06-04-2023, 10:15 PM
(06-04-2023, 08:43 PM)Tsigriwa Wrote: Hello This is my first time posting here.Bienvenue à Pres Café, Tsigriwa! Great first post, and I agree with a lot of what you have written.
I'm an international (french) viewer of the new BBC News channel and almost a week after the launch I have some thoughts:
When it comes to content :
They are some issues, but overall it is very decent, I'm sure that the odd technical glitch and hosts staring into oblivion between opt-ins will be ironed out very soon. Maybe I'm the only one, but seeing some UK related stuff is not a problem: the BBC is a British corporation after all...
When it comes to the presentation :
Oh boy... Where do I even begin?
-Lower Thirds:
The one line is a waste of space. So much unused space... And why is the font never the same size?!? I was never a fan of these lower thirds anyway, the animation is too slow.
And it lacks the immediacy of the 2013-2019 ones in my opinion. And why are the BBC News' graphics still presented in a 4:3 format?!? It's 2023!
-The ticker:
Well it was already useless on BBC World News, so the permanent bbc.com/news changes nothing for me.
-The red globe:
I am over it. it is dated and should've been replaced in 2019 anyway.
-The countdown:
The concept is tired! The basic idea has been the same for like 20 years now?!?
And who thought a white text on a white background was a good idea?!?
The "chameleon logo" in the intros, teasers and countdown:
In theory it was a good idea, reinforcing your brand "This is the BBC" on top and the name of the channel on the bottom.
But it's just scattering elements on screen, I would not be surprised if the Beeb ends up abandoning that idea and coming back to what Lambie-Nern did in 1997.
The music:
There's no debate, it is amazing. But like some, I would love to see some evolution. Something a bit more authoritative for exemple. And be brave and have some variation of the music without the pips for exemple!
In conclusion :
I've been watching BBC World News for over 10 years. I think the BBC is one of the best public broadcasters in the world.
But I would love for BBC News to be less 'cool' and more autoritative. And when I see people's reactions to Ros Atkins' and his no non-sense approach, I think I'm not the only one thinking that.
I hope they will be bold and interesting when they fully rebrand, the BBC needs to be ahead of the competition and needs to be respected again. I'm sure that new channel will be just fine.
I think the graphics are still presented in 4:3 safe areas because BBC World transmits to a lot of areas that still have 4:3 TVs (think poorer parts of Africa and Asia). Even then, though, there are ways to force a 16:9 letterbox to 4:3 viewers now. I agree the BBC should change to 14:9 safe areas when it next changes its graphics.
As for the ticker, it should be removed if it's not going to work properly. We know the BBC News web address, and anyone who doesn't can easily Google it in seconds. We don't need repeated headlines from the website, either, most of which are meaningless without context. I think tickers/flippers have probably had their day, anyway. Anyone who wants to know what else is in the news can look at it on their smartphones.
I think the Chameleon thing will be ditched eventually (but not for a couple of years at least - it's the BBC's pet project!). I too would like to see a return to a 1997-style system.