BBC News (UK)

[Matrix]

Slightly odd that they did a headline sequence at 5pm when the press briefing means none of the stories are actually going to be featured this hour. They were lucky Hancock wasn’t straight out of the gates at 5pm on the dot or they would have missed the start

Also slightly odd in my eyes they referred to the briefing as a “Covid Presser” on the headline graphic, which to me is a media term rather than something that is usually public facing

You're right, that was an odd choice of headline strap.

I suspect the full headline menu will have been in the event that they needed to kill time (some Downing St events have been rather shabby) so better to have something to run with - even if it's then parked - rather than just awkwardly shuffling towards the 'presser'.

[joshuanesbit]

I always love it when you see someone in the background watching another channel! I remember a couple years back over on NBC they were doing I believe a segment for News 4 NY @ 11 AM, but someone right behind the reporter was watching The Price is Right! (which airs at 11 AM over here)

I always wondered with regards to the little tiny tv screens that people watch at their desks in the Newsroom, if they have a video feed right straight from the studio/gallery or it's just a regular channel tuned into the TV?

With the exception of some internal feeds, they're generally regular channels which are programmed into a multi-screen set up

thank you!

[RhysJR]

Ben Thompson is on the News Channel. Don't think he's ever done this before. Has presented Breakfast, Business Live and the business segments on the news channel but don't think a full bulletin.

Says the 'first time in ages' on his Instagram. Agree though I can't remember seeing him/hearing about him presenting a News Channel bulletin before,
https://www.instagram.com/p/CPD3UP0Fpti/..._copy_link

[joshuanesbit]

Slightly odd that they did a headline sequence at 5pm when the press briefing means none of the stories are actually going to be featured this hour. They were lucky Hancock wasn’t straight out of the gates at 5pm on the dot or they would have missed the start

Also slightly odd in my eyes they referred to the briefing as a “Covid Presser” on the headline graphic, which to me is a media term rather than something that is usually public facing

guess they would have crashed into it if this happened, I doubt they'd want to have it with a delay. Not good for those who watch things whilst scrolling twitter

[joshuanesbit]

Slightly odd that they did a headline sequence at 5pm when the press briefing means none of the stories are actually going to be featured this hour. They were lucky Hancock wasn’t straight out of the gates at 5pm on the dot or they would have missed the start

Also slightly odd in my eyes they referred to the briefing as a “Covid Presser” on the headline graphic, which to me is a media term rather than something that is usually public facing

also usually they run up to it with Health correspondent in studio, and cross to Vicky on the Millbank balcony etc

[joshuanesbit]

It makes sense for the News Channel to be ahead. The (simplified) path for the News Channel is

Studio - CCM - Transmitter

The path for BBC News on BBC One (SD) is

Studio - BBC One pres - regional centre - CCM - Transmitter

It’s interesting because when I watch it on One HD, it cuts from the ident to the Newsroom it’s always bang on 10 (with a 7 second delay, so by my iPhone clock it’s always 10:00:07) maybe that means that the Ten means goes to air on news channel (host feed I presume) JUST before the hour…

[Frances]

It makes sense for the News Channel to be ahead. The (simplified) path for the News Channel is

Studio - CCM - Transmitter

The path for BBC News on BBC One (SD) is

Studio - BBC One pres - regional centre - CCM - Transmitter

It’s interesting because when I watch it on One HD, it cuts from the ident to the Newsroom it’s always bang on 10 (with a 7 second delay, so by my iPhone clock it’s always 10:00:07) maybe that means that the Ten means goes to air on news channel (host feed I presume) JUST before the hour…

The News Channel countdown usually ends at :59:58 to make sure BBC One can get a clean opt in when they switched to the studio at the TOTH.

Before the pandemic the countdown before the Ten was not played by Studio E (Studio A which carried Outside Source at 9pm instead) so they didn’t need to leave the countdown at :59:58 because BBC One had already got a clean opt in.

[joshuanesbit]

It makes sense for the News Channel to be ahead. The (simplified) path for the News Channel is

Studio - CCM - Transmitter

The path for BBC News on BBC One (SD) is

Studio - BBC One pres - regional centre - CCM - Transmitter

It’s interesting because when I watch it on One HD, it cuts from the ident to the Newsroom it’s always bang on 10 (with a 7 second delay, so by my iPhone clock it’s always 10:00:07) maybe that means that the Ten means goes to air on news channel (host feed I presume) JUST before the hour…

The News Channel countdown usually ends at :59:58 to make sure BBC One can get a clean opt in when they switched to the studio at the TOTH.

