[Brekkie]

Well presumably only content verified to be true should be broadcast under the Verified Live brand, which makes carrying a live Trump speech, or any politician for that matter, under the brand difficult.

[Keith]

It's interesting currently watching the Election Newscast on the News Channel. The current two-way only has one of them in vision.

I wonder if there's a case for BBC News visualising a few more of their podcasts, for showing at weekends and some evenings. It certainly feels more informative than the two hour long Context.

[harshy]

Due to Trump making a statement, 4pm UKT TOTH is simulcast on both UK and World feeds, with Matthew Amroliwala from Studio E and generic BBC News branding (instead of Verified Live on the World feed).

I think World should just banish those branded shows in the afternoon, its not distinctive enough to be different and in Studio C its even worse.

[MFTJA]

I think it's been said before that the branded programmes might exist for the benefit of advertisers. Regardless, their existence isn't detrimental to the schedule and it would be rather pointless to ditch them. I agree though, that they don't offer anything different than a generic bulletin and they could desperately do with being 'beefed up' both in terms of presentation and editorially.

I do think the channel was at its worst last April when nearly every hour was plain BBC News. It's come along quite a bit since moving back into Studio E at the start of this month.

Something as simple as unique theme music and different camera angles as well as a focus on specific regions would go a long way in improving them I think.

[Radio_man]

I think it's been said before that the branded programmes might exist for the benefit of advertisers. Regardless, their existence isn't detrimental to the schedule and it would be rather pointless to ditch them. I agree though, that they don't offer anything different than a generic bulletin and they could desperately do with being 'beefed up' both in terms of presentation and editorially.

I do think the channel was at its worst last April when nearly every hour was plain BBC News. It's come along quite a bit since moving back into Studio E at the start of this month.

Something as simple as unique theme music and different camera angles as well as a focus on specific regions would go a long way in improving them I think.

Isn't your last paragraph pretty much what was in place with the World News branded programmes pre-merger?
But the decision was taken to axe all of the UK daytime WN branded programmes and start from scratch. It's questionable whether the replacements are any better.

[DTV]

Isn't your last paragraph pretty much what was in place with the World News branded programmes pre-merger?
But the decision was taken to axe all of the UK daytime WN branded programmes and start from scratch. It's questionable whether the replacements are any better.

Maybe a good few years ago, but most of the branded programmes had largely lost a strong regional/specific focus by even the time they were put on Covid hiatus. Largely a consequence of both the cuts and dropping the afternoon World News shift, which meant they became the sole news programmes for most of the 'daytime' and had to become more generalist.

[Brekkie]

I do think there is some value in having some key points in the schedule carry programme specific branding but when every block is branded just for the sake of being branded it devalues the parts of the schedule which warrant the specific branding in the first place.

Personally I think any branded strand should be different to what people would consider a "normal" hour on the news channel - so The Context has a format point which differentiates it from just rolling news. On the other hand Verified Live really doesn't.

[interestednovice]

But…but… it’s “three hours of developing stories and checking out the truth behind them”!

/sarcasm

[LargelyALurker]

I do think there is some value in having some key points in the schedule carry programme specific branding but when every block is branded just for the sake of being branded it devalues the parts of the schedule which warrant the specific branding in the first place.

Personally I think any branded strand should be different to what people would consider a "normal" hour on the news channel - so The Context has a format point which differentiates it from just rolling news. On the other hand Verified Live really doesn't.

Absolutely - Outside Source, (The) Context, (Beyond) 100 Days, World News America all make sense. Appointment to view to a greater or lesser extent. BBC News Now and Verified Live just seem silly.

I wonder how true the arguments about advertisers are? Would an international bank care if they’re in the ad break for BBC News Now?

[j.smith]

Has Barbara Plett Usher moved permanently to Africa? I may have missed this but she was previously State Department Correspondent in Washington, D.C. but her Twitter account now says she is Africa Correspondent and is based in Nairobi - she is currently in South Africa reporting on the election.

If so, do we know if anyone has replaced her at the State Department?