[Radio_man]

Is there a UK opt out for it then - thought they only did them in daytime?

There's no UK opt for the Commons vote - it's going out on The Daily Global with LVJ from C. So international viewers are being treated to the latest Tory pyscho-drama in Parliament.

[interestednovice]

Some might suggest that there is a bit of a tendency now to minimise or even eliminate mentions of the NC, as part of a deliberate policy to put the channel “under the radar”. Others may suggest that such thinking is not correct. We don’t know.

But it certainly seems, from my perspective, as if the BBC is a bit embarrassed about the quality of the NC these days, especially from a UK viewer perspective, and would rather hide it away as a result.

They could also be expecting to axe it in a future round of cuts, so are phasing out mentions of it now.

[Former Member 237]

Some might suggest that there is a bit of a tendency now to minimise or even eliminate mentions of the NC, as part of a deliberate policy to put the channel “under the radar”. Others may suggest that such thinking is not correct. We don’t know.

But it certainly seems, from my perspective, as if the BBC is a bit embarrassed about the quality of the NC these days, especially from a UK viewer perspective, and would rather hide it away as a result.

They could also be expecting to axe it in a future round of cuts, so are phasing out mentions of it now.

I have said it a few times now, if you were the BBC and you had decided to say, close down the news channel by 2030, steps which have been taken make more sense. Of course, the BBC will always have the output or the capacity to output in major events, but I think 24 hour news channels with rolling news will be obsolete by 2030. The majority get their news via the web or recently video shorts these days. A 24 hour channel seems very old fashioned once these methods are adopted more and tailored more for news.

[interestednovice]

I have said it a few times now, if you were the BBC and you had decided to say, close down the news channel by 2030, steps which have been taken make more sense. Of course, the BBC will always have the output or the capacity to output in major events, but I think 24 hour news channels with rolling news will be obsolete by 2030. The majority get their news via the web or recently video shorts these days. A 24 hour channel seems very old fashioned once these methods are adopted more and tailored more for news.

On the other hand, while I agree with you that phasing out the channel in the seemingly self-sabotaging way they have would explain various things, I actually believe that the NC continuing as a linear service makes a great deal of sense.

Linear outlets offering live events and breaking news are able to bring you up-to-the-minute information, which is valuable in a way that potentially old video clips aren’t. There is also something to be said for the BBC to be able to throw straight across to the NC for significant breaking news. To already have a presenter in the chair, microphone live, studio ready to go and gallery staff is a big deal. To get a team ready for broadcast (even a standby team already in the building) takes time in itself. Not if the NC is already on the air.

News is the essence of PSB output and should not be cut back in my view, it should be the last to go. When I have expressed this view in the past, then it has always come in for criticism; but the fact is that a minimal-service PBS-style model is one way of doing PSB broadcasting. If money really is that short, perhaps the BBC should reevaluate what they do and ensure that news can continue to be adequately covered. Even if it means major cuts to entertainment elsewhere. This is not just because news is so important, but also because the more “entertainment” aspects of current BBC output are more readily replaceable by commercial competitors.

Without stating my exact age, I’m actually in the supposed “younger viewer” BBC Three bracket and, despite this, I say all of that.

Things such as axing Our World to “reinvest” in BBC Sounds podcasts shouldn’t be happening. Neither should total closure of the BBC NC. The BBC is guilty of chasing “trendy” things and spending money on those quite often while cutting back elsewhere. When audiences don’t necessarily want the trendy thing, and really feel the loss of the cutbacks to some of the BBC’s more unique services.

Another example is local radio: popular with older people, which the BBC have alienated over the years by attempting to chase a younger audience that simply isn’t there.

[Andrew]

Some might suggest that there is a bit of a tendency now to minimise or even eliminate mentions of the NC, as part of a deliberate policy to put the channel “under the radar”. Others may suggest that such thinking is not correct. We don’t know.

But it certainly seems, from my perspective, as if the BBC is a bit embarrassed about the quality of the NC these days, especially from a UK viewer perspective, and would rather hide it away as a result.

They could also be expecting to axe it in a future round of cuts, so are phasing out mentions of it now.

They’ve stopped saying “there is more on todays stories on the BBC News Channel” because invariably there won’t be more on todays stories, it’s often a completely different global agenda.

Particularly so where after the Ten, if you were to turn to the BBC News Channel it’d be Newsnight and then pretty much into the overnight service

[interestednovice]

Indeed, at the end of Newsnight you crash into Singapore’s output and join Newsday without even a proper opt-in point. I know we’ve complained in the past about clunky opts on BBC Two and the NC, but sometimes the way they treat the News at Ten, followed by Newsnight, followed by Newsday is a real mess. You regularly leave NaT before the weather has finished, just randomly fading out with no continuity. Then Newsnight starts; at the end of that you “crash” into in-progress Newsday. If you keep watching even longer, Mishal Husain’s voice tells you that there will be “more news at the top of the hour, straight after this programme” before you get Asia Business Report. Then, Newsday again, before eventually Washington output starts and you get a straight news bulletin but with a US-slant for PBS viewers. Anybody watching in the UK overnight would be forgiven for being utterly confused.

After the News at Six, you have a solid half-hour of Sportday and the same after the News at One. After that sport you then go straight into a global-focused hour in both instances, so domestic stories will be way down the running order most of the time. If a UK-opt happens to be in progress, you will get coverage of one story only so you’d better hope that was the one you were interested in!

So, although news of sorts is covered on the NC throughout the day, depending on the exact time it may be radically different news, a simulcast of something promoted as primarily on another channel anyway (such as Politics Live which is always advertised as on “BBC Two and iPlayer”) or something which, really, isn’t actually news at all - like Political Thinking with Nick Robinson in visualised radio form, or an episode of something random like BBC Wales Investigates.

In the old days, you’d never go more than half an hour without a comprehensive headline summary at least.

[Spencer]

That’ll be the BBC London presenter walking on set, right in front of the live camera, during the weather on tonight’s Ten.

up.metropol247.co.uk 

[interestednovice]

Oh dear!

It’s not just NC viewers subject to interruptions during the weather then (for Newsnight) but BBC One too.

[ALV]

You regularly leave NaT before the weather has finished, just randomly fading out with no continuity.

I think sometimes Newsnight is tape-delayed by a few minutes on the NC, so to allow the NaT finish in full before fading into the filler... Sometimes the NC takes Newsnight live and hence the early cut off during the NaT weather.

I couldn't observe a pattern though on under what circumstances will they take it live or tape-delayed... Often times when they take Newsnight live, it doesn't seem like there's a big story on that night. The decision feels random to me...

[South]

I think sometimes Newsnight is tape-delayed by a few minutes on the NC, so to allow the NaT finish in full before fading into the filler... Sometimes the NC takes Newsnight live and hence the early cut off during the NaT weather.

I couldn't observe a pattern though on under what circumstances will they take it live or tape-delayed... Often times when they take Newsnight live, it doesn't seem like there's a big story on that night. The decision feels random to me...

I can't say I have observed any examples of Newsnight being tape delayed. The 10 does often overrun its scheduled time by a minute and depending what is on BBC 2 will depend if Newsnight starts at 10.30 or a few minuted later, which accounts for the programme starting on the News Channel after the 10 has finished.