[DTV]

When you look at the structure of the hour like that it becomes really clear why it felt like the news channel had a much snappier pace.

As you suggest, what the graphic doesn't show is that how much time was spent on each story has increased over time. The first 15 minutes of an hour in the early-2000s would typically cover about seven/eight stories, with those (and sometimes even more) recapped reasonably well in the five-minute BOTH summary. By the mid-2010s, you generally only got three/four stories in the top 15 minutes, with that basically falling to two more recently (some of the slow pacing habits do precede the merger). Obviously, there are arguments for spending longer - the BBC would say it gives more analysis, though personally I find that a four-minute talking head (even internal) tends to be a less efficient way of imparting the same info as a 90-second package.

I do think there's something to be said for regular segments, particularly in terms of helping make things feel a bit more lively. News in Brief segments (including maybe delineated Around the World/UK in Brief ones) should definitely be used the old-World way of being a regular feature, rather than the current old-NC way of being used as a way to plug gaps in the running order. As I said the other day, the current Sport and Business set-up is just a total mess - on at completely random times that are simply a legacy from World's old schedule. If you're going to continue with such updates (as presumably cutting them would be a fair saving), at least do them in a way that people can seek them out if they want.