[Radio_man]

Anyone know what the latest is on Dateline London? I'm sure it's supposed to end this month, so is next Friday the last ever edition? Or have the plans to axe it been scrapped?

[DTV]

Anyone know what the latest is on Dateline London? I'm sure it's supposed to end this month, so is next Friday the last ever edition? Or have the plans to axe it been scrapped?

It's scheduled until at least the 7th October, though that's as far as schedules go. Its final episode was variously described as September or the Autumn, but, given it's produced by an external producer, I would expect they were contracted to make a certain number of episodes - so, even if it was originally slated to end this month, it might have a two-week reprieve due to the disruption.

[Radio_man]

Is it usual for World and the NC to simulcast on Saturday mornings? "Off peak" simulcasts at weekends are getting more and more frequent now. It seems whenever there are presumably staff issues, it's now a case of just go into simulcasting. I don't think that would've happened pre-2020. Weekdays 9 - 10am and 11am - 6pm seem to be the only hours left that are 'protected' from simulcasting (unless there's a major news story, such as Ukraine or the Royals)

I caught some of the 9pm hour last night, UK viewers tuning in would've wondered why on earth the Chancellor was being referred to as the "UK Finance minister"
A taste of things to come 

[DTV]

Is it usual for World and the NC to simulcast on Saturday mornings? "Off peak" simulcasts at weekends are getting more and more frequent now. It seems whenever there are presumably staff issues, it's now a case of just go into simulcasting. I don't think that would've happened pre-2020. Weekdays 9 - 10am and 11am - 6pm seem to be the only hours left that are 'protected' from simulcasting (unless there's a major news story, such as Ukraine or the Royals)

I caught some of the 9pm hour last night, UK viewers tuning in would've wondered why on earth the Chancellor was being referred to as the "UK Finance minister"

It could also be studio work which has usually tended to be done at weekends - in the early 2000s, joint weekends were a common phenomenon that only really disappeared once N9 became free. Given the regularity of simulcasts these days, I suspect it makes more sense to simulcast during such work rather than fire up another studio.

I also fail to see why referring to the Chancellor of the Exchequer as the British finance minister is such a big deal, he is the British finance minister. Both the UK and World audiences will understand who it means, which the world audience wouldn't if he was referred to as the Chancellor. If you're broadcasting to a global audience, you go for the terminology understood by the greatest audience. It's like Irish people getting annoyed at the Taoiseach being referred to as the Irish Prime Minister. Broadcasters using language that viewers won't understand is self-defeating and ultimately alienating.

[ALV]

Is it usual for World and the NC to simulcast on Saturday mornings? "Off peak" simulcasts at weekends are getting more and more frequent now. It seems whenever there are presumably staff issues, it's now a case of just go into simulcasting. I don't think that would've happened pre-2020. Weekdays 9 - 10am and 11am - 6pm seem to be the only hours left that are 'protected' from simulcasting (unless there's a major news story, such as Ukraine or the Royals)

I caught some of the 9pm hour last night, UK viewers tuning in would've wondered why on earth the Chancellor was being referred to as the "UK Finance minister"
A taste of things to come 

The NC and WN have been simulcasting the weekend 9AM - 1PM slot ever since the schedule changes for Covid staffing problems back in March 2020 (I'm not sure if the BBC One lunchtime national bulletin will also be simulcasted on WN if it's scheduled at 12PM nowadays?). This allow them to cut WN's weekend morning shift and save money. 

With the BBC planning to further cut costs and merge NC and WN next year, I highly doubt they will revert the decision and add back the shift so to allow NC and WN separate outputs on weekend mornings~

IMO I think the WN's morning shift pre-Covid is a big waste of money. If you take a look at the weekend morning schedule pre-Covid you'll notice it's filled with only 5/10 minute live bulletins every hour (even though the schedule says 10 minutes but some bulletins are 5 minutes with no titles). That means you're having a team of presenter, director, and producer not producing any live output for 50 minutes every hour every weekend morning~ I think it makes sense to just cut it and simulcast with NC.

[Moz]

I caught some of the 9pm hour last night, UK viewers tuning in would've wondered why on earth the Chancellor was being referred to as the "UK Finance minister"

I also fail to see why referring to the Chancellor of the Exchequer as the British finance minister is such a big deal, he is the British finance minister. Both the UK and World audiences will understand who it means, which the world audience wouldn't if he was referred to as the Chancellor. If you're broadcasting to a global audience, you go for the terminology understood by the greatest audience. It's like Irish people getting annoyed at the Taoiseach being referred to as the Irish Prime Minister. Broadcasters using language that viewers won't understand is self-defeating and ultimately alienating.

I find it incredibly annoying - as would most viewers. It’s a British channel, it should use British terms, not American terms.

You’ll be arguing next they should use “sidewalk”, “flashlight” and “diaper” in case the poor global viewer don’t know what “pavement”, “torch” and “nappy” mean!

They may as well just roll over and die. You

[DTV]

I find it incredibly annoying - as would most viewers. It’s a British channel, it should use British terms, not American terms.

You’ll be arguing next they should use “sidewalk”, “flashlight” and “diaper” in case the poor global viewer don’t know what “pavement”, “torch” and “nappy” mean!

They may as well just roll over and die. You

'x minister' isn't an American term, with no US cabinet positions referred to as minister (the US equivalent of finance minister is the Treasury Secretary). It is however the generic English language term for a government minister position as it is easily understandable regardless of which country you live in (many of which have their own naming standards for such positions).

While the BBC is a British broadcaster, it is also one that broadcasts internationally and so when doing so needs to serve both audiences - this should include choosing terminology that is understable for both audiences. There are times when the 'generic' term would be unhelpful for UK audiences - they should use 'home affairs minister' rather than the more standard 'interior minister' for the Home Secretary - but referring to the Chancellor of the Exchequer as finance minister isn't one of them, regardless of whether your personal feelings. Chancellor is a particularly opaque term for viewers not familiar with British politics and, dare I say, finance minister is more intuitive for low political attention UK viewers as well.

[Clean Feed]

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[Former Member 406]

Chancellor is a particularly opaque term for viewers not familiar with British politics and, dare I say, finance minister is more intuitive for low political attention UK viewers as well.

I concur.

At least some UK political job titles are in same sort of opacity bracket a "Legalese" (jargon used by e.g. courts, barristers, solicitors etc), and the UK Finance Minister's official job title is surely the worst offender in this regard.

"Chancellor of the Exchequer" is so opaque. To 99% of folk (myself included) what the blithering flip even is an "Exchequer", regardless of what it means to be the "Chancellor" of one!

I'm all for namestaps using accessible language for the benefit of the layperson viewer.

[Steve in Pudsey]

When you consider that Germany's Chancellor is equivalent to our Prime Minister it all gets very muddy