New News
You may have noticed that BBC News on TV has a new look. BBC News network, nations and regional output on BBC1, BBC News 24 and BBC World have changed. I'd like to explain the changes and ask for the reaction of viewers.
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We know from audience research and feedback that BBC News is widely consumed and generally appreciated on our many outlets. But in a world where news is increasingly available on a variety of platforms from many providers, we'd like to make sure that BBC News is recognised whenever you come across it.
We have asked members of the audience about the key things they associate with us. The characteristics that emerged were - the phrase "BBC News" itself, our distinctive music (by David Lowe), the globe, the colour red, the clarity and accuracy of our news services. We have taken those well-established attributes and emphasised them further and consistently in a set of designs that will apply across all of the BBC's core news services - on TV across the UK and on the internet.
We employed the internationally respected designer and brand expert, Martin Lambie-Nairn, as creative director on the project. His team, in collaboration with our BBC design team led by Paula Thompson, has produced a look which we hope conveys what you said BBC News is about - clear, unfussy, direct, straightforward and fresh. It's not intended to be a massive visual change, but an evolution and clarification of what we are about, to enable audiences to recognise BBC News whenever and wherever they receive it.
Alongside the look we're also changing some names, also to emphasise the identity of BBC News. BBC News 24 becomes simply "BBC News". The channel is now, by a considerable margin, the most popular and high quality news channel in the UK. The channel is not just at the heart of BBC News. Now it is BBC News.
The BBC1 bulletins at 1, 6 and 10 become "BBC News at One", "BBC News at Six" and "BBC News at Ten". Here's the new studio that we have modelled for our BBC1 bulletins and the BBC News channel.
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Our international news channel, BBC World, becomes BBC World News.
On the web, we recently introduced an element of the new look in the globe on our red masthead. These changes were described previously by my colleague Steve Herrmann, editor of this site. Your feedback on that has led to a number of tweaks being made and we are working on further alterations as a result of your comments. We'd really like to know what you think about our changes and I'll respond to your comments.
UPDATE, 09:05 AM, 22 Apr 08: Thank you for your comments. I have tried to answer some of your questions here.
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~09~RS~)
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"BBC World" was enough. What's the need for "BBC World News"?
'BBC' IS 'News' for most of the world and I don't see a need to emphasize that by appending 'News' to 'BBC World'.
"This is BBC World..."
"This is BBC World News..."
Which of the two sounds better?
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While appreciation of colours is obviously a subjective matter, you could have done a lot better than what appear to be flakes of blood alongside dark grey. And if you are going to have something resembling the rings of Saturn moving across the screen why not have colours attractive to the eye rather than alternating between shades of light red and nothingness? It's flimsy and insubstantial.
I also don't understand why the BBC is spending tons of money and making such a big deal out of the new designs. You are simply providing ammunition to those who claim you are all style and no substance.
You should rather work on improving the content of your news - the careful political correctness, the implacable support of left wing parties at the expense of all others and the avoidance of inconvenient facts.
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The opening titles are nice (except for the red box) but those graphics and the ticker are foul - they look so amateurish after the graphics we've had until now. I don't understand why BBC News 24 has changed its name - it had 'BBC News' in it! 'News Channel' sounds dire. Silly changes really.
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"BBC World" please. The "News" part is redundant for us international viewers.
I like the new globe.
The scrolling text down the bottom of the screen is now grey -- which is very ugly. Please go back to white.
Why is there blue now on some of the on-screen graphics? I would have simply stuck with white and shades of red/orange instead of red, white, grey, and blue!
I'd like onscreen title graphics (headlines, breaking news etc) to be somewhat conservative.
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Remember the London 2012 Olympic branding that you attacked so viciously? Perhaps you could run a competition to see if viewers could do better than your highly paid consultants. That would be fair, wouldn't it? I'm sure my unborn child could do better; in less than zero time and would pay you for the honour!
You describe the look as 'clear'. You are joking aren't you? The colour scheme and motion is nauseating.
Is there anyone left at the BBC who understands you are a public service broadcaster? You should not be competing with the commercial sector for the most scandalous speculation and gossip. You should focus on the quality of the output, with the emphasis on fact rather than opinion. This rebranding exercise will not improve your output. There will be more trivia, celebrity stories, sports events given more significance than wars and endless broadcasting from the doorsteps of murder victims or suspects, trying to scare us regardless of the statistics, supported by comments from the same dozen 'rent a mouths' that seem to have opinions on everything but understand nothing and don't reflect the public mood.
Please will someone save our BBC from this descent into the depths of mediocrity?
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Is it just me, or it a bit bland though?
This is just from watching a bit of BBC News 24, which has lost the vaguely interesting 24 from its name to become the bland BBC News Channel (clearly patterned after the highly successful ITN / ITV News Channel). As David Cameroon said, the new set is rather spartan, and the graphics have gone from the subtle textures and animations to plain and flat. The new titles are OK though, if a bit over abstract (which kinda makes the random place names a bit well, random), although the wipe between headlines looks awful. I suppose you wanted it to be lighter than the old black and crimson look, but it?s just become rather sterile instead. Although as you clearly want BBC News to become some sort of homogenous branded blob, blandness is perhaps unsurprising.
Oh, and Gill Sans is a nice font, but the BBC introduced it as a corporate font in 1997, and it was nice in recent years that bits of the BBC stopped using it like no other font existed. Now it seems to be used everywhere again. It gets somewhat repetitive.
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I like the new look, and how it continues the evolutional approach that stems from the original BBC News rebrand back in 1999. In some respects however, this is just undoing all the tweaks and changes that have occurred over the last 9 years, to return it back to something very similar to what you had then (including the lighter colour palette).
I have huge respect for Martin Lambie-Nairn (the BBC certainly gets a better product when they use their trusted friend), but it does make you wonder how long it will be before this design gets dismantled piece by piece again - especially by the regions which seem to be a law unto themselves.
I'm not too sure of the name BBC News for the rolling news channel. I note that you are already diminishing the name by continually referring to it as 'the BBC News Channel', whereas BBC News 24 removed all ambiguity as to what aspect of the service you were referring.
More on naming - weren't the bulletins originally renamed 'BBC News at One' etc back in 1999? Again, I wonder how long before you return to using O'Clock. It may not sound as 'cool' and 'hip', but it's as much part of your brand as the pips are.
Now that this re-brand is out of the way, hopefully you will be focusing back in on giving the website the same level of quality and finish that these new idents certainly have, a finish it so evidently lacks currently. (And please, get rid of that God damn awful use of Veranda!)
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Another rebrand? Why?
Anyway. What's with the 'BBC' overkill? 'BBC South Today' and 'BBC News' on the same screen? Why do we need 'BBC' to appear twice? We're not goldfish - we won't forget 'BBC' in half a second...
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I got up this morning to watch the new graphics for the BBC News Channel and have to say they look very impressive indeed (can't wait to see what you do for the locals with them).
However, I do have to express a slight concern for the new graphics for the BBC Wales news programmes. The example that you have included shows red along Cardigan Bay and green in Monmouthshire. I feel I should say that you should pause the launch of these graphics as Wales until the second week of May, as Wales is in the midst of a local election campaign and it might reflect badly on the BBC if it could be precieved that they were backing Labour candidates in Gwynedd, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire and Plaid Cymru candidates in Monmouthshire.
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It reminds me of the opening credits to Brasseye
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Overall very nice, very very nice.
3 Visual improvements though are needed...
The name astons don't use the full length of the screen in 16:9 would be good to see it go full length rather than stop at the edge of the 4:3 safe zone.
There is a slight crack in one of the screens behind the presenters at the desk that needs sorting.
Please oh Please sort that ticker out... BREAKING NEWS ticker is now grey, make it stand out again in red, more dynamic.
Much better set though - well done!
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'BBC News Channel' ... 'BBC NEWS CHANNEL' ?! Do you not remember the ill-fated 'ITV News Channel'?
Renaming the most popular news channel to the BBC News Channel (yes, I know it is simply BBC News, but even your web site itself has labelled it as 'BBC News Channel') is the biggest mistake of this so-called re-brand.
I'm so very sorry that you felt the brand wasn't strong enough but the brand of the BBC goes without saying. I agree with 'imaginativename' - the graphics look like they were made on PowerPoint. The last set of digital on-screen graphics were far superior, why fix it if it ain't broken?
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well the graphics are still better than sky. Bit grey overkill though, especially with the bleed on the ticker which is visible with my TV card.
Studio looks good, thank god it still looks better than american networks.
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BBC News 24 still flows better when referring to the dedicated channel. If I ever asked someone to turn to BBC news on the phone or online they would likely turn to BBC One.
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Peter - thanks for your offer to respond to comments... I suspect that you may not realize what you're letting yourself in for :P
I was actually quoted in the Times and the Metro on the rebrand of the news on Radio 4 as reported here, and I've basically got the same thing to say again: what, exactly, was wrong with the old titles? Or the titles before those? Could you, in your response, please state how much of the BBC News budget has been spent on this pointless rebranding exercise?
It seems like BBC News is going mad for stamping its "athuritah" (Cartman voice) over all of the programmes that it produces in a sort of tribal marking-with-urine sort of way that bears no relevance to what viewers actually care about.
And offering to respond to comments at this point is moot - the BBC has yet again followed a "do and be damned" approach to its viewers, by making the changes they want to make without asking what viewers want *in advance*. It would have been far more sensible to offer this consultation *before* rolling out the new graphics - because you are hardly likely to switch back to the old style now for fear of losing face.
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Now some substantive points on new titles:
1. go and watch The Day Today again. Yep, BBC News is looking ever more like the titles to the paragon of news satire.
2. you've gone and called your 10pm news "BBC News At Ten" - like anyone is going to call it that, when there's already an "ITV News At Ten". They are still going to call it "the ten o'clock news", to differentiate it from the other guys.
3. calling News 24 "BBC News" is again just going to lead to confusion, because people won't be sure *which* BBC News show or channel you're referring to. 24 was fine, and by fiddling around you have made a definite backwards step.
4. News 24 might be the most popular TV news show, but Carling is the UK's most popular lager. Popularity does NOT equate to quality! ... and isn't Sky News "News Channel of the Year" at the moment?
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Have to agree with comments on the ticker:
It looks like it has been plastered on; it looks completely out of place and the grey looks *horrible*
And the ticker *still* has to be turned off when the Weather comes on to avoid a clash with the Weather graphics!!
Why not keep the ticker running all the time..why does it need to be turned off anyway?
