Uk Gold used to edit the break bumpers onto the tapes(or whatever they used at the time!) I read somewhere.
This caused an issue when the channel changed it's on air identity, that you occasionally got a flash of the old identity, unless someone was quick with the buttons.
Does Watch (& the other current range of UKTV channels) suffer the same presentation decisions, in other words are we likely to get a flash of old style Watch bumpers when they change over?
No. I believe that everything is digitally run from Red Bee nowadays.
Watch just seems to be what UK BrightIdeas was - a mishmash of bits and pieces without any clear mission.
Bright Ideas did have a clear purpose - it was a lifestyle showcasing UKTV's original programming on Freeview. It was all lifestyle stuff though - food, gardens, houses etc
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UKTV already have Gold and Dave so i can't really see the use of Watch.
There's lots of stuff on it that won't fit on Gold or Dave - drama and game shows for example
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It would be nice for them to get hold of some US chat shows or something of that nature and air them at, say, 11pm nightly.
That is a good idea, but how many other channels have tried doing that and failed?
I can't believe they keep changing. Yes, the presentation has always been shocking but I don't think that's the channels problem. Splitting UK Gold in to two stations - one for old stuff and one for flagship stuff is a fantastic idea, but the branding of Watch is all wrong. How about UKTV1?
It doesn't help that UKTV have totally killed their brand off so there's nothing for somebody zipping up and down the Sky EPG to link all these disparate one-worded channels together. Blighty is another one I'm surprised has lasted as long as it has.
I can't believe they keep changing. Yes, the presentation has always been shocking but I don't think that's the channels problem. Splitting UK Gold in to two stations - one for old stuff and one for flagship stuff is a fantastic idea, but the branding of Watch is all wrong. How about UKTV1?
It doesn't help that UKTV have totally killed their brand off so there's nothing for somebody zipping up and down the Sky EPG to link all these disparate one-worded channels together. Blighty is another one I'm surprised has lasted as long as it has.
I can't believe they keep changing. Yes, the presentation has always been shocking but I don't think that's the channels problem. Splitting UK Gold in to two stations - one for old stuff and one for flagship stuff is a fantastic idea, but the branding of Watch is all wrong. How about UKTV1?
It doesn't help that UKTV have totally killed their brand off so there's nothing for somebody zipping up and down the Sky EPG to link all these disparate one-worded channels together. Blighty is another one I'm surprised has lasted as long as it has.
Or simply 'UKTV'.
Would imply all their telly is from the UK, which it isn't.
Uk Gold used to edit the break bumpers onto the tapes(or whatever they used at the time!) I read somewhere.
This caused an issue when the channel changed it's on air identity, that you occasionally got a flash of the old identity, unless someone was quick with the buttons.
They still do appear sometimes on some classic comedies that they were showing when it relaunched as part of UKTV. I've no idea why, I assume it was just easier at the time. Certainly they didn't do it for long and it seems most have been replaced with newer master tapes.
It wouldn't be a case of being quick to press a button, it's probably never been manually run. It's just a point of making sure the timings for the start/end of the break are correct so they don't get shown.
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Does Watch (& the other current range of UKTV channels) suffer the same presentation decisions, in other words are we likely to get a flash of old style Watch bumpers when they change over?
No, they won't do it that way these days and even if a programme does have an end of part/beginning of part caption/sting it will be brandless like the majority of programme
I'm pretty sure that UKTV programmes now have a V fade (down to black and then back up) for the breaks. That way when they are shown late at night or in a slot without an ad break they can just run it straight past the break without it looking too bad
It doesn't help that UKTV have totally killed their brand off so there's nothing for somebody zipping up and down the Sky EPG to link all these disparate one-worded channels together.
This is a well trodden path on this forum.
There is no advantage in them having a brand linking all their channels, no-one is going to watch one UKTV channel just because they liked another. They'll watch for the genre of the channel and the programmes, the former is reinforced by each having it's own style and personality.
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Blighty is another one I'm surprised has lasted as long as it has.
Blighty is one of the stronger brands I reckon, even if it's not one of the most watched. Really is another one example although that has Freeview to help it.
UKTV has always had a couple of dud channels/brands in every incarnation - UK Arena, UKTV People, UK Gold Classics and now Watch I suppose is the one that stands out as not quite working
Uk Gold used to edit the break bumpers onto the tapes(or whatever they used at the time!) I read somewhere.
This caused an issue when the channel changed it's on air identity, that you occasionally got a flash of the old identity, unless someone was quick with the buttons.
They still do appear sometimes on some classic comedies that they were showing when it relaunched as part of UKTV. I've no idea why, I assume it was just easier at the time. Certainly they didn't do it for long and it seems most have been replaced with newer master tapes.
It wouldn't be a case of being quick to press a button, it's probably never been manually run. It's just a point of making sure the timings for the start/end of the break are correct so they don't get shown.
I believe it's because the UKTV network at launch was run from incredibly dated equipment (I think previously used for BBC WSTV and something else before that) - there's a famous picture of a fan gaffataped to a chair with the legend "If you turn this fan off the entire UKTV network goes down!". Presumably, the equipment was purchased without the need for programme-specific break boards, so the only way to get these in was to burn them on to the tapes.
