[DTV]

Yalda giving a cracking interview on BBC News right now around the Turkish elections.

**This** is what she should be doing, not discussing the ups and downs of British daytime TV.

To some extent - yes, these are the stories they should be covering, but I can't say I'm all that enthused about the fact the entire evening block is now almost entirely built around external contributor interviews or pundit 'analysis'. Sure, there is a place for a few of these interviews and Hakim is good at them (particularly when they fall into her areas of interest), but some actual news reporting would be nice at some point. Plus, considering the cost contributor fees rack up, I'd personally prefer some of that to be invested in BBC journalists.

[Brekkie]

Yalda giving a cracking interview on BBC News right now around the Turkish elections.

**This** is what she should be doing, not discussing the ups and downs of British daytime TV.

Their should becroom for both on a 24 hour news channel.


See now BBC News splits programmes into half hour slots on the EPG in the way Sky do.   An hour I can understand, but this seems unnecessary though I guess reflecting the World schedule where the second half hour may differ.

[Studio7]

To some extent - yes, these are the stories they should be covering, but I can't say I'm all that enthused about the fact the entire evening block is now almost entirely built around external contributor interviews or pundit 'analysis'. Sure, there is a place for a few of these interviews and Hakim is good at them (particularly when they fall into her areas of interest), but some actual news reporting would be nice at some point. Plus, considering the cost contributor fees rack up, I'd personally prefer some of that to be invested in BBC journalists.

I sense that the traditional package (or a news report, in layman's terms) is considered passé in some quarters. Analysis and interviews are 'in', PKGs are out. Couldn't agree with you more, though. Seems a bit like the powers that be are trying to reinvent the wheel.

EDIT: Weirdly, in some respects it's like the BBC are trying to copy GB News (but without the inflammatory opinions!). That channel's programming is almost entirely based around discussion, with very few filmed reports (and at the start there were none, just lots of pointless, unstructured live hits). It's like the mindset of the people running the new News Channel is 'everything's gotta be live!' without realising that you need filmed reports to put the lives into context.

[LargelyALurker]

There's been a bit of discussion on here over the domestic vs international news editorial priorities of the new channel, so, with eight weeks of the new channel now nearly complete, I thought I'd try and put a number on it to give the discussions some actual evidence. Using the archive.org recordings, I've noted the top three headlines every day at 17:00 - i.e., what used to be regarded as the premium hour for UK viewers - and classed them as either UK, US or World news depending on the location and/or framing of the story. For days when they were in rolling coverage mode at 17:00, I used 16:00 instead.

Of the top three stories across these first 56 days, 66 (39%) were UK stories, 29 (17%) were US stories and 73 (43%) were from the rest of the world. When looking at just the lead story, the proportions are roughly the same - 22 (39%) UK, 8 (14%) US and 26 (46%) RoW. Considering the dominance that the few main stories get in terms of coverage on the new channel, these proportions are likely a rough analogue for the total time devoted to such stories - in which case we're probably actually a bit closer to the old NC, which was typically around two-thirds UK news, than WN, which was usually only around 10-15% UK news*. There's also not much evidence of the supposed US dominance of the new channel.

What I found most interesting, though, was that there's been a seeming shift in the last few weeks, particularly in terms of lead stories. In the first four weeks (April), UK news led 7 times (25%) - nearly all of which were reasonably justifiable editorially. But in the last four weeks (May), UK stories have led 15 times (54%). Obviously, some of this is the Coronation, but there does seem to be a greater lean towards certain UK-big, World-nothing stories recently. In the last week, Madeleine McCann led over F16s being given to Ukraine; the Cardiff car crash over De Santis' presidential bid; and UK travel delays over the Turkish election. Does certainly feel like a push to give UK news greater undue prominence.

Obviously this is just a snapshot from (largely) one hour of the day, but it is one of the UK channel's strongest hours, so when more people's perceptions of the channel will be formed.

Fascinating analysis - thanks. 

It would be interesting to compare this to World Service radio - despite cuts over the years, still the BBC at its best and unashamedly internationally focused.

[PJamo]

Which studio is this?

Is it 34D - home of BBC Arabic and where Newsnight decamped to prior to the 2019 election?

[Studio7]

Is it 34D - home of BBC Arabic and where Newsnight decamped to prior to the 2019 election?

If that is the studio Focus on Africa comes from, then yes (I don't know many of the studio names).

[InternationalDesk]

Is it 34D - home of BBC Arabic and where Newsnight decamped to prior to the 2019 election?