However, it's good to see that the "ticker text" has been made bigger and is now far more readable.
The other big problem is that the on-screen graphics look 'flat'.
There is no depth to them unlike the graphics on Sky News (and Sky Sports News for that matter)
There is no polish or sheen to them.
The "PowerPoint" theory is one I would agree with.
On the plus side, the Studio looks more crisp and professional.
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Haha, only on the comments to a BBC blog would we find people convinced they know better than the legendary designer and brand expert Martin Lambie-Nairn.
"My child could do better" ....Just classic!
I give it 10 minutes before we get the usual staple ingredients - slipped-in accusations of BBC's apparent left wing culture and political correctness, comparisons with other popular "fiascos" like Terminal 5 or the 2012 logo, and general "outrage". It could all have come straight from the pages of a certain unremittingly negative 'Daily' newspaper...
Personally, I quite like the new graphics - always felt the black/red was too sombre. However I'm surprised you've taken the decision to change BBC News 24 to just BBC News. As someone has remarked, when you talk about BBC News, it will be necessary to call it the BBC News channel in order to identify the dedicated channel as opposed to your general output. Will be interesting to see how this beds in....
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It would be interesting to know how much of our money was spent on this fatuous rebranding exercise. What was the point?
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Yet again design over substance!
The new opening titles make me feel dizzy watching them and the on-screen graphics appear to be a retrograde step in terms of style.
From the comments made in the editor's blog, it would appear that the BBC1 bulletins are to share the same studio set as the News Channel. I have always found the News 24 backdrop to be distracting, and whilst the new set is a considerable improvement, it is still not ideal.
There was something authoritative about the sombre and under-stated studio set previously used for BBC1 bulletins so I do hope that a rethink will be applied.
Also, as red is a prime characteristic of BBC News, please restore the former on-screen digital graphics, which were both clearer and far superior to the new look.
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I'm indifferent about the layout changes personally, though as a web designer I agree with the move to wider screen formats in general so good move there.
I see lots of "Sorry this content isn't available at the moment" in the flash widgets (is that the i-player hiccupping)?
The worst thing I'm seeing is no closing p tags in the html of the stories. This is html 101 and really should be fixed as it occasionally causes firefox to have trouble with applying the CSS, resulting in tiny text on some paragraphs where there's an image table in there.
Keep up the good work though, the BBC News website is still by far the best news site on the web.
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The sequence looks good but I think it needs to be slowed down. You might give someone an epileptic fit whilst they're eating their breakfast!
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Well, the new branding has completely failed to upset or scandalise me, so I guess that's a good thing. Or maybe that just means it's rather bland and not all that much unlike the last 9 years of BBC News designs (according to that "BBC News through the ages" compilation of clips.
It's very swirly... I thought swirls had been done to death in the days of Accenture and Consignia, and then mercifully dropped. Also, does it really require a "rebranding" to change the names of news programmes? Does anyone actually care whether the evening news programme is called "BBC News at Six" or... er, actually... was it actually any different before? "Six o'Clock News", maybe.
Anyway, that illustrates my point perfectly. If the content is good (and let's face it; the 6pm BBC1 news is now dumbed down way below the level of John Craven's Newsround) the minor details of the programme title are irrelevant.
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I have to admit that your two largest mistakes are the name changes - "News 24" means BBC News. We all know that, and it is a name that sticks in the mind. BBC World is BBC World - what happens when you show things like Top Gear on the channel (which you do do), that doesn't fit in the "World News" theme does it?
Change for change sake is not a good thing - and whilst the majority of the changes you've made aren't bad, the name changes are pretty unforgiveable.
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I won't comment on the look, but please do our ears a favour and eliminate *all* the added 'noise' - the boom-boom-boom played over the reporter's words. I presume that it's meant to heighten the drama of lead stories; IMO it's as welcome as someone's mobile phone going off in a concert.
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In general, I think the changes are good, I can see the logic in renaming BBC World, however the renaming of BBC News 24 to BBC News is going to cause confusion between the content and the channel.
To make it clear what they are talking about, people will end up talking about "The BBC News Channel" or some-such, rather than the shorter and clearer BBC News 24.
In effect, you have simply removed the channel's identity and that will have exactly the same consequences as if you had decided to rename
BBC 1 as "BBC Programmes"
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Hmmm, those new graphics look very similar to the graphics used by the French news channel France24 !!!
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Comments on the website redesign pages appear to be closed so I'm posting here.
A change to the BBC News masthead appears to have been made this morning.
It no longer renders correctly in Firefox. The BBC News logo is red on red with a white border.
This is the way it has always rendered in Opera on my WM6 phone.
Unsurprisingly it's fine in IE!
The progressive downgrading of the appearance of the BBC online continues :-(
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The titles and studio look good, but why on Earth have you taken such a gigantic step backwards with the on-screen lower third? It's uninspired, blocky and Gill Sans does not make a welcome return, it's really not that suitable anymore for 24 hour news.
The graphics in use up until yesterday (and only in use for a relatively short time in the grand scheme of things) were classy, elegant and unobstrusive. These monsters look like they were generated in a few seconds, and whilst I can probably predict the excuse that there's a consistent look across all of BBC News, surely the regions etc. could have easily just generated a static version of the previous News 24 graphics? Seriously awful I'm afraid.
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The background to the new News looks like a vandalised scratched plastic window on a bus shelter.
Why this obsession for unfocussed backgrounds when you have access to external views form all over the world?
A good example being the background to the Andre Marr Show with "live" shots of the capital.
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The opening titles are fine, but the studio and the on-screen graphics really need work.
With the titles, white is the background colour. When you get to the studio, it's a horrible dull metal grey. That's too jarring.
The blue screen in the studio is awful, too. What was wrong with the old set? At least you knew it was coming from a newsroom. Now it could be coming from any old shed.
I'm watching Gordon Brown's speech now, and the on-screen graphics are just too disparate. There's Black text on white, white on red, white on black and white on grey.
The colour palette needs to be more focused. Change the grey ticker to black and instantly that looks better.... but please, sort that horrible studio out.
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one thing that no one has mentioned is the minor graphics changes for breakfast, are there going to be more extensive changes?
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Nice titles, shame you couldn't have spent some money on things called computers and software for the content graphics, the designers hands must ache cutting out those antique photos and red and white card. Are you in this century? My builder's homemade website is more technologically sound. Are you portraying ironic retro? or just plain lazy.
Didn't Mr Horrocks preside over a VERY stylish election programme last century? it even had depth, colour, and I believe, even used computers - wow!
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It is not very different.
Feels like a cautious decision rather than a radical one. Probably afraid of creating a backlash like the London Olympics did with their logo.
As a result it looks fine, but nothing great.
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Much preferred the News 24 brand. The graphics sequence intro etc is an irrelevancy, and an irritation when over-long.
I am more concerned though at the poor quality of weather report presentation. At times the map is shrunk so that you need binoculars to see any detail. Usually the presenters have to gabble away at such a pace that it is unintelligible, at least to older viewers, and the mapping is a disgrace. Slow down, say less, and get a large background map with some decent graphics (see Sky) instead of giving us all air-sickness by zooming all around the country.
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Whilst everything is very nice, you've NOT CHANGED ONE OF THE MOST BASIC PROBLEMS!
On BBC News (24), there is a countdown to each hour, before the hourly headlines. The countdown is displayed on screen in seconds, tenths of a second and hundredths of a second. The tenths of a second numbers count down incorrectly - only displaying the digits 2, 1 and 0 - whereas the hundredths are done properly. Watch it and you'll see what I mean.
So come on, it can't be that hard if you can do it for the hundredths, and it's such a stupid error.
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Its a great look, but still some ironing out left to do ..
Not sure about the grey ticker and bring back the red ticker for breaking news
But no one seems to have learnt a lesson about from the last graphics refresh a year or so ago, regardless of overscan and the whatnot, the live location bug, seems to be drifting in and out of the graphics safezone, and in this case off my tv screen; and that is on a 28 inch CRT and also on a 28 inch LCD;
Moving it by 10 to 20 pixels down or so and within the 4:3 Safezone will make sure it stays on screen regardless if someone is watching on any TV, overscan or not. Sky and other broadcasters can get it right, so why not the BBC.
Also, if you were going to do a name change on a channel, what about cross promtion on News 24, over the weekend and advising people that News 24 will become the 'BBC news' or the BBC news channel ?
But why change the name anyway, now you have one channel and two names for that channel - the screen ident says"BBC News", but it has been referred as the BBC News channel, by a presenter, so which is, but as others have pointed out that will get confusing.
At least with News 24, there was one name, even if not all presenters and guests used the BBC suffix before it.
What I'd like to see is how much research and public consultation, went into changing the name of this news channel?
Come on BBC sort it out.
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It now appears that how out there the graphics can be, and what colour-scheme is used has become more important than the news itself! I cannot wait to see this on Bremner Bird and Fortune in a month!
Renaming channels and bulletins by changing a word or word order? And you paid people for this? Isn't that new for the sake of newness?
The best news introduction was around 2002- cream and red- I think that was the last time it was simple, and didn't involve spinning, chopping and some futuristic spacecraft.
Mind you, the music is good, and we'll all think this is brilliant in a year when you're changing it again.
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Oh yes, I think it is rather cheeky of you to use such long and lovingly crafted shots of Daniel Craig on your N24/BBC News trailer to hook viewers in. I hope you are paying him.
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you should warn people they need a licence to watch the live news on the website. even better put it behind a login screen. otherwise its just entrapment.
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Ok, I don't mind the new bouncing beach ball logo. It looks smart. Or the rebanding to just BBC News. It makes sense.
I do however object to the set the News Channel is now on. They used to be in a newsroom. It gave a sense of immediacy, that if breaking news happened the presenters were in the midst of it. Now they are in the basement with some faux nonsense going on on the screens behind them.
It's as if you've sucked the life out of the 'live' news channel. To compound matters, the set is dressed in dreary grey. The whole set up makes me feel depressed rather than excited. I'm afraid this is not progress. Sky's over the top, brightly coloured, super whizzy "news centre" has never seemed so appealing when compared to the BBC's new supe drab "news cupboard".
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Yeah I've been staring at these new graphics and it's stilll mostly rubbish (BBC World News). I love the new globe and related graphics/animation/transitions/wipes, but the onscreen titles are far too chunky and big.
If distinctiveness was the objective this hasn't been successful. It's not much less distinctive than it was before, but not more distinctive either. Reminds me a bit of CNN International.
