UTV's Favourite Hymns probs

That Sunday morning ahem... favourite, My Favourite Hymns has just started mid programme on UTV. There have been filler programmes for the past half hour. All was well on ITV1... so can we deduce (cos we like doing that) that UTV just have one feed, a no-voiceover feed to work from and it went belly up?

STV/Grampian were unaffected as they're carrying local programming.

UTV did have a live announcer this morning - Aidan Browne doing a gallant job at ad libbing...

A B ad libbing !!! Did you record any of it? "Viewers should note that our scheduled programming is not on your screens. But in half an hour on UTV you can watch something we recorded yesterday".

Virtually every other ITV region was showing that programme this morning. Hard to believe (or is it) that they have no back-up in place...if even just ITV 1 London from DSAT.

I managed to catch most of it on tape. Will upload some of it at a later date.

A very embarrassing timing issue at 5.25pm though. We had Julian in-vision leading us up to the ITV News at "5.24". Uncomfortable ten sec silence when Julian finished. Just as he was about to apologise for the delay, our favourite blue b/ground UTV ident still was cut up. Then, wait for it...an announcerless ITV 1 ident in full going into the ITV News.

Quality.

It does seem strange that they don't have a simple sat receiver and ITV1 on it. Mind you, we shouldn't give them that idea or they may consider using it as a (cheaper) main source for network material...

I caught the 5.24pm fault on tape - terrible, it seemed like Julian's mike was cut off, although I think he was about to ask "What is going on?" (or words to that effect) than apologise, and all you got was one minute of dead air, then an ITV1 ident in the wrong aspect ratio - how I've missed UTV

UTV seemed to be back to their old tricks last night, with anno-less ITV1 Idents overnight. Also during the ITV News Summary the sound and vision were not in sync.

And I'm probably right to assume there's no announcer on duty.

As bad as most of the ITV1 announcers are, at least they are there.

Aidan ad-libbing? Did he use the words "on your screens"?

Also went out using the wrong aspect ratio. The announcerless overnight idents have been back again for some time. My guess is that UTV registered their dissatisfaction re the initial picture sync issues and temporarily switched to a dirty feed while the problems were resolved. I must say, if I were on the receiving end of a complaint from UTV re poor technical standards, I might just have a word or two for them.

Yes, I think he did. I didn't catch a 'U-T-Veeeeeeeeeeee' though!!

For some reason that reminds me of the old 70s and 80s line that Ulster Television announcers would use when things went wrong. 'twas always due to 'circumstances beyond our control'. Of course, most things still are beyond them!!

Of all the announcers they have, probably the most professional sounding (and do keep in mind we're talking best of bad bunch material here) is Robin Taylor. If only someone would tell him that having a ten foot wide knot in your tie is not actually fashionable. Julian isn't too bad either, outside of those daft Coronation Street intros - oh how I do wish he wouldn't do that.

Aidan - well, king of camp and continuity cliches comes to mind.

As for the ladies - Gillian so often sounds as if she wants to be somewhere else and is sooo bored with her job. I do wish that she would pronounce the word 'says' in the way that every other English speaking person above the age of 10 does.

Audra - well, more pre-occupied with how she looks on screen methinks.

If there are clean idents going out is anyone capturing them?

Might me worth sticking a video in the machine, those of you who have TV Capture capabilities........?

While I generally agree with you, I have to say in Gillian's favour that she does seem to make the effort to find out a bit about the programme she is pointing. Rather than Mr Browne who simply tells us the programme name and how many minutes will pass before it will be 'on our screens'. Although I do take your point about Gillian sounding as if she wants to be somewhere else. Can you blame her?