[South]

It has apparently been confirmed that Reporting Scotland will debut its new LED set on Monday 12th June.

What are the chances of a possible double-whammy, with SET also launching its new set that same day?!

I'll not hold my breath.

There was a post in the BBC South thread that there were some unexpected complications with the Tunbridge Wells install which may delay the project. Considering South's temporary set is already standing and ready to go and has been for at least a couple of weeks it appears the delay is affecting the national roll out.

[Former Member 406]

Indeed.

I am aware of that post in t'other thread about the flood at TW.

We of course know nothing about what the original envisioned timescale for SET's decamp was, nor how much of a delay the flood has caused.

If, for example, it was originally due to be a 6-week decamp (which would have meant the new set would've debuted yesterday), and if the delay caused by the flood is minimal, then the new set debuting next Monday would be a possibility.

I am doubtful that it will be that soon, though.

[IanJRedman]

With SET still decamped to the temporary set, this is by far the slowest build for one of the new sets so far, isn't it? With no sign of any other regions decamping, the whole thing feels like it's come to a standstill...

[Former Member 406]

With SET still decamped to the temporary set, this is by far the slowest build for one of the new sets so far, isn't it? With no sign of any other regions decamping, the whole thing feels like it's come to a standstill...

The current situation seems utterly unfathomable.

We know that the Tunbridge Wells studio needed some structural work done after the old set was removed, including something to do with relaying the floor (or something like that), so was always gonna have a longer period of being empty before the new LED set even started to get built.

And then, a flood during those structural works further delayed things. I can't recall how many weeks ago there was a Tweet indicating that the LED set build in TW had finally commenced, but even that feels like it was about 15,000 weeks ago.

Things like the 9/10(ish)-week overlap of Nottingham and Birmingham's respective de-camps confirmed (A) the existence of 2x the prescribed temporary sets being sent around the English Regions and (B) that there must be 2x LED set installation teams touring the English Regions.

If Tunbridge Wells have (presumably) currently got the LED set installation team that previously did Hull, then logically one other English Regions should also by now have the LED set installation team that were previously in Leeds.

The lack of any English Region other than Tunbridge Wells also being de-camped for these umpteen weeks is bemusing.

At least one short-lived de-camp of South Today in recent weeks/months has revealed that the other duplicate of the touring prescribed temporary set is currently in Southampton Studio B (one of very few English Regions that actually has a 2nd proper studio, rather than needing to de-camp to e.g. a meeting room etc). But ST then returned to their long-standing old set in Studio A.

Quite why either ST hasn't commenced its proper de-camp yet, or the temp set currently sitting idle in So'ton B hasn't been redeployed to Bristol/Newcastle/Norwich/Plymouth/Salford if there are reasons why ST can't/won't properly de-camp for a while, is a mystery.

The whole roll-out does indeed seem to have rather hit the buffers.

Unless any/all of the remaining regions can manage super-quick LED set installs when they eventually get their turn, then the prospects of the roll-out being completed in Q1-Q2 2024 now seem remote.

[UTVLifer]

Things like the 9/10(ish)-week overlap of Nottingham and Birmingham's respective de-camps confirmed (A) the existence of 2x the prescribed temporary sets being sent around the English Regions and (B) that there must be 2x LED set installation teams touring the English Regions.

The lack of any English Region other than Tunbridge Wells also being de-camped for these umpteen weeks is bemusing.

The Channel Islands is the other region that has also been in a temporary set for an extended period, and it is probably much more challenging for the LED teams to update the studio in St Heller due to its tint size and remoteness from the UK mainland

[IanJRedman]

Could the Channel Islands be a part of the puzzle - they're decamped too, aren't they? But I imagine probably not, as they might be a separate, special case?

EDIT - sorry, we posted at around the same time!

[Former Member 406]

It is understood that St Helier is having structural changes to create a significantly larger studio than the poxy space they had before.

Presumably it will be at least as big as the studio at The Mailbox in Birmingham, as its dimensions are understood to be the template for the standard LED set size in almost all English Regions (all except London and Hull).

As the structural changes are likely to take months and months (hence why C.I. have already been decamped for ages), the part of the process where the LED set installion team need to be in C.I. will presumably not be until at least the start of 2024.

Hence my expectation that an English regional site other that Tunbridge Wells really ought to also be decamped by now.

EDIT: The temporary set that BBC Channel Island have decamped to is also nothing like the style of the two prescribed temporary sets that are touring the English Regions' sites. Rather, it is an inferior recreation of the set that C.I. were most latterly using in their small proper studio.

[Stuart]

EDIT: The temporary set that BBC Channel Island have decamped to is also nothing like the style of the two prescribed temporary sets that are touring the English Regions' sites. Rather, it is an inferior recreation of the set that C.I. were most latterly using in their small proper studio.

On the contrary, I thought their temporary set looked better than what they normally used in the cupboard under the stairs. 

[Spencer]

It is understood that St Helier is having structural changes to create a significantly larger studio than the poxy space they had before.

Presumably it will be at least as big as the studio at The Mailbox in Birmingham, as its dimensions are understood to be the template for the standard LED set size in almost all English Regions (all except London and Hull).

As the structural changes are likely to take months and months (hence why C.I. have already been decamped for ages), the part of the process where the LED set installion team need to be in C.I. will presumably not be until at least the start of 2024.

In an era of big BBC cutbacks, I can’t help feel this all seems like a huge expense for a part-time opt serving a population smaller than Herefordshire.

Dare I say it, would a well set up CSO position not suffice given their limited service and small population?

[Stuart]

In an era of big BBC cutbacks, I can’t help feel this all seems like a huge expense for a part-time opt serving a population smaller than Herefordshire.

Dare I say it, would a well set up CSO position not suffice given their limited service and small population?

To be fair, Spencer, CI (like the Isle of Man) are not part of the UK yet contribute to the TVL even though they could probably pick up all the transmissions free anyway on DSat and DTT.

They therefore have a right to be represented by BBC broadcast services and expect the same level of facilities.

BBC Alba also has a very small audience. If you start making decisions based on how many people are watching, then you've lost the ethos of PSB.