Sky Sports News

Why are recorded graphics carried with the recorded feed of Sky Sports News? I mean, with pre-recorded hours (i.e 11am-12pm on Saturday, 12am-6am every day) , there is always a DOG covering the time and date (which is obviously incorrect), and the overall picture and graphics do look rusty on hours that are played over.

My question is this: why can't correct, updated graphics (including a correct time, so that it doesn't have to be covered up) be displayed with a replayed hour of SSN? Surely playing a recorded video with correct graphics can't be that difficult.

Just an example of what I mean, though not too good as gfx haven't been dislayed yet...(with thanks to TV Newsroom)

Both of these caps have been taken before the graphics slide into view; this is a live hour...
http://www.rp-networkservices.com/tvforum/uploads/0901231307_72.jpg

...and this is a recorded hour, as the DOG has already appeared, to cover the time when it slides in. Why can't the graphics used be 'live'?
http://www.rp-networkservices.com/tvforum/uploads/1002122506_22.jpg

On a sub-note, Sky News weather presenter Lucy Verasamy was in the SSN studio yesterday to analyse the weather for around the grounds.

I guess it's all down to cost!

Talking of Sky Sports News, I wish there was an option to watch the main video service in full screen - can get annoying sometimes!

Surely it's because there's (usually) nothing to update overnight and to run graphics fresh over the pre-recorded studio picture would require a graphics operator on shift.

Sure, but the 11am hour on Saturdays is recorded and the same thing occurs (today being a prime example as the previous hour's cricket score was being displayed, which was obviously wrong).

Coincidentally, problems with the graphics this afternoon; the 'info strap' has been stuck on 'FULHAM v CHARLTON' for about he past 10 minutes, and every now again the tables and ticker have been freezing or resetting themselves.

While I have wrote this, the 'info strap' has reset itself again. It got to a point at one stage where we got a full studio picture for one section of Soccer Saturday - it better be fixed for 3pm when all the scores start flooding in!

I was going to mention this earlier, what a crazy time to show a pre-record. Surely Saturday is the most popular time for the channel?



Thus proving why it can't be left on live overnight - although of course if it went wrong during the last live hour it would also be wrong all night

It's to allow time to set up for Soccer Saturday. Ratings at 11am aren't amazing, but the spike at 3pm - 5pm is.

It's for the studio reset for Soccer Saturday.
They need time to move things around, and the studio guests and God himself (Lord Stelling) needs time to get settled, plus they also pre-record the 'around the prem grounds' links just before the 2.59 break.

It's the same after Soccer Saturday/Special. The first 15 mins after the show is done from the lock out camera 'perch' position upto the first break of the hour.

Have you noticed how poor quality the taped version of it is? it looks like the tapes been recorded over hundreds of times and the quality has dropped as such. It looks even more obvious on a widescreen telly!

SSN is still using tape based playout, one of the machines has a nasty habit of giving a fuzzy picture.

Hopefully they should move to server-based playout soon.

Yes, in fact it seems to have got even worse in recent days and weeks!

That's a good point actually; not really considered that myself before...I wonder why this hasn't been introduced? Perhaps their interactive service hasn't got enough funding to make it more sophisticated?