Oh look! Two shades of ugly grey! One for the ticker and another to display (in gigantic text) the URL to this blog...
Hmm the weather segment seems to be the same.
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There will inevitably be lots of complaints, people love to criticise the BBC and they would do it even if the thing is perfect. But I like the changes, they make it look a bit fresher and better to look at IMO. Unlike others I like the grey, it makes the text easier to read and also makes the bar a bit more distinctive. I disagree that it is not bright enough, just because it is grey that doesn?t mean it is dark. Why does it have to be bright anyway? Surely making everything nice and bright would be part of the ?dumbing down? which is another accusation being made?
I like the opening sequence, it keeps the strong and easily recognisable BBC brand but again, makes it a bit more fresh and modern.
I don?t understand the name changes though, I see very little benefit out of changing them. As many have said, ?BBC News 24? is unique and distinctive, there is no need to change that. The changes of the bulletin names is also pointless and simply makes it sound more like ITV News.
I am not fond of the new background either, although in a strange way I like it I feel it would be better to either have live shots of somewhere or to at least be looking onto the newsroom like the old one. The new background closes everything off and IMO goes against the idea of trying to make things a bit more clean and fresh.
I am undecided about whether the changes were necessary, although I understand the reasoning behind them. It seems to me though like you finish a rebrand of BBC News and start another straight away. There are some people who seem to think there is never a need to change, a quick look at BBC News a few decades ago shows that sticking with the same would be wrong and that change is appropriate, as long as it is not done too often which IMO you are somewhat guilty of.
Overall, I like the changes (apart from the new names which make no sense to me) and think they are an improvement. They are a little more clean, fresh and distinctive whilst managing to keep the strong BBC brand. Many of the complaints contradict each other which I think illustrates just how tough a job rebranding something like this is. It is impossible to completely please everyone but I think over time most people will become accustomed to it and have no real problems.
Good work.
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You've tweaked the music, and the ending isn't as good now. The ending just kind of fizzles out, whereas previously it built right up until the countdown finished. Please reinstate the previous music! Was there really any need to tweak it?!
Also I agree with all the other comments that changing 'BBC News 24' to 'BBC News' is just plain stupid. Nobody is going to call it 'BBC News' because they won't then be able to differentiate it from any of the many other news programs. I for one will continue to refer to it as News 24.
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New graphics look fine to me, though I'm not sure I like the empty background to the BBC News Channel set - I find myself looking past the presenters all the time trying to work out what is going on behind them. I'm afraid I really don't like "BBC News Channel", it's a bit of a mouthful, "News 24" was much easier. There is no point in saying it's actually just called "BBC News" as all the links on the website have channel added to them, because "BBC News" could apply to so many things. "BBC News at Ten"? No thanks, it's another mouthful, it'll always be the "Ten o'clock News" (or just "The Ten") to me.
About the website: I really like the new look, especially the embedded video. But can someone please sort out the programming of the few lines of tiny text next to pictures?? I thought it was a little issue that would be ironed out in a day but it is still happening! It might be just in Firefox but it still looks very unprofessional!
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I've always liked "BBC News 24" it sounds dynamic, connected, up-to-the-minute, reliable etc. "BBC News" doesn't have this and just seems bland (and obvious).
I'm not happy with the changes.
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I like it. It is plain and simple. What more do you want from news channel?! I think when you are start introducing more complex graphics, that is when things start going wrong. All a news channel needs to be is a place where you get the news and not be dazzled by state-of-the-art technology.
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ok so I like the new look to BBC News but disagree with Peter Horrocks on a few aspects:-
1. Renaming of BBC News 24 --- Crazy. As Peter already said it is already Britains most popular news channel .....er...why change it ? BBC News has potential to confuse and it also sounds clumsy when referred to BBC News Channel. Sky only run News on Sky News that's why it works with Sky. On the BBC though there are so many outlets calling one "BBC News" is bonkers .
2. Renaming BBC World .....this baffles me on a couple of fronts. Firstly the justification for other changes is to give the BBC News brand prominance. Isn't one of the rules of branding not to "break the flow"....BBC World News does just that. Secondly I disagree that the brand BBC News means something to a worldwide audience. Does it ? Are you sure its not just the "BBC" that has this ? or BBC World ?? How has the BBC World Service managed to gain such trust and respect without the word "News" ?
3. Forcing BBC News brand on regions. Ask a typical man in the street why they watch their regional news programme on BBC1 then they will tell you its because its local. If anything sticking the BBC News logo on it makes it more London centric. BBC News to most people is a London based organisation. What's wrong with having some regional variations demonstrating some real appreciation of the breadth and variety of the UK. This branding exercise smacks of top down, London heavy management.
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Just to add to my comment earlier, i think the grey needs to be changed to a more lively colour. (unless the designers thought 'news is not colourful and represents most of the news, dark and dreary).
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Can someone please recognise that the entire world does not have access to satellite or freeview and therfore would like to see a complete news broadcast and not be told to go to BBC News (News 24) for the full story.
As for the designs fine but please keep them for a number of years.
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WE WANT BBC 'NEWS 24' BACK!! That was the most update part of the BBC! Plus I thought the old intro thing was better, somebody got it spot on above, saying its more bland. This might make me switch to Sky.
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I really like the new look. It's fresh but not so different that you don't recognise it. The BBC has always been ahead with this sort of thing (eg the new weather maps). The clearer style on the website is great too.
I'm glad the music is the same, I've always really liked that. Bill Bailey does an excellent send up of it (search "Bill Bailey News Themes" on youtube) which is well worth seeing.
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I love the new opening titles - it does look fresh, exciting, new, clean.
However, I was absolutely disgusted when I tuned in to "News" (yeah, News 24 was better) to see these flimsy graphics, as if they'd been done on Paint - the ticker along the bottom was fine as white, and if you want the news headline bar as white, that'd be fine too - but where is any of the effects that make it look anywhere even close to the 21st century? It's all block colours, and looks absolutely ridiculous. There's nothing clean about it, it looks clumpy and quite a bit of a disgrace to be honest - if you're going to launch a new visual effect, it needs to be at LEAST as good as the one you're replacing, and from what I can see it's far from that.
You really, really, really need to look at the on-screen graphics during rolling news on 'News' - the ticker that used to fade before hitting the timestamp was nice, it was clean (as were the little BBC logos dividing the news headlines), the smooth edges and reflections, were all good. Now it looks exactly like it did in 2001, boxy and clumpy.
It looks so pathetic that, yes, I turned to Sky News this morning.
On the other fronts, I think you've made some good decisions. Although, despite you saying that red is one of the key things that people associate with you, I think there's a bit too much focus on white. But nonetheless, the idea is serving you well, bringing the channels closer under the BBC brand is good - but I'm just still flabbergasted by what I'm watching on 'News' now. =/
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Quote from message 35:
"On BBC News (24), there is a countdown to each hour, before the hourly headlines. The countdown is displayed on screen in seconds, tenths of a second and hundredths of a second. The tenths of a second numbers count down incorrectly - only displaying the digits 2, 1 and 0 - whereas the hundredths are done properly. Watch it and you'll see what I mean."
I suspect that the countdown is in seconds and frames, as in the frames per second of a TV picture. 25 frames per second for PAL would mean only seeing the digits 2, 1 and 0 directly after the colon.
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And, LOL, Declan just mentioned "BBC News 24" on air. He realised his mistake, and said, "Oh, I'll have to put a pound in the swearbox now for saying the number", but still, it sounded much better as "News 24" just then. And everyone looked a bit awkward, to be honest; I really do think it should have stayed. ;D
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Seems nice enough. Perhaps a bit busy, but much more consistent across the board.
The News channel countdown still uses fractions of a second for some inexplicable reason though. There aren't enough frames a second to display them, so you end up with two numbers alternating - what's the point??
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Please can we turn down (or preferably bin altogether) the background "noises"? They are annoying and add nothing to the presentation. Please do not get into the habit of another news channel of adding "whooshing" noises at every opportunity. This problem seems to pervade everywhere from the news on TV and traffic reports on BBC radio (local and R2) to even nature programmes - is this to counter modern man's poor concentration span? The intro "tune" (which now seems to be out of sync with the countdown seconds + TV frame count clock or was early this morning) is acceptable as a lead in to the headlines on the hour - but do we really need the rest of it?
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The new countdown music sounds very similar to remixes I did of the BBC News 24 countdown last year. You can find them by searching for "jessemoore" on youtube. I need to get a job at the beeb!
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I'd like to comment on this article but unfortunately I can't read it all ... its littered wth
"In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions"
paragraphs. I do have Javascript and Java installed and running ... I assume its just my fault for being at work and using firefox on Solaris
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Who's died?
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Why change it to something that looks the same? Same colours, same music! Why not have different colours for different parts of the day? or different news presenters? If you wanted change, change completly and e in competition with Sky, CNN etc. Changing to BBC News rather than BBC News 24 has not done a lot!
Change is good, but change should mean change, not Jazzed up!!
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I have to agree with the comment at number 24, please please please stop that bl**dy annoying thumping noise as the head lines are read out!!! It adds nothing to the broadcast and frankly makes me want to turn over, how can anyone think that its a good idea??
On another point, is there really any point in asking people for their opinions? Lets face it you might make the odd tweak but even if every single comment made on here was negative you wouldn't fundamantally change anything or go back to the drawing board would you? Isn't this is just another window dressing exercise in appearing to be open to the people who pay the bills while continuing to do exactly what you want to do??
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Firstly I'm very happy that you've decided to retain David Lowe's music. It's excellent and hasn't dated since it was first used - it's still sharp, particularly with the recent touches.
I do however agree with what people say about the name change - News 24 was well established, and provides distinction between the channel name and it's content. You've removed the definition between the specific brand and the output. I think I understand why you've done this, but it's one of those things where 'it works, don't touch it if you don't need to' should've been applied. Look at how BBC London (radio) has been tweaked - it just gives the impression that something's not right and needs plasters put on it!
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What a colossal waste of licence-fee payers' money.
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Errr, i think you are drowning in your own self importance, this is hardly a quantum leap now is it ... or newsworthy for that matter!
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Could you make it a little more grey please?
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I have to say that I think its all brilliant. Nice fresh clean crisp look. And I have no problems with the ticker that people seem to be on about. All round great improvements.
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What a wonderful thing to wake up to in the morning! I'm so glad you kept David Lowe's music. Whenever you think BBC News you think accuracy, trust, and 'beep'.
His music is simply astounding.
However. "BBC News Channel" What on earth? That sounds dreadful.
