Not sure if anybody is watching BBC1's coverage this morning, but it looks terrible. I think its being presented from a committee room in Westminter, so looks very old fashoined and wooden, with a wonky monitor in the background saying "State opening of Parliament 2006. To me, it lacks any sense of occassion. Could the BBC not have used one of its nearby stuido's rather, or at least have featured an image of Parliament (or even Buckingham Palace) as a backdrop?
Don't forget there is a strike amongst technical staff today which may be affecting things
The strike has nothing to do with it, the programme is being made by BBC Events, its the technical staff for BBC News who are striking. This effects coverage on BBC News 24, but not BBC One.
Oh yes it does. The 1, 6 and 10 o'clock news will be affected.
Yes they will, but i was talking about coverage of the State opening of parliament, not tv news bulletins, as it is obvious that BBC Events do not produce the 1, 6 or 10.
I can't help but notice that BBC News 24 has taken very nearly a straight simulcast of BBC Parliament for the past couple of hours at least (N24 graphics, but over a feed of the House of Commons without a newsreader in sight or sound). They usually show speeches on this sort of occasion, but not at THIS length...
I think its being presented from a committee room in Westminter, so looks very old fashoined and wooden, with a wonky monitor in the background saying "State opening of Parliament 2006.
It always comes from a committee room, though the monitor graphic was slightly basic this year.
I think its being presented from a committee room in Westminter, so looks very old fashoined and wooden, with a wonky monitor in the background saying "State opening of Parliament 2006.
It always comes from a committee room, though the monitor graphic was slightly basic this year.
It hasn't
always
come from a committee room at all - the BBC used to build a large studio on the green outside most years.
In RECENT years it has come from a committee room, but in years gone by a bubble studio has often been built near the Houses of Parliament.
I guess it is a cost thing - money saving has been a constant theme on the craft side of these kind of things for years now. (Committee rooms don't need to be built, can be lit more simply etc.)
Also - in years gone by there were far more restrictions about presenting / reporting in-vision from the Houses of Parliament - it is only recently that we've seen reporters in-vision from the Central Lobby for example.
I suspect in years gone by it wasn't possible to broadcast from a committee room - as the rules of parliamentary broadcasting would have prevented it?