[Rolling News]

Matthew making a rare appearance on a BBC1 bulletin this lunchtime.

Remember, we don't talk about this sort of thing now (although he does really suit Studio B)

[Studio7]

Thankfully they’ve seen sense and the tabloid gossip wasn’t in the headlines on the One

Also Amroliwala is wearing a tie, that collarless shirt look is probably too extreme for the network bulletins!

Just a quick hit on Schofield, 10 minutes in. Probably lasted less than 30 seconds. And that's how it should be 

[Yorksman]

Just a quick hit on Schofield, 10 minutes in. Probably lasted less than 30 seconds. And that's how it should be 

30 seconds too much

[DAL1189]

It's not the reality of the merger, no. The merged channel should focus on the major international and UK news. While this story is undeniably a talking point in the UK, it is frankly not actually particularly newsworthy, even before getting on to international viewers. Even though (rightly) not as patrician as it once was, the BBC should still be delivering news more based on what viewers need to/should know than on the tabloid-esque what they want to know. While there might be a level of coverage that can be given over to such a story on the channel, it should be low down the running order, if not an In Brief item. To treat it as not just a major world story but the lead story is a major editorial misjudgement and, in my view, unjustifiable.
I'm also not particularly sure the point you're making comparing the Schofield story to international elections. Sure, there is a knowledge imbalance, but the job of the news is ultimately to explain what has happened and why it matters. That's quite easy to do with an election - particularly in countries of reasonable size. It's a lot harder to do with a story about presenter turnover on a not particularly major UK TV programme.
Honestly, the whole shift in the last few weeks - most noticeable with the Schofield story - just reeks of a typical BBC reaction to criticism they likely got over the lower levels of UK news on the new channel. Rather than stand their ground and make their case or think any changes through, it looks like they've gone down their usual route of knee-jerk overcorrection and are now deliberately pushing UK stories up the running order, regardless of their news value.

I just checked Sky News' website and the Schofield story is their current breaking news splash. I checked the i, and the story is one of their 7 non lead featured stories when you open their website. Even The Times are featuring it as one of their leading stories. I struggle to see how it is "not actually particularly newsworthy" when many of the BBCs competitors are also prominently featuring this story. This is a story UK viewers will expect to hear about and one which the channel should feature, even if international viewers might not really know much about it. 

As regard to international elections, I'm not saying they shouldn't be featuring those stories either and I've very much enjoyed the increased prominence stories of an international nature have been getting on the channel, but the knowledge imbalance is the point here. International viewers are going to be interested in stories which have limited interest to UK viewers, and visa versa. Striking the correct balance is always going to be difficult when the entire premise of the channel is flawed, but I don't think they've got it wrong by giving this story prominence.

[mccanmat]

Who else spotted this most recent piece of brand inconsistency earlier?

Who’s the presenter who looks like Penn from Penn and Teller?

[bbctvtechop]

Ah, right! I will happily admit to being wrong. Think I must have put 2 and 2 together and got 5. There are definitely fewer people overseeing operations, are there not?

Yes, because two rotas have been merged into one. That triggered redundancies in operations (which I took advantage of) but as far as I know didn't change the actual roles required to operate the new channel.

[DTV]

I just checked Sky News' website and the Schofield story is their current breaking news splash. I checked the i, and the story is one of their 7 non lead featured stories when you open their website. Even The Times are featuring it as one of their leading stories. I struggle to see how it is "not actually particularly newsworthy" when many of the BBCs competitors are also prominently featuring this story. This is a story UK viewers will expect to hear about and one which the channel should feature, even if international viewers might not really know much about it.

Just because competitors are leading with a story doesn't mean the BBC should - none of the competitors you've listed have public service obligations and none of them are especially international-facing, as per the BBC News channel. You're sort of right to say that striking the right balance can be difficult, but that just isn't the case here. This just isn't a newsworthy story - some people may be interested, but that is true of lots of things that shouldn't get top-billing on the news - fundamentally, it is a story that doesn't actually matter, even really domestically. If you can make a case for it, then I'm all ears - but I'm yet to see an even vaguely plausible justification for why it matters so much that it should get top-spot on a part-international news channel.

[matthieu1221]

WTF is this? 


Why is this mindless bilge being presented as news coverage?

This update was equally as good .

[Studio7]

Today it was announced that long-serving Australian breakfast show host David Koch is to step down from his job presenting Channel 7's Sunrise, after 21 years. A similar story to Pip Schofield, perhaps, except Kochie (as he's known) isn't leaving under a cloud. I thought I'd see if the ABC were giving that story the prominence that BBC News gave Schofield. No mention at all on their news channel, and it's way down the website's homepage. And the ABC's news channel is domestically-focused!

Obviously reporting on him leaving/being let go by ITV is worth doing, given what transpired about his behaviour. But a live blog of the first This Morning after? Reporting on his Instagram story? Talk silly! I don't think even ITV News at their tabloid-worst in 2007 would have gone that far.

[DTV]

What is the split of audience between

Uk
Uk expats
Foreign viewers?

Does anyone know?

In terms of total audience, the BBC News channel in the UK has a weekly reach of about 7-8m, with BBC World News claiming a weekly reach of around 100m. How accurate the BBC's Global Audience Measure is is contestable, but it is accurate enough that advertisers and UK authorities believe it. In terms of audience at any one time - the BBC News channel's audience during the day was around 70-100k, with typical evening and weekend peaks at around 100-150k. Due to the global nature of BBC World News, its audience is probably flatter throughout the day, but is likely around several 100k at any one point.

As for the UK expat audience, there is no exact figure but a BBC response to a select committee in 2006 states: "Ex-patriot British are a constituent part of the BBC World audience. However, they are not the primary focus of the channel, and make up a very small proportion of the channel's total audience." And that was when the channel's overall audience was about half of what it is now.