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I agree with TonyRut about the jangly noise composed? by David Lowe you call a signature tune for the BBC news. I understand that it uses the "pips" which preceded the news on 'steam radio' as a motive.
I watch the news from Sweden on the BBC World channel and I am continuously frustrated by the fact that the presenters are battling against this jangly noise when trying to present the news headlines (I can see it in their body language!). I note that the jangly noise is faded out before the headlines are presented on the national news broadcasts. Why can't you do the same on the BBC world channel? Most of those watching the BBC world channel have English as a second/or third language and must find it more irritating than I do! No wonder they turn to the competition for their news!
Why not have a competition to find the best signature tune with the winner chosen by the listening public. I am not asking for the return of 'Lilliballero', which was the signature tune for the news on the BBC world service radio. It was originally written as a protest song against Catholics and the Irish! But you can do a lot better than to emulate the jangly noises of the commercial channels. Have you forgotten the original charter of the BBC from 1926 to serve your public?
I am afraid that the signature tune? for the world business rapport is not much better. There is a fantastic heritage of British music as well as many living British composers who could produce a signature tune for the BBC worthy of the name.
I spent many years as a sound engineer and dubbing mixer in film and video fighting my clients tooth and nail not to drown out their voice-overs with jangly noise(music?), which didn't fit!
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I can't get the damn site to render even vaguely correctly under anything other then Windows and IE.
Neither of which we use.
BBC - get out from under Microsoft and make your site compliant with the standards.
Use the W3C validator - it shows 353 errors on your front news page.
You have gone, over the past twelve months from a paragon of how it should be done, to a complete mess.
Together with the Iplayer nonsense you have virtually excluded us from effective use of your site.
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I've just spotted this a few posts above:-
"I do have Javascript and Java installed and running ... I assume its just my fault for being at work and using firefox on Solaris"
And I am using Firefox under Linux.
Did you guys do *any* testing with anything other than MS stuff??
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Why do I have to 'join blogs' (wozzat?) to comment? What have I just signed up to? How can I resign?
Yours is the first page for me daily, and the new 'design' would no doubt win competitions, but there seems too much white space and scrolling (why not do a typesize choice for 'accessibility' issues?)
Also the banner at top is too intrusive on reading-space - less depth please.
And fun stuff scrolls across too fast for us oldies both to digest and click: can't you do a dynamic dropdown there? (as in Ubuntu Firefox already).
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I really dont like the revamp. Yes the old graphics may have been sombre but i believe they gave the BBC authority when devlivering the news.
The new titles make me feel rather sick with all the spinning about.
The new black and white banners dont look right and the live bug is a different colour again. I really believe the BBC should reinstate the last banners. Aslo they finish in the 4:9 safe zone, allow them to go all the way to the screen, just looks better.
The new studio is ok, just feels a bit cold. I think a wooden effect floor like the studio before had makes it feel warmer.
I really would reconsider the colour screen and return it to the red and black, the BBC news colour
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Whatever the cost of this rebranding I'm sure the money could have been better used.
It probably would have doubled the budget for BBC Parliament...
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The studio is very nice, and I've always liked Gill Sans, but virtually everything else is wrong:
1) The name changes are unnecessarily confusing, and worse still make too much of a break from existing well-regarded brands.
2) The dark off-red was tired ten years ago, and no number of rearrangements can alter this. It makes it look like BBC News has been decorated by Lawrence Llewelyn-Bowen. Perhaps reverting to the nice crisp Six o' Clock News blue from the 1980s would be a good idea. At least you have moved a little away from that red in Wales and Scotland.
3) From that globe, am I to gather that man has colonized Jupiter?
4) The beeping and thumping simply isn't music; it's just irritating. Worse still, continuing in the misguided policy of using the same racket before everyone's regional news gives extremely bad messages about identity. There are ways of making programmes distinct, but still obviously BBC News -- this is something the rest of BBC News should learn from Newsnight.
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As someone who has difficulty hearing, I am saddened that you have put background noise (bleeping?) against the sounds of the presenters speaking. The added sounds are unecessary, and only serve to distract from what is being said.
The news should be about clarity, please ensure that the auditory presentation is as clear as possible in order to reach the widest possible audience.
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Im pretty neutral on the change, I dont hate it but I prefer the previous look. I do have two minor niggles with it however, firstly as pointed out before the grey news tickers look terrible, secondly with so much white it has a very clinical, sterilised look that makes me think of clean rooms and operating theatres rather than the warm colours previously that gave a welcoming by the fire feel.
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Glad the music hasn't changed significantly, I love the beeps, and I understand the globe usage, but I'm afraid I must join the long list of viewers who want the return of "24" (and I don't mean the one starring kiefer sutherland (though I do enjoy that american series of gratuitous violence)).
Put the 24 back on the end of "BBC News" so that we can distinguish the channel from the individual programmes and so that it gives a sense of difference from sky news, and the ill fated itv news.
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Generally, it seems to be good, although the way the globe keeps changing rather quickly and flashily makes my head spin rather. I don't know what effect it would have on an epileptic person.
I'm pleased you kept the apocalyptic rave music (see Bill Bailey).
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I preferred the previous graphics. In fact, looking back through your video of all the changing graphics made me think the 1999 ones are the best.
Specifically, I don't like the White, it jars too much. The Yellow was far better.
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Forget the Marketing blather - that is just froth.
CONCENTRATE on the quality of the News - not "pop" news but REAL news with accurate, detailed information given.
Leave the "popular" news to all the other radio, tv and newspapers.
Keep the BBC as the one and only truth telling source of all the real facts in each story.
A bit of fun sometimes (Flying Penguins, Spagetti trees) but keep it true, keep it factual.
Drop the shouting of headlines, just say them clearly and carefully.
Drop the unnecessary OBs of reporters who know no more than the studio waffling and passing control onto another -ditto-!
Keep it BBC!
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I'm watching the News Channel, and I don't know what the time is because there is no onscreen clock. We've been through this before, and you then added a clock onto the latest revision (after an explosion from viewers) and now, at the next opportunity, you've removed it.
This is the listening BBC, hey?
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Peter.
Thanks so much. Until today I was really worried about what BBC News brought to the world.
I saw the vacuous 'lifestyle' nonsense that is broadcast on two channels as "Breakfast" every morning.
I saw the ever-increasing reliance on comments from Joe Public with no filter of whether these comments are insightful or from experts in the field.
I saw the increasingly simplistic and patronising BBC Six O'Clock News filled with stories about Britain lest other countries confuse the poor viewers.
I saw newscasters chatting amongst themselves as part of 'ínformal' links that seem to value tired jokes or ?banter? above news content.
And then, this morning, I saw a changed background colour and a different name for the programme! Finally - you have provided the "clarification of what we are about". All is now well with the BBC News output.
I?m far from someone who looks at all the past as halcyon: I think Newsnight and Channel 4 News are still excellent, but if I look back at the Six O?Clock news from the ?blue? days I am struck by just how poor quality BBC News has become; how bland and vapid it is and how little detailed analysis it ever conducts. No re-brand alone is going to fix this ? it takes a culture change.
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What a complete waste of License payers money. Not only that but logo is ugly and over complicated.
The new look must have cost the BBC a fortune. Was it necessary? Probably not.
Thanks for spending my money so wisely BBC.
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I don't mind the new setup - but PLEASE fix the html and css. The css isn't too bad but have you even run the front page through a html checker????
At the very least clean up the basic stuff, its not that hard to do.
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I like the new look but however you try to defend it, renaming News 24 and, to a lesser extent, BBC World was a big, unnecessary mistake and I have no doubt that the names will be reverted back within the year. 'BBC News' implies that this is the most important service when for many people it isn't. 'BBC News' should only be used for the department itself. 'News 24' seperates it from other news services in the BBC, I don't understand why you would want to make it more confusing for the viewer.
As for BBC World News, that's just patronising to the viewer: everyone knows it's a news channel, they don't need to be told that. I have a feeling the name change is solely for American viewers that will be seeing the channel on a bigger scale once the channel rolls out across the country.
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Please return the BBC News Channel to BBC News 24!
It sounds so tacky as BBC News. Also, bring back the graphics we just had! They were what I liked about tuning to sky channel 503 everyday.
Please also get rid of that hideous red box, is there really any need for that to be on screen. I think the new graphics look dreadful to be perfectly honest.
What was wrong with the white ticker and 'arial' font used on the previous graphics. And the effects used on the banners and 'live' captions?
They were what made BBC N24 a better news channel than Sky's. BBC, if you're planning on listening to us, then take the feedback and bring back the much loved 'NEWS 24'.
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It seems everyone is being incredibly negative about the changes, so i'll attempt to infuse some positivity.
I feel you've done an excellent job with the rebranding.
Change is necessary. If the BBC News remained as it was in the 1980s it would look out of touch and outdated.
I think you've made a good job of improving the graphics. You've recognised massive changes aren't necessary and all the changes have been an improvement.
Those who say you should have consulted prior to the changes, probably haven't read fully your explanation for the changes. It appears you have done significant research and used it to heavily influence the changes.
Good job!
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Oh lord, the reactionaries are out in force.
I like the new look - I agree with the comment above that the on-screen graphics now seem a little dated, but on the whole a step forward.
I think people will get used to "BBC News" rather than "News 24", and it forces those of us who often say the names of the channels to say 'BBC', which I guess is part of the point.
Whenever something changes at the BBC, rather than say "well it's not right for me", or "I don't like it" people so often reach for "colossal waste of licence fee payers money!" - it's just not true. The BBC serves upwards of 50 million people. Not everyone can like every aspect.
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It looks like you've copied Sky News:
The two news readers on the desk are closer to the camera.
A single news reader is shown in a close-up portrait shot.
The shiny, 'floaty' desk and background.
The BBC should be leading and setting higher standards, not following other news channels.
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new tiles are nice but but the straps which say things like breaking news and the reporters name are hideous they look like they have been made on paint.
and the set is dull and cold maybe change the floor colour to red and callng bbc news 24 bbc news is a good idea
the regional news in the north west has just got a New set, graphics, and music now with the corporate look it looks awful why not introduce the Old north west tonight new look
In all the BBC regional news and it would look great
and sort the straps out they look awful!
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I think BBC News is just awful. BBC News 24 kind of... Well, it kind of 'sat well' and sounded right when said out loud. It also, most importantly, communicated that we could get BBC News 24 hours a day. Nice and easy and to the point.
When I reference BBC News, I'm usually talking or writing about something I've seen on the website.