Before the pandemic the countdown before the Ten was not played by Studio E (Studio A which carried Outside Source at 9pm instead) so they didn’t need to leave the countdown at :59:58 because BBC One had already got a clean opt in.

Thank you, Frances. Why does the studio that the countdown is run from make a difference to how easy it is for the network to opt in?

[Steve in Pudsey]

Studio E output can have Huw on it waiting for his cue while the News Channel is showing the countdown sequence from A.

That means that BBC One doesn't risk a rogue frame or two of the end of the countdown.

Studio A will cut to E with the first bit of the Ten on the News Channel going through A before handing over network to E at a convenient moment.

[Frances]

It’s interesting because when I watch it on One HD, it cuts from the ident to the Newsroom it’s always bang on 10 (with a 7 second delay, so by my iPhone clock it’s always 10:00:07) maybe that means that the Ten means goes to air on news channel (host feed I presume) JUST before the hour…

The News Channel countdown usually ends at :59:58 to make sure BBC One can get a clean opt in when they switched to the studio at the TOTH.

Before the pandemic the countdown before the Ten was not played by Studio E (Studio A which carried Outside Source at 9pm instead) so they didn’t need to leave the countdown at :59:58 because BBC One had already got a clean opt in.

Thank you, Frances. Why does the studio that the countdown is run from make a difference to how easy it is for the network to opt in?

As far as I know, network runs the One, Six and Ten bulletins via a specific feed, which normally carries the Studio E output without the DOG and flipper, it’s different from the News Channel distribution feed.

In the pre-COVID era, 5pm was BBC News at Five from Studio C and 9pm was Outside Source from Studio A gallery, so the countdown before the Six and the Ten could be played by those studios, the News Channel then switched to Studio E as the clock hit the top of the hour, at the same time BBC One joined the bulletin feed. Here’s the timeline:

17:00:00 Studio C goes on air with BBC News at Five
17:56:xx Studio C runs Weather, trailers & countdown
18:00:00 BBC News at Six begins via Studio E, meanwhile BBC One opt in the bulletin feed

21:00:00 Studio A goes on air with Outside Source
21:56:xx Studio A runs Weather, trailers & countdown
22:00:00 BBC News at Ten begins via Studio E, meanwhile BBC One opt in the bulletin feed

As deejay mentioned before, the special staff arrangement under COVID has caused a side effect, that means the countdowns before the Six and Ten have to be played by Studio E. So they need to cut from the countdown to the presenter before BBC One joining the studio. The timeline is now:

17:00:00 Studio E runs BBC News
17:56:xx Studio E runs Weather, trailers & countdown
17:59:58 Studio E runs BBC News at Six
18:00:00 BBC One opt in the bulletin feed

21:00:00 Studio C goes on air with BBC News with Katty and Christian
21:56:xx Studio C runs Weather (sometimes trailers)
21:58:30 Studio E goes on air with the countdown
21:59:58 Studio E runs BBC News at Ten
22:00:00 BBC One opt in the bulletin feed

I don’t know why do they run the countdown via E instead of C but I guess it’s for a World News America opt in for BBC World News. That could be spotted at the first two seconds of the Ten on the News Channel:



In a nutshell, the countdown normally ends two seconds before the scheduled time to make sure BBC One (and the other simulcast channels like BBC Two and World) can get a clean opt in, otherwise 1/2/World might crash into the last few frames of the countdown. Here’s an example.

[video=https://up.metropol247.co.uk/052021/1621475024_1938801518.mp4]

[Rolling News]

Ben Thompson is on the News Channel. Don't think he's ever done this before. Has presented Breakfast, Business Live and the business segments on the news channel but don't think a full bulletin.

Says the 'first time in ages' on his Instagram. Agree though I can't remember seeing him/hearing about him presenting a News Channel bulletin before,
https://www.instagram.com/p/CPD3UP0Fpti/..._copy_link

I distinctly remember him doing a Bank Holiday Monday a few years ago.

[VampMix]

I don’t know why do they run the countdown via E instead of C but I guess it’s for a World News America opt in for BBC World News. That could be spotted at the first two seconds of the Ten on the News Channel:

I think you might be right there. I always thought World News America was produced out of Washington and didnt go gallery wise via NBH, hopefully someone can correct me

[joshuanesbit]

The News Channel countdown usually ends at :59:58 to make sure BBC One can get a clean opt in when they switched to the studio at the TOTH.

Before the pandemic the countdown before the Ten was not played by Studio E (Studio A which carried Outside Source at 9pm instead) so they didn’t need to leave the countdown at :59:58 because BBC One had already got a clean opt in.

