[interestednovice]

I’d be cautious in declaring that the BBC have worked everything out and will definitely be able to deal with breaking stories well, on the strength of this one occasion. For a start, they already had some warning that a press conference was imminent (so they could get Christian, who was already in the building obviously, to get set up and standing by for it in E; they then broke in only once it started).

My concern continues be how they will deal with breaking news that happens very suddenly and unexpectedly, but is only really relevant to the UK audience.

Will it get a quick mention immediately on the World feed, so they can cover it quickly, and then the UK break away for continuing coverage? Will they be able to get a proper studio (even if only A) up and running for analysis and presentation at short notice?
Will there be the flexibility to contextualise the story after, for example, a press conference or announcement or will the pressure be on to “switch back” to the World feed to avoid too much extended output that is not on the global feed?

Also, presentationally, I hope they can keep things relatively smooth. A feed that just “cuts” in and out of output isn’t going to look professional if they don’t use stings or properly introduce things.

It’s already a bugbear of mine that simulcasting with BBC Two’s awkward opt-out times has made things awkward over the years, with Politics Live frequently starting at quarter-past the hour and the News Channel historically being very flexible with headlines at that time. I also don’t really think it’s acceptable for viewers to opt in and out of bulletins with a strange *tight shot camera, look down, shuffle papers; pause, “Your Watching, *pause*, BBC News”* followed by a cut to either weather or trailers.

They should do proper closes as they do currently at the end of the 10am NC-produced simulcast hour, they are so much better.