This change is pointless and pointlessly expensive, no doubt--though not as appalling and nausea-inducing as the BBC3 makeover, which not only saw the blobs killed off but also introduced ghastly pink as a main colour along with ghastly 70s-retro text, at the same time telling those of us over the age of 30 that we weren't welcome to watch the channel anymore as we aren't the target audience of yoof.
So. If something isn't broken, why fix it?
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Unlike the website re-design, these changes seem (to me, anyway) to be generally pleasant and improve recognisability/ease of use etc.
What is this criticism of the wonderful title music though? I love the beeps and I think they communicate "BBC News" as well as music can. I personally don't mind it going over the newsreader's introduction, but if it's causing accessibility problems for partially deaf people, then it needs to be rethought.
The only bit I would argue with is News 24 --> BBC News. It's already become BBC News Channel which is just ugly. Something a bit more specific is needed, perhaps?
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I neglected to say in my last comment, noting other users' comments about the site and how it appears under anything but Windoze, I find it frankly disgraceful that pages often render incorrectly in Firefox under Mac OS X.
This adds further insult to those of us who aren't Microsoft-loving saps. First, we get told we can't download iPlayer content, only PC users - and yet no offer of a discount on our licence fees, given that we have effectively shared the cost for Windoze users to have that ability we do not - and second, we then find you allow certain content to be available FOR A PRICE if I'm prepared to swallow it, by downloading from iTunes.
You then announce a deal with Nintendo to provide iPlayer on TVs attached to Wii consoles, while Apple TV was and remains a perfect vehicle for BBC content.
I'm not wishing to shoot the messengers, no, but the site designers and overall technology planners? Yes. Absolutely! What, did Microsoft and Nintendo PR offer all you backroom boys free Xbox and Wii consoles for giving them a huge boost?
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Hugely disappointing and a complete waste of money. How can you spend 550,000 quid to step back in time? As mentioned by other bloggers - the font is old hat, the Breaking News aston does nothing to grab viewers attention, a stark contrast to the statement made by the BBC the last time there was a lick of paint. To quote Roger Mosely, head of BBC TV News, said there was a perception that the channel was slower than its main rival, Sky News, in airing breaking news stories.
He said in fact the channels were about even on breaking news. The BBC's enhanced graphics will emphasise this area of its output, he said.
Apparently his vision has been canned.
The studio is cold, lacks the feeling of a fast paced rolling news channel.
Sadly, this is the most dreadful of revamps, a real shame considering the channel was doing so well.
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hmmm blue for Scotland and green for Wales I get, but orange for Northern Ireland???
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One last thing - Please change the lower thirds. The color scheme is absolutely vile. A Grey ticker?!
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Bring back he pre 1999 title music. It was much more dramatic and was a metaphor for the news's importance.
The post 99 soudtrack is diluted and does nothing to attract or appeal the younger generation
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Erm... I have to say that I'm not sure I really noticed any difference. This feels a little like the Emperor's New Clothes. How much of my money was spent on this? What was the point? Was something wrong with whatever it was you've got rid of?
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I'm not so sure about the new News not 24 studio look.
It seems very cramped, the old one had proper visual depth (not as much as back in 1997, which I loved).
The main news studio with the 'buildings skyline' backgrounds worked because the effective perspective was huge.
But the 'virtual newsroom' look like a green-screen setup and lacks perspective.
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Three "issues"
-fix the lousy lower-third powerpoint graphics
-change the name of BBC News Channel to BBC News 24
-quieten the beeps. whooshes and thunderclaps
Other than that - love the new studio, like the new idents and most of the music is good!
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I am never impressed by looks.
What does impress me is a news channel that is fair minded, which, will report the news fairly.
A channel which is not run by government and has no bias against religion or race or anything really.
Just the news as it is with no frills.
Can the BBC impress me?
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Jonathan-Brooks: The countdown is in second and FRAMES, not seconds. 25 frames a second on European television.
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Just a few more thoughts.
'BBC World News' fine. BBC World doesn't explain what the channel is, and in crowded EPG, you need that. Better than 'BBC World Service Television'.
But, 'BBC News 24' passes the Ronseal test - it does EXACTLY what it says on the tin.
It's not like News 24 was failing and was in need of a lift, you were wiping the floor with Sky News.
As for the Lamert Nairn graphics, their work was Award Winning - back in 1988. There seems to be nothing different in content to these 'new' titles and those for the BSB The Sports Channel.
On the plus side, David Lowe's "Apocalyptic Rave" music remains.
I suspect he's the Ronnie Hazelhurst for the rave generation.
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How much public money did this rebranding exercise COST? Couldn't we have had an equivalent reduction in the BBC Tax instead?
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prlewis: How much? Just 550,000 pounds.
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You've been conned mate. Lambie Nairn have sold you an inferior version of what was on screen a decade ago - which in itself dated very quickly, and a few years on seems a huge step back.
The studio looks awful with so much space wasted - and as for dropping the "24" - what nonsense. "News 24" was probably the strongest brand out of the digital channels, but it seems the suits above won the battle to ensure "BBC" wasn't left out when referencing it.
And what's with the return of the box - it's being phased out on other channels, so why introduce it here.
Worst of all though are the on-screen graphics - I've seen better on Sky News, and that really is saying something. The last incarnation on News 24 worked perfectly - these are just a hideous block obscuring a third of the screen.
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I hate the Information bands and text at the bottom of the screens it looks like the BBC London ones and are too basic. I prefer the older ones.
Gill Sans is used way too much in this rebrand. The fonts you used before were fine.
All you had to do was change the colours of the old bits you used to the new white and red, not completely change them.
Please change them back, I hate them.
One thing I do like though is that the 'BBC News channel' at the top of the hour seems like it is an actual news bulletin on BBC One, I don't know why. I think it must be the studio. Which I have to say is worse than before, I liked the London background at day and at night. it also looked more bright, this new one uses too much grey, GREY IS AN AWFUL COLOUR. And you can guess I HATE the ticker. It's ugly what was wrong with the font you used before, it looked fine and so did the black text on the white background.
PLEASE TELL ME YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE SOME CHANGES or I may have to switch over to somewhere else! It's too ugly.
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A couple of people were complaining about the lack of sheen or whatever that sky new's latest graphic package has - thank god it doesn't have that, computer effects look so dated. Take a look at ANY american news channel with their "FLASH" onscreen graphics, it just looks so dated (especially when in 4:3)
Sky's latest package looks overly tacky and flash and distracts from the stuff on the screen. (Never mind their BREAKING NEWS stuff.....)
I'd say it's pretty good, just the grey looks a little washed out, I think black would have been better and the clock with a red background.
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I really have to say, I LOVE this new look. The titles are very modern, interesting and stylish. As is the music, however the headline bed used on the News Channel seems a bit flat.
So, I really like the titles, stings, everything. The new studio is also nice. I'd like to see the presenters stood up maybe, but apart from that its much better. I will miss the noise from the newsroom, but that's all.
One thing I have to tell you. I know not many people like the new graphics at the moment, but I REALLY like them. The grey is different for the ticker. But its very nice, I also like the animation on everything. However, just one gripe, make Breaking News stand out more. Add some shine to it and use the breaking news sound, like you did this morning. I would also think about moving the clock somewhere else, the ticker seems really small.
Overall, I like it. Well done BBC News. If you do tweak the graphics, please don't completely change them! They are good.
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I've just created an account with you purely to complain about the new look. Most of it is ok, but I have two main gripes:
1. The large white information bar obscuring about 20 percent of the screen, this is very intrusive.
2. The studio lighting - it's incredibly dull-looking and has the additional downside of emphasising the (how do I put this delicately?) no, can't think of a way.. the 'bags' under some of the gentleman presenters eyes..
The BBC has a well-justified reputation for reliability, but it also needs to appeal to a young modern audience, and the current drab presentation is, in my opinion, unlikely to win over any converts, and I say this with a certain sorrow, as I have the greatest respect for your output in general.
Please change it back..
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"Some institutions need to be changed, but altering the ones that are just fine as they are just adds to uncertainty, says Clive James."
Couldn't say it better myself...
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Am I alone in hating the 'jungle drums' and beeps at the beginning of the News? They are irritating enough during the opening sequence but more so when they continue for almost a full minute over the news summary, drowning out what the presenter is saying.
Why mess about with new graphics anyway? It seems to me (in common with other comments) that the BBC is changing for changes sake - at enormous cost to the licence payer. The BBC news is the benchmark for all other news programmes - there's no need to compete with Sky or News at 10 for the best graphics and psuedo 'immediacy'. And by the way, according to my newspaper, the BBC 10 o'clock news wipes the floor with News at 10, which has less than half the viewers BBC has, so why the need to compete?
Anyway - get rid of the jungle drums please!
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why is the bbc news at six in its old studio and not in the new one along with bbc news at 1,and 10 and bbc news channel?
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I am seething that my licence fee has gone to pay designers and "brand experts". Who gives a stuff about how pretty the BBC looks when the people who actually gather and produce the news are being cut back? This is SHAMEFUL!! The BBC doesn't need designers and marketing people - its "brand" has been built by quality and innovation in CONTENT, not style.
However, the quality of the BBC's content seems to have declined as its style has "developed" - note, for example the awful coverage of the Tibet protests during the London stage of the torch relay - hours on hours of coverage of ... pretty much nothing. There was even a stage when the "commentator" (for that's what "journalists" have become) said that there "is nothing happening at the moment but stay with us"!!!! Still, the graphics are pretty so that's fine.
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I don't like the new graphics at all...looks as though they are incomplete.....faded. Not sure what was wrong with the ones in use before. Surely a waste of money that could have made some more quality drama.
I catch my news through headlines on here anyway.
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I have already commented on this blog, but Peter, I am sure you will read all these comments, and I hope that at very least that:
1) the ticker gets a revamp (revert back to the old one?) but keep the larger text in the ticker.
2) please, PLEASE, update the on-screen graphics to be more modern; inparticular the white stripe (it's hideous!!)
Some people have said that it would be 'humilliating' for the BBC to revert/go back on decisions. I disagree and think that it would show that the BBC really takes feedback seriously.
It seems so pathetic to be talking about the presentation of the journalism rather than journalism itself; but if you present the journalism poorly, it does not matter how good that journalism is, viewers will migrate to seek more presentable news sources.
BTW, I like the place names on the bulletins, but once again Oswestry is omitted from the list ;)
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Can I just say 'we have been though the grey ticker thing before'. It's VERY hard to read for people with poor eyesight.
You fixed it before, it needs fixing again.
