SMG continuity (or lack of)

Seems like the continuty department at Cowcaddens has fallen asleep tonight - at the end of two credits sequences in two programmes, the credits have just been played out without any announcement, never mind the Now/Next/Later.

In this age of multi-channel, surely you've got only a couple of seconds to get an announcement in once a programme ends before the viewer goes elsewhere. Not using the now/next/later is daft, but not having the courtesy to make any announcement, and just playing the clean feed, is incompetent.

You know, when we watch TTTV in our house we always have a bet on as to how badly squashed credits are going to be and how long the announcer will go on for... it's not popular, trust me. The ECP is the most irriating device ever invented, keep it off the screens!

I've got a feeling all the announcements are recorded on SMG because occasionally when there is no credits to the end of the programme (like for example the first X-Factor final programme), it went to the Nokia sponsorship and the ECP was still on with the announcer talking right over it. Surely if it was live announcing, the announcer would stop speaking.

I'm sure you both mean ECP rather than EPG.

The current ITV standard credits are so bland they really *should* be used with a promo or a now/next at least.

Wonder what's up at SMG. There's a lot of flu going around. Maybe the pres director was having a lie down.

Surely they would have backup plans. No wait, this is SMG we're talking about. How could I be so stupid...

Anyway there is a lot of flu going around. Even the local radio DJ had it.

Looks like they're occupied on other projects, having just heard an SMG announcer on Virgin Radio plugging an upcoming Taggart on "ITV1" (hngh ).

Btw - an example of the tedious cross-promotion we used to get for Virgin and the two newspapers they once owned up here.

Kate Frazer gets in a real state sometimes on the end credits.She always stumbles when the pressure is on and just can't talk to time.

I realy thought that Bobby Hain would have had a clearout when he got his feet under the table at SMG towers but he doesn't seem to care about the look and sound of the channels it's a real shame.

Off the back of a promo Kate has just said "well sorry about that " then announced into Coronation ST .I don't know why she was saying sorry as nothing happend Of course maybe something happend on Grampian as they go to both channels at once.

I noticed the other night the "now, next and later" caption came up and it was for the night before!!!

I have also lost count of the times the announcer has name checked Scottish when we are watching Grampian.

It must make sense at peak times to have a live local announcer??

Well if ITV 1 can serve all the English regions and us poor hard done by Scots in the Border area i wouldn't have thought that SMG will give you a local announcer.

Here in the Border Scotland region we used to have continuity from the NTC in Leeds which was very poor.Sometimes you would see Granada idents in the Border region and as for the Border Scotland optout very poor pre recorded stuff with scripts that make NO sense to what the programme is "whatever the game we know the score it's time now for Scotsport " . every Sunday for the past five yrs .

I realy miss Maggie and Bob from Leeds but since Border pres has gone to London there are fewer mistakes but the announcers are crap .

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have I missed something? I thought Border was still run from Leeds

Probably means that since the non-regional idents have come in, there's little for TX to get confused about.