BBC News: April 2022 onwards

[DTV]

So Scotland, London and NI have some of the newest sets yet they’re being prioritised again? Gosh there isn’t half some politics in the BBC.

To be fair, I don't think that those regions have been particularly unfairly prioritised and Scotland and London's sets are only slightly newer than average. It's also worth bearing in mind that the nations have higher budgets anyway and I expect that BBC London's 2014 set didn't just come out of its budget owing to its semi-frequent use by other BBC News programmes. The nations will always get a degree of prioritisation as they are, to some extent, national news programmes in their own right. Plus, as far as I know, most set changes are at the discretion of the region. Some English regions, e.g. Newcastle and Southampton, have only had two new sets since corporatisation - both heavily refurbished their 1999 set several times - while others have had four or five wholly new builds.

[Brekkie]

The last major set changes in each region:

North East: January 2010
North West: November 2011
Yorkshire: May 2018
Humberside: March 2009
East Mids: March 2016
Midlands: May 2017
East: December 2009
Cambridge: December 2009
South East: September 2014
Oxford: April 2014
South: April 2010
West: December 2010
South West: June 2015
Channel Islands: November 2013
London: June 2014
Scotland: January 2014
Wales: September 2020
N Ireland: March 2016

Think this is correct, though correct me if there are any mistakes.

Main takeaways:
- Average regional set is 9 years old, with seven regions having a set that is more than a decade old.
- Humberside has the oldest set at 13 years, Wales not only have the newest set but have had three new sets during the life of the Hull set.
- Only two regions have had new sets in the last five years.
- Half of regions still have a Barco-style set more than nine years after the style was discontinued at the national level - bizarrely this includes three regions whose sets are younger than the move to NBH.

Ironically those with the barco sets are now probably most in sync with the new set. Will be interesting to see if it is still very much each region doing their own interpretation or whether there will be more standardisation this time so regions largely have the same set, though perhaps with some additional elements for those with bigger studios.

[natashajacobs]

So Scotland, London and NI have some of the newest sets yet they’re being prioritised again? Gosh there isn’t half some politics in the BBC.

To be fair, I don't think that those regions have been particularly unfairly prioritised and Scotland and London's sets are only slightly newer than average. It's also worth bearing in mind that the nations have higher budgets anyway and I expect that BBC London's 2014 set didn't just come out of its budget owing to its semi-frequent use by other BBC News programmes. The nations will always get a degree of prioritisation as they are, to some extent, national news programmes in their own right. Plus, as far as I know, most set changes are at the discretion of the region. Some English regions, e.g. Newcastle and Southampton, have only had two new sets since corporatisation - both heavily refurbished their 1999 set several times - while others have had four or five wholly new builds.

Yes they have a higher budget, that’s the whole point. Despite many regions serving more people than the nations.

[RhysJR]

[GraemeT]

Come on... you’re not the recognising the nuance of difference between nation and region.

The nations will have more team across the board - because they are reporting for different countries.

How often to you hear a report about eduction on news at 6 or 10? Well.... that doesn’t mean anything to a Scottish viewer... the nations need more cash and resource to tell THEIR countries education story separately etc

[natashajacobs]

You’re just making my point for me though, it’s all political or there wouldn’t be a difference between an English region and a nation. There is often no difference in population. The BBC doesn’t need a new set in Scotland more than it does in Newcastle to tell the story anyway, it’s just clear bias.

---

Especially when you consider the cutting back of local programming in English regions, something which BBC Scotland is seemingly immune to. There’s a reason for it.

[GraemeT]

News coverage is separate to other local production. Let’s separate that.

A news programme which actually represents high level news for our country is important. It’s not just ‘local’ fluffy stories. It’s often a good chunk of the 6/10 retold for what it actually means in Scotland. More important than those shows agruably here.

Is that the same in a region?

[DTV]

Returning to the Salford studio shuffle, I was wondering whether any of the Salford studios have names or numbers. I don't think I've ever seen them referred to by anything, but do they not even have some code like G4D, 34D and 54D at Broadcasting House? Are they just known internally as Salford and Sport etc.?

[natashajacobs]

News coverage is separate to other local production. Let’s separate that.

A news programme which actually represents high level news for our country is important. It’s not just ‘local’ fluffy stories. It’s often a good chunk of the 6/10 retold for what it actually means in Scotland. More important than those shows agruably here.

Is that the same in a region?

Do you actually seriously think local news in England is just fluffy stories?

And as the budgets for local news form part of the same pot as local programming yes it is relevant.

[DTV]

Fundamentally this debate is really just a reflection of the problems with the asymmetric nature of regional government in the UK - where you have some parts with genuinely powerful devolved governments (Scotland, Wales, NI), some parts with 'devolved' organisations with some low-level powers (London, areas with Combined Authorities) and some parts with nothing other than weak local government (most of non-metropolitan England). The differing nature of the political arrangements in different parts of the country mean that local news in different areas has differing purposes. Reporting Scotland, Wales Today and Newsline are effectively national news programmes in their own right - a large part of their programmes are dedicated to the kinds of stories that, in England, would be on the main network bulletins. While English regional news programmes aren't all fluff as some might dismiss them as, even London isn't really covering any political body with much meaningful power. The stories just aren't on the same grade. Britain just isn't like Germany or Spain where the entire country is covered by regional government of equal competencies, so you can't really compare English regions like-for-like with the devolved nations.

Plus, it's also worth noting that the national studio sets in Glasgow, Cardiff and Belfast are all multi-use. Scotland's set is used by current affairs programming and some Sport programmes, Wales's set is shared with Newyddion and NI's set is also shared with current affairs programming. This means the set budgets are, to some extent, coming out of multiple pots. The only programme that English regional sets are shared with are the Politics X shows and English regional politicals have always operated on a shoestring budget (because, again, they aren't covering anything more powerful than a County Council) - they aren't contributing to the set budget.

[natashajacobs]

I appreciate that the devolved governments need to be covered, but this should not come at the expense of covering news and current affairs in the English regions, as the latter seems to be first for the chopping block whilst the nations escape many of the cuts. Analysis of Scottish governmental policy is all well and good, but integrity of English local government and court reporting is still important for a healthy democracy. If the region incorporating the cities of Manchester and Liverpool has a significantly smaller budget for local content in a bigger population then I think that’s wrong. But everyone’s entitled to their opinion.

[excel99]

The only programme that English regional sets are shared with are the Politics X shows

Not to detract from your main point, but does The Super League Show still use the Leeds studio?

[Josh]

The only programme that English regional sets are shared with are the Politics X shows

Not to detract from your main point, but does The Super League Show still use the Leeds studio?

Looking on iPlayer, they've been on-location for the recent episodes so I presume the answer is no.

[Stuart]

Returning to the Salford studio shuffle, I was wondering whether any of the Salford studios have names or numbers. I don't think I've ever seen them referred to by anything, but do they not even have some code like G4D, 34D and 54D at Broadcasting House? Are they just known internally as Salford and Sport etc.?

The ones within Dock10 (and the outdoor areas) have names from HQ1-HQ12

I am sure I have previously seen a list of studio designations for those within Quay House and Dock House used by the BBC, but can't find them online.  They seem to have either disappeared or become illusive.

I'm sure one of the insiders at BBC North can enlighten us as to the official names.

[p2004]

Regarding the BBC News in Australia, that could be SBS (Special Broadcasting Service). They primarily deal with news bulletins to cater to minority groups in Australia. It's strange that BBC News would be on air in this strand, but you do get bulletins like the Spanish Telediario and the Dutch NOS Journaal.