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Bring back the 1988 ident it sounded very dramatic and looked good. Failing that bring back the 1993 one. Or failing that bring back the old music from the 80's or early 90's it sounded much more important and impressive.
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television? Oh, yes.. I remember them!
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I like the new on-screen branding overall. However I do have some constructive criticism: I agree with some of the earlier comments about motion sickness. I think it's a combination of the lower third being far too big and the new colours. I like the new colours, so maybe you could review the size of the graphics instead. ;-)
I love the new grey ticker, I think it's much tidier and unobtrusive than the old red version. Those that are complaining about it - perhaps you'd like to see how a ticker can be ghastly wrong by tuning into Sky News?
And the studio is spectacular. I particularly like the new newsdesk and the highly reflective surface (but I don't envy the job of whoever cleans it). I don't know whether you have replaced the old cameras with new HD cameras (it had such an impact on Newsnight, even viewing the programme in SD), or whether you have purchased more bandwidth on Astra 2, or whether it's the simpler colours on the on-screen graphics that are playing nicer with the MPEG2 compression, but it looks FANTASTIC! There is so much more detail now, and much fewer artefacts. Dare I say you have followed Sky's lead here and have made the new studio "HD ready"?!
Good to see you're improving the look of your output. Please, do continue to use my licence fee to do so. I'm being serious. I'd much rather it was spent on this than the dross your network puts out as "Saturday Night Entertainment". :-)
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One step closer to look just as ****** as Sky News.
I think you completely forgot that a new look doesn't make your program any more professional. How about focusing on details in the news rather than fancy new studio looks.
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A gripe from a Yank School Teacher. BBC News articles often do not have the author's name. I have a problem with this, because as a school teacher who brings BBC into the classroom on large screen projector, I teach students how to check for authenticity of an article. It's hard to say it's a reliable article if there is no authorship claimed.
Example from today: Gaffes dominate Democratic debate
no authors name - so when I see an error in the text which says Hilary Clinton says an apology for her 'under fire' remark; then I listen to the video clip and she in fact says 'I have apologized' that is NOT an apology! Who did who and when did she apologize to? That is NOT documented in the debate, so the text of the article is in error. I'd like to tell the author of the error but BBC omit's the name.
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Er, but it's not "BBC News" is it? Right on the front page of the BBC News website, it's the "BBC News Channel" - much more of a mouthful. BBC News 24 was a good name for a 24 hour news channel - can we have it back? Please?
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Interesting article from the Telegraph reporting that the new look is causing people to feel nauseous. There are so many negative comments on this board, and television presentation websites are equally full of negative remarks about this shoddy re-brand, which, to those who aren't aware, cost half a million pounds (and comes only a year after the last re-brand, and seven months after the last re-brand of North West Tonight). I just wonder, will BBC News be ignoring the feedback as they have done with the feedback on the website changes? Also, when should I tune in for the next re-brand - same time next year?
IF IT AIN'T BROKE, DON'T FIX IT.
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I like the new look very much! -- Although I had to watch it on the internet for "BBC News".
The studio's great, however, I don't see that this is happening in the International version, which is using the two existing studios.
The one with the rear projection mini studio is not that great... And now it's called "BBC World News" (instead of BBC World) just made the bottom news ticker bar even longer and the readable section shorter.
But all and all it was a nice graphics update, and please also do something for the international viewers in terms of the studio. Thank you.
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[BBC World News:] The globe animation is distracting when a split screen (correspondent+video clip for example) is overlayed on top of it. Perhaps if the globe animation was in greyscale if would be less distracting.
Of the news channels that I get I think I like the title graphics of Al Jazeera English the best. Clean, fresh, very distinctive, and less obtrusive than the new chunky BBC graphics.
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The plus points ? the new titles and branding are excellent and deserve credit. The pace is fast and I like the inclusion of place names in the sequences ? indicates the global reach of BBC News.
However in terms if on-screen graphics and studio this really is a step back. The new studio is far to dark and grey, the back ground is all but lifeless and like others I will bore of it very quickly. Obviously loosing the real newsroom back drop was always going to be a wrench but surely to compensate for this the new graphics set should have had a ?wow? factor and blown us all away ? unfortunately apart from the titles, these have failed miserably and take BBC News back 10 years.
The font looks horrible old fashioned, the solid block colours and also harsh, the rich texturing and animation of the previous set have been abandoned and replaced with a dull, clunky and ill conceived effort. I feel a great opportunity has been missed and in the hugely competitive news market that BBC executives continually refer to, this hardly puts BBC News at the top of the pile.
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What surprises me, given the amount of reaction to this graphics refresh 100+ comments so far, its nearly been 12 hours, is that it seems that no one from the BBC has made any sort of comment.
Wonder if they are collating all the comments, and suggestions and will make a statement in a few days time, on what tweaks (if any) will be made .. and do wonder if that statement will made on Fridays Newswatch programme or on this blog ?
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Overall I love the new look and sound - a good evolution of the existing versions. The new studio looks a bit empty compared to the activity of the old one but I'm sure I will get used to it.
To those people who say "oh... why do you have to keep changing it"... just look at the clips of BBC bulletins from the archive - they look hideously dated now. By evolving the existing look and using variations of the theme across regions and services, the cost is being kept down.
One thing I don't like though - "The BBC News Channel". Urg. Horrible name. I can understand calling it "BBC News" on screen and when presenters refer to it ('you're watching BBC News'), but when cross promoting from other media it just sounds cheap and horrible.
Why not stick to 'BBC News' on screen and on air, but when greater clarity is needed (e.g. handing over at the end of the 10 O'clock News) still call it BBC News 24. After all this isn't that different from what you are now actually doing in practice.
And if you just changed the name because people sometimes dropped the 'BBC' bit of the front then you should have more confidence in yourselves. The BBC brand couldn't get much bigger... and 'BBC' will always be associated with News 24. It seems a shame to drop it now, just when it has established real recognition and a high-quality reputation. I hope you reconsider this part of your approach.
P.S. Pleased to hear that you are still working on the news website and that we can expect more improvements following the feedback. It did need a refresh, but this look just doesn't work.
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Great new look.
But why rename the News programmes to BBC News at 1,6,10?
Also may I ask where is Nuneaton's name on BBC Midlands Today???
Yet again, the BBC dont seem to care to put Nuneaton on Midlands Today (West Mids)
WHERE ARE WE?
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To be honest, this feels like a step backwards in terms of evolution of the graphic style. I feel almost transplanted back to the early 2000s.
I liked the direction that the previous style was going in, finally moving away from Gill Sans and promo boxes slapped on here and there in promos.
Quite frankly, the sooner BBC News reverts to its previous graphic style, the better. What a poorly led, ill-made, unnecessary and no doubt ridiculously expensive decision.
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Can someone in the BBC design team *please* learn how radio dishes work?
The BBC continues to show beams of red 'stuff' coming out of the backside of a radio receiver. It winds me up so much that I stopped watching BBC News 24!
What do you think the dish is for on a radio receiver? Decoration?!
Just for the BBC design team: radio waves hit the dish and get focused onto the receiver, which points at the dish.
Sorry, was that too technical?!
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Maybe you could organise some sort of online vote as a tool to gauge public opinion on this important matter.
I was thinking something along the lines of
BBC News Re-branding.
a) Laugh?
b) Cry?
Vote now!
Probably could do with some graphics, you know, to help get the idea across.
Or do you think
BBC News: Re-brand!
would make a better title?
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TheNunnyFox - not the first time that's happened. They tried it back in 1999, and then they became "BBC News at Ten o'clock" etc. before ultimately returning to the more traditional "BBC Ten o'clock News".
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Sorry, but along with your recent website rebrand, the new look of your news channel (BBC News 24 R.I.P.) is now dreadful.
As of June 2007 News 24 had finally managed to create a glorious on screen presence without any of the Sky News style ostentatiousness. You had perfect graphics (right down to the fade of the ticker into the clock once you moved it), a nice shiny effect on your headline strap, LIVE button, and graphics bar, nice BBC logos in between items on the ticker, an easy to identify colour for Breaking news on the ticker, and fabulous use of the much underused black which (for the record, saved power consumption on LCD/Plasma screens).
After years of amateurish graphics, woefully large text, and a pretty dodgy presentation team, you had finally got it together with the best looking news channel on TV.
And now this?
Seriously. What were you thinking?
And what's with the grey? We're already reliving the grey era of John Major with a terribly dull PM pushing us into the brink of economic doom, and now you get rid of the bright and vibrant colours for GREY?
I have to agree with others who have commented (like David Cameron did this morning) that the new studio is poor. Very spartan and drab, no sign that it is actually linked to a newsroom in any way at all, it is really awful. And quite apart from the colour and really boring virtual background, what on earth is going on with the hideous etchings on the backdrop? It looks like your presenters are sitting in a vandalised bus stop.
Your old studio was light years ahead of the game, this one looks like a cross between a nuclear bunker and a bus shelter.
Flat drab graphics, massive overuse of white and grey and an opening sequence that has absolutely no gravitas whatsoever.... blergh!
This totally harks back to the 1999 rebrand, all you have done is changed the beige for white or grey, and managed to make it resemble the ITV studio.
And please, for the love of god, why change the name? Why? Why? This is total hubris and vanity on the part of Peter Horrocks.
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Hi Peter,
I think that the rebrand is acceptable. I don't think that many people are keen on rebranding for its own sake, but it is valid enough here.
As for the colour scheme, design etc. Yes it works, its clean. Red, grey, white go well together.
People soon get used to a rebrand I would imagine.
I would like to say that originally I wasn't keen on the website update, but I actually prefer it now. When functionality changes, as in the website rebrand, the end user is affected more than just with the visual/brand identity.
Iplayer is EXCELLENT.
Embedded news clips on the various news web pages likewise.
This is something I feel let the BBC down previously with the godawful Realplayer/Windows Media Player alternatives with horrible connection issues and dreadful image size/quality.
The iplayer and new embedded video really are top notch.
I have a friend who tells me he is seriously considering buying a TV licence due to the recent upgrades..!
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And while we're all at it, can someone please fire Robert Peston?
The man is either an idiot or is pretending to be one. I can live with the ridiculous way he insists on speaking (though I'd really rather not) but his reporting is almost entirely vacuous nonsense and if this country ends up in recession over the coming year I'm afraid he will be far more responsible than Gordon Brown or Alistair Darling put together.