I also distinctly remember you'd usually get a second or so of the BBC Video symbol at the end of programmes - I assume this is how BBC Worldwide delivered the stuff.
I believe it's because the UKTV network at launch was run from incredibly dated equipment (I think previously used for BBC WSTV and something else before that) - there's a famous picture of a fan gaffataped to a chair with the legend "If you turn this fan off the entire UKTV network goes down!". Presumably, the equipment was purchased without the need for programme-specific break boards, so the only way to get these in was to burn them on to the tapes.
I'm pretty sure that photo is a lot more recent - from the last few years it was at TV Centre. The area it used on the first floor and that it shared with World and Prime was pretty small and rammed with kit which increased as more channels were added. This is the reason why the BBC wanted to move into a more flexible modern playout centre which of course they did.
Even though they came from the area used by the international channels I don't think they would have used their equipment. For a start they were digital channels and the old infrastructure would have been analogue, also the number of channels and the facilities needed were also very different.
I suspect the issue was more that the equipment was too new. UKTV launched in 1997 so only about 2-3 years after BBC1 and 2 were automated and a year before their digital playout areas opened (and they weren't ready on time). The UKTV channels used a new automation system and would have been the BBC's first all digital TX area, as well as the first to have adverts (previously unheard of). They probably edited the masters with EOP/BOP slides to simplify playout in those early days
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I also distinctly remember you'd usually get a second or so of the BBC Video symbol at the end of programmes - I assume this is how BBC Worldwide delivered the stuff.
The one with the red, blue and green smoky line behind it? That was just the standard BBC logo of that time - it was on things like flags and computer wallpaper (and would have been the ident if a royal had died). before 1997 some programmes had the old late 80's BBC logo tacked on the end, they popped up occasionally on Paramount
I'm sure BBC Worldwide edited these to the end when they sold them as they appeared on other channels too.... but there's no connection to them being sold as videos in shops
Last edited by Inspector Sands on 24 January 2012 1:45am - 3 times in total
UKTV already have Gold and Dave so i can't really see the use of Watch.
There's lots of stuff on it that won't fit on Gold or Dave - drama and game shows for example
Looking through the list of shows on Watch's website there really isn't much there that I couldn't see quite easily fitting on to one of their other channels. Don't forgot Gold had its share of 'lighter' drama for many years and despite it focusing on comedy for the last few years I could see Doctor Who being put back on Gold tomorrow and not looking out of place.
Given its BARB figures Watch is here to stay for the long term which I think is a shame given its lack of focus and its weakness as a brand compared to its sister channels. But I guess if it makes them money...
Looking through the list of shows on Watch's website there really isn't much there that I couldn't see quite easily fitting on to one of their other channels. Don't forgot Gold had its share of 'lighter' drama for many years and despite it focusing on comedy for the last few years I could see Doctor Who being put back on Gold tomorrow and not looking out of place.
No, it would be incredibly out of place.... as you rightly say, it's a comedy channel. If it started showing drama then it would be the channel without focus.
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Given its BARB figures Watch is here to stay for the long term which I think is a shame given its lack of focus and its weakness as a brand compared to its sister channels. But I guess if it makes them money...
I believe it's because the UKTV network at launch was run from incredibly dated equipment (I think previously used for BBC WSTV and something else before that) - there's a famous picture of a fan gaffataped to a chair with the legend "If you turn this fan off the entire UKTV network goes down!". Presumably, the equipment was purchased without the need for programme-specific break boards, so the only way to get these in was to burn them on to the tapes.
I'm pretty sure that photo is a lot more recent, from the last few years it was at TV Centre. The area it used on the first floor and that it shared with World and Prime was pretty small and rammed with kit which increased as more channels were added. This is the reason why the BBC wanted to move into a more flexible modern playout centre which of course they did.
Even though they came from the area used by the international channels I don't think they would have used their equipment. For a start they were digital channels and the old infrastructure would have been analogue, also the number of channels and the facilities needed were also very different.
I suspect the issue was more that the equipment was too new. UKTV launched in 1997 so only about 2-3 years after BBC1 and 2 were automated and a year before their digital playout areas opened (and they weren't ready on time). The UKTV channels used a new automation system and would have been the BBC's first all digital TX area, as well as the first to have adverts (previously unheard of). They probably edited the masters with EOP/BOP slides to simplify playout in those early days
Surely shoving an MPEG-2 converter on the end of an analogue system creates a digital feed? When the network launched it only went out in analogue as well - one analogue Satellite uplink which then was taken by the regional cable companies. If they had a digital system they'd have to convert it the other way I suppose.
Also - they were not able to go widescreen until they moved to Red Bee (despite the presentation and much of the content existing in 16:9). Surely a digital system could have coped?
I also distinctly remember you'd usually get a second or so of the BBC Video symbol at the end of programmes - I assume this is how BBC Worldwide delivered the stuff.
The one with the red, blue and green smoky line behind it? That was just the standard BBC logo of that time - it was on things like flags and computer wallpaper (and would have been the ident if a royal had died). before 1997 some programmes had the old BBC logo tacked on the end
I'm sure BBC Worldwide edited these to the end when they sold them as they appeared on other channels too.... but there's no connection to them being sold as videos in shops
Sure - what I meant to say was the symbol I recognised at the time from BBC Videos.