[Josh]

Weekend BBC 1 bulletins have not been shown on the News Channel since before Christmas. World & the NC are now in joint simulcast every weekend from 7pm Friday until 6am Monday, except for the Friday Ten, Saturday & Sunday 6 - 10am.

wasvtgevfibsl

Cat got your tongue?

[thePineapple]

I thought how the BBC handled the sacking of Nadim Zahawi this morning was a shame.

For a start, the NC took Laura Kuenssberg's show, which meant that they couldn't break the news and get reaction in the same way they normally would - obviously they touched on it but it was hardly rolling news. That show then overran so they could round up as they always do, which meant that slightly irritating cut, and then the next hour was simulcast with WN. This sort of story only happens once every few months, and should be a news channel's bread and butter, but instead the world got a Westminster bubble top story, and the UK didn't get rolling coverage.

I'm not blaming anyone, because that's the weakened position the Beeb are in at the moment, but it's an example of why this merger, whilst not 'the death of the BBC', will (is) definitely impact(ing) coverage for the worse.

[Radio_man]

I thought how the BBC handled the sacking of Nadim Zahawi this morning was a shame.

For a start, the NC took Laura Kuenssberg's show, which meant that they couldn't break the news and get reaction in the same way they normally would - obviously they touched on it but it was hardly rolling news. That show then overran so they could round up as they always do, which meant that slightly irritating cut, and then the next hour was simulcast with WN. This sort of story only happens once every few months, and should be a news channel's bread and butter, but instead the world got a Westminster bubble top story, and the UK didn't get rolling coverage.

I'm not blaming anyone, because that's the weakened position the Beeb are in at the moment, but it's an example of why this merger, whilst not 'the death of the BBC', will (is) definitely impact(ing) coverage for the worse.

What was there to roll with though? It was hardly a developing story - Zahawi was sacked, that was that. The story has been developing all week and this is the climax of it.
If the NC hadn't been simulcasting Laura K between 9 - 10am, they would've been simulcasting with World instead. Zahawi was sacked, it's the headline story, run a report, get analysis from a political correspondent, and move on to other news. Not much wrong with that in my opinion.

[DTV]

For a start, the NC took Laura Kuenssberg's show, which meant that they couldn't break the news and get reaction in the same way they normally would - obviously they touched on it but it was hardly rolling news. That show then overran so they could round up as they always do, which meant that slightly irritating cut, and then the next hour was simulcast with WN. This sort of story only happens once every few months, and should be a news channel's bread and butter, but instead the world got a Westminster bubble top story, and the UK didn't get rolling coverage.

This is exactly the kind of half-arsing smudge that I have been so worried about. The resignation of a minor UK cabinet minister should absolutely not be leading bulletins on World, while it was clearly the dominant story in the UK this morning. Total conflict of running order priorities and they pick the middle of the road solution that doesn't work for either audience - too dominant for international viewers, too little coverage for domestic viewers.

I really do hope this is not the sign of things to come, but it very clearly is and it's so utterly destructive - weakening the service for both audiences is obviously the worst route possible and weakening it for international audiences is only going to imperil the channel's profitability (which would inevitably mean more cuts).

I've always been accepting of the fact that cuts and changes do have to be made, but I find it hard to accept a lot of the decision making that has been subsequently made. They've been unnecessarily 'radical' in certain respects - ignoring several viable and cost-effective ways of maintaing some degree of separate services during core hours - but have been utterly unsophisticated in terms of editorial decisions in shared bulletins.

[ginnyfan]

So when the merger happens there will be a dedicated domestic team that will break into whatever is on the UK version of the new channel and cover the breaking UK story. It's very simple really.

[all new phil]

I thought how the BBC handled the sacking of Nadim Zahawi this morning was a shame.

For a start, the NC took Laura Kuenssberg's show, which meant that they couldn't break the news and get reaction in the same way they normally would - obviously they touched on it but it was hardly rolling news. That show then overran so they could round up as they always do, which meant that slightly irritating cut, and then the next hour was simulcast with WN. This sort of story only happens once every few months, and should be a news channel's bread and butter, but instead the world got a Westminster bubble top story, and the UK didn't get rolling coverage.

I'm not blaming anyone, because that's the weakened position the Beeb are in at the moment, but it's an example of why this merger, whilst not 'the death of the BBC', will (is) definitely impact(ing) coverage for the worse.

What on earth are you on about? They literally had a political show on air discussing it. They interviewed a government minister. What more do you want?

[DTV]

So when the merger happens there will be a dedicated domestic team that will break into whatever is on the UK version of the new channel and cover the breaking UK story. It's very simple really.

I'll believe it when I see it. The fact that such a facility has not existed in recent weekends makes it very clear that the 'UK breaking team' will not be full time and will be likely limited to weekday core hours. From a statistical perspective that does make some sense as that is when most UK news breaks, but the fact that they will supposedly have a team capable of going on air but not on air most of the time suggests that a) it will be limited to planned/semi-planned events or b) will be a very rudimentary team with a rudimentary set-up.

My view has always been that it would make more sense not to have this limited 'breaking team' and to instead to redirect this money to providing a more permanent UK-opt in daytime hours using existing facilities (e.g. Westminster and network teams). That way you have a more solid UK service (and less UK-infested World output during several key prime times) while still meeting necessary cut targets.

[bbctvtechop]

So when the merger happens there will be a dedicated domestic team that will break into whatever is on the UK version of the new channel and cover the breaking UK story. It's very simple really.

Are you expecting a full editorial and technical team, along with a fully maintained and prepped studio, to be available 24/7?

[ginnyfan]

Maybe they will have a small camera set up in the newsroom and one person on duty, always ready to tune in when the news breaks. They already have the balcony set used for Outside Source that could be used.

[DTV]

Maybe they will have a small camera set up in the newsroom and one person on duty, always ready to tune in when the news breaks. They already have the balcony set used for Outside Source that could be used.

You need more than one person to operate breaking news coverage - unless it is just to consist of a presenter sat reading out agency copy. Plus, as I've said previously, either this team will be on air regularly - in which case you might as well make it a full-time opt - or it will be on air sparingly - in which case you are paying people to be sitting around in a permanent state of readiness. And we have to assume that there'll be at least two shifts of the team - if a big UK-specific story breaks in the mid-morning (or during election campaigns), it's unlikely you're going to have one presenter and production team continuing all day. It would be a better use of resources to merge this proposed team with the existing domestic teams and provide a daytime opt-out from the international channel.