For a business correspondent not to understand and hence be able to explain to viewers exactly what a rights issue is, and the fact that it is not a reason for blind panic (in fact it is a very very good thing) is beyond negligent. You might have been able to bring Northern Rock crashing to its knees, but the game's up Mr Peston.
Get over yourself.
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"We have asked members of the audience about the key things they associate with us. The characteristics that emerged were - the phrase "BBC News" itself, our distinctive music (by David Lowe), the globe, the colour red, the clarity and accuracy of our news services."
How very true!
I think you should concentrate, however, on the really important aspect of the BBC Brand, which is, of course, the colour red.
Some day, hopefully, we will see a time when the graphic is a solid,motionless, uncluttered block of red.
Good to see the re-branding team had the foresight to draw the audience more in this direction.
The bold changes made have certainly taken the Corporation to the very threshold of a future in which simply hearing the name of the BBC will, in an organic sort of way, lead the viewer quite naturally into a 'seeing red' scenario.
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I'm sorry but BBC News just seems to lack authority these days. We get some bleepy sound with concentric circles running around lovely coloured shapes - nothing tells me its the news!
Can't we just get some stirring music, some simple designs and some content that'll make me realise its the news? At the moment, its like some morning Chat Show.....I mean, why do you ask viewers to e-mail in their thoughts....??
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Why can't you just tell us the news? Listening to the news is more of a news forecast:
"today, the Prime Minister will..."
"It is expected today that ....."
On the subject of the changes, the silly graphics are making "The Day today" less of a comedy programme and more of a shape of things to come.
One final thing, when reading the news, please leave out the emphasis and patronising attitued.
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Hmm, nicer design. However all video previews, and audio in the new style, DO NOT work on MAC's ?? Why ??
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After the "countdown" at the start of BBC News 24 programmes, the presenter's first sentence is usually drowned out by the "BANG-BANG" of what sounds like electronic drums.
I would appreciate it if they were disposed with.
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Oh I SO agree with the comment from where'sthe24gone - Robert Pestons irritating, hectoring tones make my hackles rise at the best of times, but the fact that the BBC are prepared to run trailers of him bragging about his 'scoop' that has cost the British tax payer BILLIONS and helped to undermine confidence in the whole economy has me reaching for the 'off' button. If he could have controlled himself a little, the Bank of England could have dealt with the temporary liquidity problems 'behind closed doors' as they have many times in the past.
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Oh dear. Dear, dear, dear. I was so impressed with the news presentation across the whole BBC News 'portfolio'. (Have I used the right word there?)
But what have you done? Ridiculously dull graphics that are a total step backward to what we had yesterday. I loved the headline straps we had before - classy, clean, easy on the eyes, and the astons, but now it's a very un-welcomed return to our old riend Gill Sans, who's cropped up again to news like a bad penny. And the grey headlines banner. What were you thinking, Martin Lambie-Nairn? This idea should've been drowned at birth.
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Let me preface this by making it clear that I do not work in the industry, I am just a regular viewer.
I can only assume that you were forced to move out of your old studio to the new one which appears to be in an unused corner of Homebase.
In the wide shots the desk looks pathetic and lost in that large space and the poor sports presenter is stranded like an after thought. Conversely in the close ups the effect is positively claustrophobic. When I first switched on I thought that they were sat in front of a piece of cardboard not an expensive video screen.
The newsroom one can just make out through the scratched glass looks disproportionally distant and, by the fact that no one ever seems to leave their seat, I presume it isn?t a live shot and they were all told to sit still for a recorded loop.
I suspect that you could not have made a rolling live news channel look more dead if the licence fee had depended on it. A 24 hour news channel needs the vitality that comes from seeming to be at the heart of things. This could be coming from my garage.
I?m afraid I?m with virtually every other commenter with regard to the rename; pointless and no good.
On the bright side I think the graphics are ok but, and you knew there would have to be a but, while the white text and grey ticker are fairly clear within in themselves, the grey of the ticker is too neutral and blends into too many of the images it is in front of, making the text less clear.
In summary (and possibly straying into ?The Day Today? territory), on Friday the News 24 studio and broadcast felt like it was the hub of the news wheel, (The) BBC News (Channel) just feels like a stone stuck in its punctured tyre.
Back when you were ?News Channel of the Year? you promptly launched the pointless simulcasts of the One, Six and Ten and in due course lost your title. Now you seem to be trying to loose the ?most watched? crown as well.
It all smacks of a room full of people, none of whom had the courage to say ?no, that?s not a good idea,? just like Gordon and his 10p tax disaster.
You asked for the comments but will you have the courage to admit that you got anything wrong?
To finish on a happy not I think the website revamp is great (although don't focus on this comment and count it as a positive email, I only add it to show I am not just anti any change).
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I'm happy with most of the online changes. I wasn't initially sure if the video quality would be as good as before now that it is flash based, but it appears to be better. My only gripe is that I miss the link at the bottom of the page that takes you back to the top again.
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I feel that "BBC News 24" was more than adequate and clearly signified a difference between the bulletins throughout the day on channels such a BBC One and that of the 24/7 channel.
Changing the name to "BBC News Channel" will just cause confusion and lead to more difficulty of people identifiying a previously well-established branded channel.
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
First of all I do agree that the BBC News brand needed consolidation. As a former BBC News designer now running a US-based branding company I feel filial bond with BBC News and I'm always pleased when News takes a bold step forward.
It's nice to see Lambie-Nairn's great BBC brand - and the historic Gill Sans font - back at the heart of the new 2008 look. This font provided the real power behind the BBC's Millennium brand strategy. Internal editors and designers had chipped away at the brand rules and the results undermined those efforts.
BBC News was one of the main culprits, introducing Helvetica headline banners for no good reason and taking the designs off-message. The core look though, (masterminded I suspect by BBC News's in-house infodesign genius Bill Calder) remained on brand and very easy on the eye.
Lambie-Nairn again surprises by opting for techniques that look rather dated and old-school. His style has always been to scale back the high-tech sheen and opt for simple flat designs. This amongst other things ushers in cheaper ways of creating on-screen graphics and widens the potential for VT editors to create well-branded graphics without expensive in-house designers overseeing the process. But he does it so stylishly.
The new housestyle is a development of the tickertape look we've all grown to love. It combines this with a series of concentric rings travelling around a globe framework, with treated video clips playing through them.
Unfortunately there is a perspective flaw at the heart of the graphic that makes one feel nausiated when viewed on large screens. Those rings flow around a sphere but crucially have their own skewed perspective not consistent with the main curvature. There's a range of conflicting perspective changes that are uneasy on the eye to say the least.
My biggest issue though is with the poor set design, which continue the faulty perspectives to the point of claustrophobia. The color scheme of BBC America's broadcasts in particular are ill-matched and gaudy. Saturated blue, blood red and a streak of aqua looks really awful on HD screens.
The overall look is airtight, boxy and cheap, with angled structures that wouldn't be out of place in a Dr. Seuss set. The on-screen graphics retain the signature Lambie-Nairn flat color panels, but on set the type is fish-eyed behind the presenter. And why the set brings back the old late eighties PBU technique I do not know. I guess cheap cardboard sets are in.
Back in the early 90s Tim Goodchild (another underused in-house genius) developed a gorgeous glass 3D set that incorporated moving graphics. In the late 90s Newsround - of all shows - pioneered a similar combination of set and moving graphics. This new set comes nowhere near those levels of innovation.
One last thing - In Japan mass seizures were triggered in a children's cartoon, using flashed combinations of black white and red. It is important that TV designers are aware that full-screen flashes using sequenced repetitive contrasts are very liable to cause health problems. Your love of blood red places your designers in a position of some responsibility.
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The best graphics and music shown in the video today, are as follows; the 2nd from 1984 - Classic, upbeat, great music.
1988 - The music is beautiful, although the graphics look like Carlton television, but still nostalgic
1993 - The music is truly beautiful again, dramatic, dynamic, it screams moving into the future, serious and important. Although the set was a disaster of CG.
2007 - The BBC's best yet, the best update on the red world theme, and the best music, the studio is superb as well. Bring it back! The all round contender
2008 - meh, change it back to news 24.
Any chance of acquiring these pieces?
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hang on, the BBC constantly whinge about not having enough funding and yet they 'refresh' the news every year or so at the moment, it's all superficial and barely noticeable, but costs loads in consultancy i bet
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I was somehow asleep for the entire weekend it seems, and just didn't know I missed all the excitement.
What happened then?
littleDickie
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
I don't care what it looks like, I care that you tell the truth. Which you don't at the moment.
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Just how much did this silliness cost the license payers?
And, are you after another increase in the license fee to pay for your self-interested, ego-massaging, 'we know what's best for you' philosophy?
Methinks that now is the right time for the BBC to reduce or stop its outlay on pointless projects like this, or haven't you heard that your license fee payers are struggling to pay for food, housing and fuel?
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The swirling ringed globe is an irritating downgrade of what was an already excellent, clean cut, and worldwide brand image.
On my hi-def screen, I turn away as it makes me feel dizzy. Its too much motion across the whole screen area.
Just another disappointing example of how the BBC is duped into parting with licence-payers cash.
I cannot see the value from getting used to this part of a rebrand
Be humble and please go back to what you used before.
Also ask for your money back!
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I share the views of some here. When I first saw the rebrand I felt quite queezy. I suspected that my head was about to explode, and my legs fall off. However, I found that closing my eyes helped significantly. My head stopped spinning, my legs improved and it reminded me of listening to Radio 4! Lazy Hazy summer afternoons, bird song and fresh air. A win-win-win, I'm sure you'll agree.
Well Done the BBC!
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I think renaming BBC News 24 to BBC News is a backward step - it's rather anonymous now, whereas 'BBC News 24' precisely defined what you meant.
Regarding the news website, I have more or less stopped using it other than the occasional look in the (vain?) hope that it is has been changed back to something more like the old design. One of the main problems is that for those of us with less than perfect eyesight, the new site is actually more difficult to read. This is due to the reduced contrast and font weight/size ratio - I now need to concentrate just to physically read it, whereas the old version was relatively relaxed.
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Well, I have given it the full day to study the changes and I think that you have been ripped off to a certain extent. Over half a million pounds for this?
I don't mind the studio but the grey makes it look dull - could you now use a different colour of lighting.
I like the countdown music, but surely you could have come up with a new countdown graphic sequence - the boxed logo and the numbers look awful and out of place.
I actually don't mind the introd titles - good to see the cities back but white as a background colour is too bland.