I don't think so. This would be Studio 34D:
www.youtube.com 

The video wall is different from what we saw there. I'd say it's the Nairobi studio that BBC World Service team did Money Daily, a show focusing on business in Africa ended in late February.

HARDtalk was once there, and NewscastStudio did cover that: www.newscaststudio.com 

BBC's 'Hardtalk' visits Nairobi bureau - NewscastStudio
"Hardtalk," the in-depth interview program of BBC World News, originat…
  Source: www.newscaststudio.com

[DTV]

I sense that the traditional package (or a news report, in layman's terms) is considered passé in some quarters. Analysis and interviews are 'in', PKGs are out. Couldn't agree with you more, though. Seems a bit like the powers that be are trying to reinvent the wheel.

EDIT: Weirdly, in some respects it's like the BBC are trying to copy GB News (but without the inflammatory opinions!).

I think you're right about an apparent shunning of proper news reports among some quarters, I get the impression some senior editors consider it a bit old-fashioned - but I just find that a bit odd considering it is pretty much the USP of television news - if you just want to organise discussions, move to radio/podcasts.

While GB News and Talk TV are certainly notable examples of ''discussion' over news', I'm not sure it's necessarily the BBC copying them so much as a general panelification of TV news since the middle of the last decade - a view that what people think has happened is as/more important than explaining what has happened. I mean, Politics Live - probably the BBC's unedifying pinnacle of this - actually predates the opinion channels.

It would be interesting to compare this to World Service radio - despite cuts over the years, still the BBC at its best and unashamedly internationally focused.

Comparing the World Service to World News is always a bit hard as, although there is a lot of News on WS, it's more of an international Radio 4 than a news channel. But I'd expect any analysis to find that it's very internationally-focussed during its news programming and with a news agenda that is more newsworthiness/PSB-based than World News used to be. Indeed, if anything, WS has probably got less UK news on now than it did two decades or so ago - back then it used to have a few 'news in the UK' programmes, which have largely gone as standalone programmes.

[ViridianFan]

I sense that the traditional package (or a news report, in layman's terms) is considered passé in some quarters. Analysis and interviews are 'in', PKGs are out. Couldn't agree with you more, though. Seems a bit like the powers that be are trying to reinvent the wheel.

EDIT: Weirdly, in some respects it's like the BBC are trying to copy GB News (but without the inflammatory opinions!). That channel's programming is almost entirely based around discussion, with very few filmed reports (and at the start there were none, just lots of pointless, unstructured live hits). It's like the mindset of the people running the new News Channel is 'everything's gotta be live!' without realising that you need filmed reports to put the lives into context.

I’ll be honest it’s one of the biggest reasons I’m not watching as much of the news channel as I once did. Personally, whilst it might be classed as old fashioned I much preferred the packages as you always got a decent overview of the story whereas I’m often left at the end of the interview no better informed than I was at the beginning. 

I think these interviews are some times dragged out for far too long and is a major reason that the pace seems so slow. News24 days always felt punchy as it was package, brief but often questioned interview which did add to the story. 

I think on the worse condensers for this is the context. I have to switch it off now as I cannot stand the talking heads.

I honestly believe if the bbc focused more on “facts” of a story (the main details/timeline of events etc) and less on the talking heads giving their take (which 9/10 is just their opinion and is rarely extra detail) it could help stop some of the complaints of BBC bias. I want to watch the news for news not what x y and z think about the news. Of course there would be exceptions but I’m talking generally.

[Studio7]

I think you're right about an apparent shunning of proper news reports among some quarters, I get the impression some senior editors consider it a bit old-fashioned - but I just find that a bit odd considering it is pretty much the USP of television news - if you just want to organise discussions, move to radio/podcasts.

While GB News and Talk TV are certainly notable examples of ''discussion' over news', I'm not sure it's necessarily the BBC copying them so much as a general panelification of TV news since the middle of the last decade - a view that what people think has happened is as/more important than explaining what has happened. I mean, Politics Live - probably the BBC's unedifying pinnacle of this - actually predates the opinion channels.

I wonder if this is all because said senior editors have seen the incredible success of podcasts, thought 'we want some of that' and so have tried to turn whole programmes/channels into sort-of extended podcasts? Notwithstanding that everyone and their dog has a podcast now, so wouldn't these news channels be better off being an alternative to all of that?

You're probably right about it not being so much the BBC copying GB News, as it is a more general trend. Though I note with great interest that John McAndrew, who is now Director of News at the BBC, was the launch editorial director of GB News (although he left just a few months in). Perhaps his influence is being felt?