[harshy]

Looks like Network News and the global division have access to studio E if anything breaks down what happens to the Uk division if their opt out breaks on the balcony?

[interestednovice]

Well, they’ve got Studio A and also (at most times of the day) Studio D or even Studio B. It’s also technically possible, if they really needed to, to broadcast from Millbank or Salford.

Mind you, resilience is probably less important for an opt-out feed anyway - they can always just crash back into the global feed if they have a problem.

For a basic “standing against a screen” opt they could even use the BBC Three Catch Up studio, which I believe is called Studio F?

[Radio_man]

The BBC do have measures of their global audience, but they seldom release them anywhere other than the Annual Report - so it's likely nearly a year until we'll be able to see whether the international audience is holding up. And UK viewers better hope that it is, because any substantive decline in advertising revenue and syndication and distribution fees will just mean further budget cuts for the channel.

And, before somebody inevitably suggests it, no, the channel collapsing internationally would likely not allow for a return to a domestic channel, not without significant extra licence money being invested (which would, of course, likely be required to be a level higher than it was previously to cover for the huge amount of World-produced content on the old News channel).

The Context is very UK focussed tonight, leading with UK inflation figures (and Sunak giving his platitudes of "stick with me, it's all going to be ok" (roll eyes)) and the Scottish junior doctors pay offer.
Isn't The Context supposed to be a US leaning program? It does feel like editorially the global channel is often being sacrificed in favour of UK viewers interests, which is not necessarily a good thing for the global channel's revenues and sponsorship deals.

[qwerty123]

The Context is very UK focussed tonight, leading with UK inflation figures (and Sunak giving his platitudes of "stick with me, it's all going to be ok" (roll eyes)) and the Scottish junior doctors pay offer.
Isn't The Context supposed to be a US leaning program? It does feel like editorially the global channel is often being sacrificed in favour of UK viewers interests, which is not necessarily a good thing for the global channel's revenues and sponsorship deals.

I’ve aways been under the impression that the context, as the successor to beyond 100 days, had a duel focus on the US and UK. The whole premise of the original 100 days programme was the duel impact of Brexit and a trump presidency globally (well realistically in the UK and USA) and therefore the slot has long had a greater focus on UK news than other elements of the old world schedule would have done.

[interestednovice]

I think that’s true, and also why it’s the only programme with a London Skyline backdrop with the studio intended to give the viewer a sort of visual clue. Since early editions of The Context, however, it has been quite US focused at times but that is likely because that was the place with more “going on” at the time. A lot of the contributors are UK-based talking heads so I believe it retains that transatlantic feel with a dual focus on the US and UK.

More recently, since the full merger, my gut feeling is that editorial balance across the channel has crept closer and closer back to how it was in the “interim period” which was basically an overly UK-focused version of World News format (mostly static reports and little pace, lower story coverage than NC) bulletins.

That said, it could be the case that the current format of The Context doesn’t replicate the interest garnered by the original 100 days - both because the programme has become long and unwieldy and because the more dynamic nature of dual presentation is no longer there. Newsday was also much more palatable for viewers outside Asia back when it was dual-anchored from London and Singapore and, much like the good chemistry of Katty & Christian, Babita & Rico plus Kasia & Sharanjit worked well together. The difficulty with the current format of The Context really is that the audience may be impossible to please - it’s evening in the UK, so many viewers may be wondering why they are getting a US-focused show. Meanwhile, viewers watching on PBS or whatever may find it bizarrely British-centric. Neither audience, potentially, comes away happy with the balance. It’s particularly difficult due to the time slot - I feel there’s an acceptance that we may be getting broadcasts from abroad when it’s London’s “downtime” overnight, but viewers could be less happy with overt US coverage during UK primetime.

However, to add to all of this, I do find that during the day today (and I’ve dipped in and out of the channel) things have probably veered too far into UK-centric territory once again. The reaction to and coverage of the Women’s Football World Cup felt celebratory, even jingoistic, on a level which I struggle to imagine even the old UK NC would have outwardly embraced (being fearful of a Scottish/Welsh/NI backlash) and although that was probably nice for most viewers in England - I enjoyed it, lol - I feel it may have been quite alienating to viewers around the world.

Much was made of the story and it was top of the running order for hours - did it really justify that?

I suppose what I’m trying to say, in a rather long-winded way (sorry!), is that today is another example of how it’s so difficult to get the editorial balance right here that a merged channel working 100% well is close to, if not actually, impossible.

[London Lite]

I thought BBC London may well use D for all bulletins after today's hoist maintenance work in B, but they've managed to get the late bulletin out from B.

[Andrew]

The UK break away stream wouldn’t look so bad if they created a better background rather than the basic blurry general newsroom with the host sat in the centre

Regional news programmes used to have more interesting single camera studios decades ago, in fact down the line interviews have a backdrop that is more dynamic

How about a side bar illustrating the story, with the presenter shifted to the right, or a background that looks exactly the same as one of the other studios, or a deeper background such as the one they used on Breakfast when someone was down the line from London. This would make it slightly less obvious that we’ve shifted to a basic service

[Marcell]

First post here, long time lurker...

I quite like the way Studio B looks, except for the cameras. They are too tall. Much prefer the Furios.

Come to think of it, I much prefer Studio E.

In the nation's & regions the design is less successful. As others have said they just feel so empty, with a sofa/desk & tower plonked in different corners.

Regarding the merger, they should have just closed down the news channel. This new combined service risks alienating both audiences. They can't seem to find the right balance. Focusing so much time on a story like Schofield was ridiculous.

Also, the branded programmes look awful. Generic music, PowerPoint style graphics. Flat design can look good if done properly.

How many times can they butcher the 2008 package? Combined with the Reith design and the weird shifting of the globe to the right at the last second.

It's a mess.

[Keith]

Nicky Campbell's phone-in now seems to be cut down to just the first hour permanently for UK viewers. It's only been on the UK News Channel for 9-10am for almost 2 weeks and it's listed as 9-10am next week as well, and this change can't be fully explained by the football as the phone-in has continued until 11am every day on 5 Live as normal. So a small victory there.

Looking at the schedules for next week this remains the case. Given the football will have finished that seems to confirm the change as being permanent.

Personally I think Nicky Campbell should remain the full two hours on BBC Two, whilst BBC News broke away at 10am (or didn't show it at all). As a visualised radio programme on BBC Two it makes for a bit of variety, and it saves having two UK channels showing BBC News during the morning (or three when BBC Parliament is in recess).

[Stockland Hillman]

Interesting report in The Times [paywall] about the BBC News recruitment process, rewritten by Daily Mail

www.dailymail.co.uk 

BBC 'is probing the hiring of five presenters on its news channel' after claims …
Presenters who got the top jobs, which come with salaries up to £230,000 a year,…
  Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

I assume we're all grown up enough to be able to digest sources from multiple outlets that may not share the same views.

For those with The Times:

www.thetimes.co.uk 

BBC looks into claim hiring system for new channel was corrupt
The BBC is investigating the appointment of its five news channel presenters fol…
  Source: www.thetimes.co.uk

The allegation is there is an investigation- by a named person - into recruitment practise that selected the 5 faces of the news channel. The complaint is these were selected before the interview process and thus the process was potentially unlawful. The Times uses the word 'corrupt'