A round-up of the week’s stories and observations.
- MON 3RD APR (10AM)
Merged BBC TV news channel launches at 9am - TUE 4TH APR (7PM)
Minor glitch during BBC News at Six headlines - THU 6TH APR (12.30PM)
Less than slick opt back to the international BBC News stream - FRI 7TH APR (12.50AM)
What’s going on with the flipper on the new BBC News Channel?
Monday 3rd April
10am Merged BBC TV news channel launches at 9am
The merger of the BBC News Channel and BBC World News was formally implemented just before 9am BST.
On the UK version of the channel, a new-style countdown sequence appeared shortly before 9am.
Standard Chameleon branding has been introduced to title sequences for some programmes (including BBC One programmes).
We’ll let the new channel settle in for a few days and publish an initial review piece later in the week (link now added below).
Meantime, the Pres Café forum has a dedicated thread, covering today’s changes (and beyond) on the news channel.
RELATED ARTICLE: BBC News Channel and BBC World News become one.
Tuesday 4th April
7pm Minor glitch during BBC News at Six headlines
There was a minor technical hiccup during the opening headlines on the BBC News at Six.
The headline bed unexpectedly terminated after the first headline, leaving the presenter to read through the remaining headlines, minus any other audio.
We’re so accustomed to the headline bed, it feels rather odd without it.
Thursday 6th April
12.30pm Less than slick opt back to the international BBC News stream
The UK version of the new BBC News Channel broke away from the international stream this morning, to bring live coverage of an interview with Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley.
The UK-specific coverage lasted about an hour-and-a-half.
At 12.15pm, the UK opt out ended and UK viewers were taken back to the international stream. The transition wasn’t the best, with UK viewers seeing the final seconds of a package on a meeting between the president of Taiwan and the US House Speaker, Kevin McCarthy.
UK viewers then saw another package on the Met Police story, which was also being carried on the international version of the channel.
Friday 7th April
12.50am What’s going on with the flipper on the new BBC News Channel?
Since shortly after the formal implementation of the merger of the BBC News Channel and BBC World News on Monday morning, the on-screen flipper – which usually displays breaking news items, as well as the main news, sport and business headlines – fell dormant, showing only the main URL for the BBC News website.
During some pre-recorded programmes – such as Hardtalk – the flipper comes back to life, showing the usual digest of news, sport and business headlines (as shown in the clip below).
UPDATE: soon after this example, even pre-recorded programmes were showing only the website URL in the flipper.
It’s beginning to feel as though the flipper has effectively been decommissioned. Presumably, the next step is for it to disappear completely.
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Acknowledgements
PICTURED: BBC News Channel at 9am on 3rd April 2023. COPYRIGHT: BBC.