A round-up of the week’s stories and observations.
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- TUE 28TH OCT (6.30PM)
5 playout in disaster recovery mode - THU 30TH OCT (11.50PM)
New way of communicating major news on BBC One? - THU 30TH OCT (11.50PM)
BBC Reporting Scotland headlines fail to appear - SAT 1ST NOV (12.30PM)
Sound fault disrupts BBC News live output briefly
Tuesday 28th October
6.30pm 5 playout in disaster recovery mode
5 was being played out from its disaster recovery location this evening.
The DR arrangement is differentiated from standard playout on screen by a small dot placed alongside the ‘5’ DOG (Digital On-Screen Graphic).
5 had been promoting a special tribute programme for Prunella Scales during the day. Fawlty Towers: Farewell Sybil was due to air at 6.30pm but failed to appear.
It’s unclear if this tribute programme not making it to air was connected to playout being in its DR environment.
5 was being played out from its DR environment when Jeremy Vine aired from 9.15am. It was in its standard playout environment at 1.15am. The switch to DR happened at some point between then and 9.15am.
5 switched from DR back to standard playout sometime between 8.05pm and 8.55pm.
Thursday 30th October
11.50pm New way of communicating major news on BBC One?
The significant news story that broke earlier this evening – that King Charles is stripping Prince Andrew of his “Prince” title and forcing him out of his Windsor mansion (Royal Lodge) – might in the past have merited a special news report on BBC One.
The statement from Buckingham Palace was released at 7pm and reported on many news outlets almost immediately.
The first mention of the story on BBC One was just before the penultimate edition of The Traitors, at 9pm. But it was presented in the form of a short, basic trail for the BBC News at Ten, voiced live by the continuity announcer.
11.50pm BBC Reporting Scotland headlines fail to appear
The Scottish headlines failed to appear at the top of tonight’s BBC News at Ten on BBC One Scotland.
Instead, the standard BBC One Scotland breakdown graphic was played out.
BBC One Scotland then rejoined the main programme as usual.
The late edition of BBC Reporting Scotland was broadcast as planned shortly after 10.30pm.
Saturday 1st November
12.30pm Sound fault disrupts BBC News live output briefly
Live programming on the BBC News channel was halted briefly this lunchtime due to a sound fault affecting output from Studio E.
The problem started immediately after a package about Andrew Mountbatten Windsor being stripped of his titles by King Charles.
Presenter Rajini Vaidyanathan began linking into a live interview but couldn’t be heard by viewers.
The gallery quickly switched to a still of the BBC News titles.
The interviewee lined up to speak on the programme was heard to say “Ok” over the slide. It seemed audio from his line was left on air but was quickly muted after this.
A short time later, presenter Rajini Vaidyanathan was heard performing a microphone test.
Live broadcasting was then resumed, with the presenter apologising for the technical issues.
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Acknowledgements
FEATURE IMAGE:
PICTURED: 5 ident. COPYRIGHT: Channel 5 Broadcasting Ltd.
Acknowledgements

