[DTV]

I think there's something to be said for every era of BBC News 24/BBC News - from the slightly idealistic ambition of the flags era, to the gorgeous sets of the cream-and-red and NBH era, to the dynamic graphics of the clamshell era. Even with the Barco era, which wasn't particularly sparkling presentation wise, I have a certain soft-spot for the subtle Aston animations, even if they were arguably a bit basic and Gill Sans Bold is somewhat less attractive than its Regular weight. Plus, the Barco era gave us the white and red globe titles, whose quality and depth continues to amaze me 15 years on.

I know that the current era isn't everybody's cup of tea and, in certain respects, the channel isn't what it was, but I do feel there is enough good in there presentation-wise.
- The 2013 countdown is far-and-away my favourite version yet - the orchestra adds a real musical depth to it that was missing in some earlier versions (only really those from the mid-2000s are comparable).
- You are never going to beat Studio E's backdrop, the only set that comes close is N8 circa 2002, but that could feel a bit clinical when the 'newsroom' was empty and loses points for being so static on the air - even a small panning shot would have looked fantastic in a set with that much depth. One thing they do have in common, and that the BBC need to learn from, is that warm painted red looks so much better than bright lightbox red (though, to be fair, the lightboxes in E and the new set in B are towards the better end on this front).
- And, although they aren't perfect, I do really like the current set of graphics and would certainly rank them highly. They are clean, simple and easy-on-the-eye, with smooth animations. Plus, I find the flipper is a lot less distracting than the tickers could be.