Thank you, Frances. Why does the studio that the countdown is run from make a difference to how easy it is for the network to opt in?

As far as I know, network runs the One, Six and Ten bulletins via a specific feed, which normally carries the Studio E output without the DOG and flipper, it’s different from the News Channel distribution feed.

In the pre-COVID era, 5pm was BBC News at Five from Studio C and 9pm was Outside Source from Studio A gallery, so the countdown before the Six and the Ten could be played by those studios, the News Channel then switched to Studio E as the clock hit the top of the hour, at the same time BBC One joined the bulletin feed. Here’s the timeline:

17:00:00 Studio C goes on air with BBC News at Five
17:56:xx Studio C runs Weather, trailers & countdown
18:00:00 BBC News at Six begins via Studio E, meanwhile BBC One opt in the bulletin feed

21:00:00 Studio A goes on air with Outside Source
21:56:xx Studio A runs Weather, trailers & countdown
22:00:00 BBC News at Ten begins via Studio E, meanwhile BBC One opt in the bulletin feed

As deejay mentioned before, the special staff arrangement under COVID has caused a side effect, that means the countdowns before the Six and Ten have to be played by Studio E. So they need to cut from the countdown to the presenter before BBC One joining the studio. The timeline is now:

17:00:00 Studio E runs BBC News
17:56:xx Studio E runs Weather, trailers & countdown
17:59:58 Studio E runs BBC News at Six
18:00:00 BBC One opt in the bulletin feed

21:00:00 Studio C goes on air with BBC News with Katty and Christian
21:56:xx Studio C runs Weather (sometimes trailers)
21:58:30 Studio E goes on air with the countdown
21:59:58 Studio E runs BBC News at Ten
22:00:00 BBC One opt in the bulletin feed

I don’t know why do they run the countdown via E instead of C but I guess it’s for a World News America opt in for BBC World News. That could be spotted at the first two seconds of the Ten on the News Channel:



In a nutshell, the countdown normally ends two seconds before the scheduled time to make sure BBC One (and the other simulcast channels like BBC Two and World) can get a clean opt in, otherwise 1/2/World might crash into the last few frames of the countdown. Here’s an example.

[video=https://up.metropol247.co.uk/052021/1621475024_1938801518.mp4]

this is really interesting, thank you! Could you just clarify what you mean by 'bulletin feed' '?

Also as you mentioned, in the pre-covid era, news channel would start News at Six as soon as the clock hit TOTH, and BBC 1 opts in at exactly the same moment... that said - surely this would cause there to be more of a crash with regards to rogue frames? Could you please just clarify, would you say that *nowadays* this happens less, as there's the extra two seconds of headroom for BBC1 to get a clean opt? Whereas before everything had to line up on the nose, with the countdown cutting to the studio and BBC 1 opting at the same second?

As well as this I was wondering if there was a special Presentation for the News Channel? Someone/something that controls the output of the News Channel/HD or is this just done from all the individual studio galleries? Many thanks!

[deejay]

There’s no presentation gallery for the news channel - it goes straight to air from whatever gallery is required. The network is switched between galleries during the course of the day.

The “bulletin feed” is a separate output from Studio E which has its own viz engine for lower thirds. Essentially it’s the same as what’s routed to news channel but without the flipper and logo.

The two second early vision at the start of network bulletins (and BBC World News bulletins) allows for BBC One presentation to get in cleanly and for BBC World’s partner broadcasters to do the same.

[ALV]

There’s no presentation gallery for the news channel - it goes straight to air from whatever gallery is required. The network is switched between galleries during the course of the day.

The “bulletin feed” is a separate output from Studio E which has its own viz engine for lower thirds. Essentially it’s the same as what’s routed to news channel but without the flipper and logo.

The two second early vision at the start of network bulletins (and BBC World News bulletins) allows for BBC One presentation to get in cleanly and for BBC World’s partner broadcasters to do the same.

How does the NC carry BBC Breakfast? Do Salford send the programme feed to Studio E (or whatever studio responsible for the morning bulletins) and Studio E relays it and send it down the output? As you said, the NC needs a gallery to maintain.

The reason I made this assumption is because I always see a seamless transition from the end of Breakfast to the start of the 9AM bulletins on NC rather than an “abrupt” cut (you always hear a small “tick” noise) resulted from a switch of galleries. Also, in a couple of occasions there had been technical difficulties during Breakfast on the NC exclusively (e.g accidentally cutting to an empty studio) while Breakfast remains normal on BBC One.