BBC News Pres: Apr 2023 - Present (News Channel/BBC One)

In her replies over past couple of weeks on X, Martine is certainly being definitive she’s back soon, for example:

x.com 
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(07-01-2024, 10:51 PM)steve Wrote:  In her replies over past couple of weeks on X, Martine is certainly being definitive she’s back soon, for example:

x.com 

It’s the similar vague response she’s been issuing to her followers on X for the last 9 months every time someone has asked. It is frustrating, but as discussed earlier, it is an internal issue and she wouldn’t be able to give any more specific detail which would be confidential.
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(07-01-2024, 09:32 PM)qwerty123 Wrote:  Is there even 10 freelancers who are regularly appearing on the channel (as opposed to people covering news channel shifts on top or instead of other contracted roles within BBC News)?
Lauren Taylor and Tadgh Enright are almost certainly freelance and Lewis Vaughan Jones, Samantha Simmonds and Lukwesa Burak may well be but almost all of the other faces appear to be either be BBC staff who are presenting news channel shifts on top of other lower profile duties and who presumably wouldn’t be best pleased at effectively being demoted or appear so infrequently to be essentially irrelevant (as there will almost certainly always need to be a small amount of freelance cover due to unexpected absences and on location assignments).
The freelance and ‘step up’ employed presenters will almost certainly be aware of the situation - that their usage is intended to be temporary as a stop-gap until all the roles are filled.
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I think we can be pretty certain now that Nicky Campbell's 5 Live phone-in has been permanently dropped from the UK News Channel and BBC 2.
For a simulcast that was launched with such fanfare by management as "premium UK simulcast content", it's certainly been very quietly dropped.
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(07-01-2024, 09:12 PM)qwerty123 Wrote:  Honestly there might be space for some of them but there certainly is not space for 5 full time presenters, especially if they want to keep any of those who have stepped up over the past year to even remotely on side.
......


If each of the 5 women were to present an average of 3.5 shifts per week that would be 17.5 of the 23 shifts being covered by them leaving only 5.5 shifts per week for (at least) 3 currently appointed reporter presenters and everybody else within the corporation who would see being returned to their substantive duties as an effective demotion and who would therefore be much more likely to seek employment elsewhere and many of whom are the potential next generation of lead presenters.

The likely double election year plus Olympics in a near local timezone makes it very unlikely the current news channel arrangements can continue throughout 2024

BBC Studios will likely want to superserve the US audience, where there is significant money to.be made in an election year (US has political advertising, which effectively sustains broadcast media. They won't want UK elections and Olympics (where they aren't a rights holder) to damage the commercial potential.

In the UK, they will be looking towards the next government, most likely a Labour one, and would have had corporate lobbying meetings with the Party to understand and influence Labour policy towards the BBC. Politicians most notice media when they do/do not cover their events, which are usually morning launches for the days media grid. It's unlikely that UK Only rolling news isn't restored 9am-1pm - if only becouse from budget onwards we'll have competing party media events/announcements that will require balanced coverage (the "pop up" rolling event coverage model is useless in this case, as everything political requires more complex balance treatments)

So, a much more potential demand for on screen talent, a tense political environment that requires skilled presenters less likely to damage the BBC than inexperienced ones. They have 5 ready made people to drop in, so its an easy win. All they need after at BBC news is to improve the programme producer lineups to match.
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(08-01-2024, 01:23 PM)Stockland Hillman Wrote:  The likely double election year plus Olympics in a near local timezone makes it very unlikely the current news channel arrangements can continue throughout 2024

BBC Studios will likely want to superserve the US audience, where there is significant money to.be made in an election year (US has political advertising, which effectively sustains broadcast media. They won't want UK elections and Olympics (where they aren't a rights holder) to damage the commercial potential.

In the UK, they will be looking towards the next government, most likely a Labour one, and would have had corporate lobbying meetings with the Party to understand and influence Labour policy towards the BBC. Politicians most notice media when they do/do not cover their events, which are usually morning launches for the days media grid. It's unlikely that UK Only rolling news isn't restored 9am-1pm - if only becouse from budget onwards we'll have competing party media events/announcements that will require balanced coverage (the "pop up" rolling event coverage model is useless in this case, as everything political requires more complex balance treatments)

So, a much more potential demand for on screen talent, a tense political environment that requires skilled presenters less likely to damage the BBC than inexperienced ones. They have 5 ready made people to drop in, so its an easy win. All they need after at BBC news is to improve the programme producer lineups to match.

The BBC knew all of this when the decision to merge operations was made and the 5 presenters don't each come with the team of people required to produce a separate feed when they're on air, though I do suspect there may he dome off-air staff in similar HR limbo to these, but more likely they've been paid off or reallocated roles.

As much as you're right the news cycle this year means the news channel operation needs to cater to two different audiences I just can't see much changing. At best we may get a UK election focused programme in the mornings (which may or may not be simulcast) but in all honesty I suspect they'll just put the Nicky Campbell phone in back on air to tick that box.
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Nice view of the corner of the studio there.
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I have never understood the UK morning set up on the new News Channel. Before the merger morning used to have very few viewers after European breakfast which is why there would often only been news summaries at the top of some of the hours and the shared 10am hour produced by the news channel team. This implies that it was not cost effective to produce a world bulletin during this time.
Since merger however we have had the phone in which was a bad idea and then world bulletins with UK opts for breaking news.

Would it not make more sense for the morning to have a slightly larger UK focus for announcements and speeches, between 9 and 12 and then switch to the global focus at midday. After all the US are sleeping at this time and it's is late afternoon in the Far East so people will still be working.
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(08-01-2024, 02:19 PM)Brekkie Wrote:  Nice view of the corner of the studio there.

I wonder what the blue lighting was for.
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(08-01-2024, 01:56 PM)Brekkie Wrote:  The BBC knew all of this when the decision to merge operations was made and the 5 presenters don't each come with the team of people required to produce a separate feed when they're on air, though I do suspect there may he dome off-air staff in similar HR limbo to these, but more likely they've been paid off or reallocated roles.

As much as you're right the news cycle this year means the news channel operation needs to cater to two different audiences I just can't see much changing. At best we may get a UK election focused programme in the mornings (which may or may not be simulcast) but in all honesty I suspect they'll just put the Nicky Campbell phone in back on air to tick that box.

Interesting viewpoint, but I think it credits the BBC with greater strategy and planning than the evidence would support.

A competent organisation wouldn't have got itself into a position where a short time after it was caught mistreating woman, particularly over 50, poorly and had to make significant financial settlements, it self made a situation where it risked mistreating woman, primarily over 50 again.

Budget wise, it's already paying 5 presenters a full-time salary consistent with experience and long service, PLUS freelance and acting up costs. Divert those additional costs to producer roles, political producers/reporters will already be at the likely events needing airtime. The additional studio director, production journalists and support for a mon-fri 9-1 shift would come in under 750k (marginal in a £5.7billion pound revenue organisation) a UK feed world still access world content and domestic reporting as now.

One thing woth noting, Sky News runs the majority of its output on the same production staffing as BBC News domestic opts, and look at the difference in production quality.
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