My biggest gripe is with the changes to the on screen graphics - absolute rubbish. These have to be the worst headline indents, tickertape and astons I have ever seen. I always thought ITV News had the worst - they did, until yesterday! As other bloggers have commented they look basic and cheap and like they were done on PowerPoint or something. You need to change the style and colour immediately.
I sorry BBC but overhaul it is a big thumbs down from me.
BBC News - more like Basic, Boring and Colourless News.
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The new designs are awful - most distracting and disturbing. If we have to have a "design" at all why cannot it be unobtrusive - perhaps just a shaded red velvet background with the word "NEWS". And why do we have to have music with the news. There is far too much noise in the world already and this banging and popping is just the limit. Silence and then the words "Here is the News from the BBC" would be far more appropriate. For years we have hit the mute button on the remote throughout all the adverts and trailers and now we have to do it for the news too. BBC is no better than the other side - worse perhaps. It puts us off watching altogether. But please don't take the kite flying sequence away - my heart skips a beat whenever I see the girl look away.
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The new look is sharper, edgier and greatly welcomed by this household. One thought the old graphics, sounds and visuals rather tired and hackneyed. Well done, chaps!
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Like the the new sharper, edgier look of the set and on screen graphics but the grey colour tones are very depressing!
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The graphics are OK. I watch the program for the main news content, not spiffy graphics.
My real complaint is the 'banging' or so called music. It is not needed, especially when it is used as background to the newsreader. Just get rid of it.
This, together with the 'crippling' done in the USA on the news by removing financial news and other items and replacing them with mindless repetitive promos for upcoming items, or BBC News in general, ruin what should be an interesting bulletin. I would like to watch the News on BBC World or BBC America, but find myself viewing it on a PBS station without the interruptions, although this doesn't give me the flexibility of watching it 'on the hour' whenever I want.
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Its cheap, nasty and a step backwards. Why don't the screens line up behind the presenters. The studio looks very nasty. the old newsroom, which was not that old was far better and looked professional. This looks like a cupboard.
So much for audience research
NO NO NO start again
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If you're going to complain about how much it's costing the licence payer, please get the spelling right. It's licence, not license! We're British, you know! And much like we spell our colour with a u, the noun form is licence.
[Pedant steps off of soapbox]
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Please remove the beeping and drumming noises. And especially so when its over the speech of the news reader. This adds nothing and gets extremely annoying after one has heard them a few hundred times.
Please shorten the whole introduction, it would serve its purpose just as well if it were much shorter and would then be less annoying. Again after one has seen this a few dozen times one does not need to see the whole thing to be told one is watching the BBC news.
Please do not mention the same news article several times, i.e in the introduction, maybe after the first half of the program, and then - finally - the meat of the article. The net effect is that after watching the intro one may sometimes decide just to switch off, which I assume is not what you want!
If any of the above could be implemented, please do the first item mentioned!
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As a regular viewer of BBC World I have to say that I'm a little disappointed with the so-called relaunch.
It's always been the case that World has come at the bottom of the BBC priorities but this is insulting! Don't we even deserve a new countdown?
My main problem with the new Top of the Hour sequence is that all the build up to the headlines by the countdown is then lost by a very boring headline bed.
BBC World News used to be so fast-paced and now its slow and dull.
Please change the headline bed so something more like the one used in World News America. And change the visuals on the countdown - we've had those for ages now! Thanks.
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I have just seen the newly created branding...at this rate you will have one less viewer...the best bit is when the branding has finished! Your designer may think it is very clever, and it may look great on studio quality monitors but you failed technically in the same way as when the BBC introduced the latest weather map projection system. Please create either a static image, or a slow rotate. Please do not allow "stand ups to camera" against a blue screen with the image rotating behind the commentator (the rotation is distracting from the commentary) . The screen renewal flash with the zig zag lines is also irritating - remove the zig-zags And please stop spending viewers money doing OBs with stand ups to camera (such as Graveley Interchange/Spaghetti junction) when BBC News has, for example, a traffic story {and selling the same interview to BBC Radio}where the location is totally irrelevant, suffers poor sound quality, and can be done better as a studio piece against a blue screen image.
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I'm not impressed with the new graphics or the revised music. Go back to the previous graphics and use the previous music )particularly on the countdowns) it was more powerful and had more substance to it.
In all, the whole rebrand is bland and boring.
BBC News 24 should be its name and will always be known as that. It distinguised itself from all the rest.
Love the new set, but it needs some lighter background.
BBC News 24 - previous graphics and music. Go back to what worked. It didn't need all this change, as the old saying goes it aint broke, don't fix it. Big Mistake BBC... Sort it out!!!!!
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I can find no otherway of sending this comment, despite scouring the BBC website, so forgive me if this is the wrong forum. An hour ago, BBC News presenters proudly informed us that Declan Curry had secured the supermarket report at 6.45 "despite the fact that it had been embargoed until 7am". Surely an embargoed report is simply one which
journalists receive early, and which they are honour bound not to release until the specified time. Was that the case here? Did Declan simply not observe the usual journalistic convention?
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Perhaps you'd like some New News:
f you want to REALLY change US (And maybe British?) gun laws, as in having the US Supreme Court toss out ALL gun regulations, help me get out my experiences as an US Army ?Manchurian Candidate Study Subject? for 30 years. I was deliberately run by Army psychiatrists to prove that ?Sleepers? like the Columbine, PO, Mall shooters, etc., are simply untraceable (By the American Psychological Assn, anyway) espionage operatives whose mission is to negatively influence pending gun legislation.
I was deliberately used to influence Maui Waiver Form 2036?s Police State legislation (You must waive all your personal records for life to get a pistol there, now) and Concealed Carry laws here in Wyoming, as well. I?ve acted the perfect ?Nut Case,? deliberately, on orders, and this complimented by hypnoisis, and a special physical trait I have called Celiac?s Disease (A very favored condition for undercover types, since it gives one a ?Dumbed Down? demeanor, you know, ?Some people shouldn?t have guns??). All a "Study" for Congress, just to prove it could be done in the real world, in the US even... And yet there's some kind of "Political resistance" against bringing me in out of the cold, and give me my promised back pay.
Hmmmm....
It?s all on my website, along with other related espionage matters (That occurred in the British sector of Germany, on a British base, and in Ipswich, as well) you may be interested in. For example, Corruption in Congress leads us to enemy rule:
Yesterday, Deborah Jeanne Palfrey, famous D.C. ?Madam? for the high-ranking corrupt, committed suicide the same day in history that Chandra Levy disappeared, and I bet I know why: It was said on FOX NEWS that Chandra Levy was one of her call girls. And I, and my own knowledge about the Gary Condits? ?Political Sexual Embarrassment Disposal Service? for the high-ranking corrupt is about to come out, I do believe. If you?d like the details, photos, evidence and documents, or are simply interested in some other major (And related) espionage revelations, kindly go to my website, www.rickhyatt.freeservers.com and be sure to see the photos of British soldiers I knew. Frankly, I think this is but yet one more of Condit?s well-protected professional hits - The same MO that can be traced back to Chandra, Jonbennet, Laci, and even some of the ?BTK killings? Not to mention the ones I know personally of - Like in the UK . Visit my website for PROOF.
With any luck, getting this out will result in the greatest voter turnout this election in US History, my goal.
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You really really don't get it. Spending half a million pounds on this is regarded by most right-thinking people as an obscene waste of tax-payers' money (and yes, the licence fee is a tax, however much your friends in the government wriggle and deny it).
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You see I like the look and feel of the website but it just doesn't work. I used to be able to see videos and now I can't. All I get is 'sorry, this content isn't available at the moment'. I have XP with all the updates, IE 6 with all the updates and the latest FlashPlayer and still it doesn't work (and I work in IT support!). If I can't get the videos to play, there must be loads of others out there in the same boat.
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I'm also getting 'Sorry, this content isn't available at the moment' for around 80% of the videos I try to watch.
Using IE7 on XP with the latest updates to Flash Player.
Works fine on Firefox.
I can't seem to find a resolution to this anywhere. Surely the BBC is aware of this bug? - but where's the fix?
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Good job on remodeling the BBC and it is display....
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Like Lukas_Gam, I get "sorry this content isn't available at the moment" all the time now whenever I want to watch a bbc video clip, but my error message arrives when I try to warch something in Firefox. Bizarrely it works fine in IE7, but as I try to avoid using MS software, that's rather pointless. And as I don't terribly like the new look BBC website either, I rather think I may be spending less time on it.
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The Iplayer clips simply do not work in Firefox.
I have compared the same page in real time in IE and Firefox (both updated versions) and "sorry this content is not available at the moment" occurs only in Firefox.
A number of people have pointed this out, yet there has been no BBC response.
Btw, the whole redesign was a waste. Less information is now given in more space, and "grayed" text is of no help to those with even slightly wonky eyesight.
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Brand Consultants?
Have you not noticed that this particular bit of thoughtless management jargon - "branding" - is already overused?
Perhaps your one-minute mangers are still trying to deal with things in a total quality way.
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After such a long time, I've finally found a place to speak my thoughts about this (frankly, ridiculous) redesign.
Let me begin by asking simply: why another change?
The last change happened in 2007, less than a year before this new redesign, and it was a redesign, which I really liked the look of. 'The BBC is finally up to date with things' - I thought. If you don't know what I'm referring to, see this link...
http://idents.tv/blog/2008/04/20/name-changes-for-bbc-world-and-bbc-news-24/
When this new 'look' was introduced, I was confused as to what the BBC design teams were up to. It looked like a step back to me. European TV has always had much cleaner graphics and visual presentation that, for example, American and Asian TV, with simplistic, clear and contemporary design, whilst still looking modern. Those aspects were well-implemented in the 2007 redesign. In this latest redesign, it appears that the designers have taken 'simplistic' way too far. I must say, at this point, that the new opening titles are nice, but not a step forward from the 2007 ones. However, the graphics are a jump back.
They used to be sleek, modern, shiny and smooth, yet contemporary and not over-the-top (such as they are in many American news programmes). The new ones with the simple wipe effect with the white squares are nowhere near as good. I could've done better in Powerpoint. And the 'breaking news' red text looks cheap and does not grab your attention like it used to (and does on other channels).
That's my complaint about the visuals over.
As for the names, BBC World going to BBC World News is ridiculous, since not all programming on that channel is actually news, and the name is also longer, harder to say and not as easy to remember. The change from BBC News 24 to BBC News is also a little pointless, I see no reason for it happening (other than to fit it in with the new BBC WORLD News naming system). Now the name might even cause confusion for some, as BBC News bulletins bear the same name.
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