, reports taking a few seconds to cue up and so forth). The remaining 30 minutes if filled with BBC World News. They sometimes forget to change the bug from "CBC Sports" to "CBC News" on Saturdays.
CBC NewsWorld runs documentaries with news updates at the top of the hour.
Hockey Games would usually consist of the cameras being provided by the American networks(ESPN usually) with our announcers usually somewhere in the States at a different arena altogether doing commentary for the game in Canada. Or, they tape a game featuring a Canadian team from earlier in the day from an American network.
Most CBC transmitters get their feeds on satellite from the Toronto master control centre(whether or not a strike is happening). One time, CBC closed down at 12am ET/5am GMT across the country at the same time due to a dispute. It was worked out the next day.