I can’t be the only one wondering why they’ve bothered (and why they hyped it up). The old Westminster Studio was vastly superior and even chucking the new desk in there would have been better. Although, I would have done away with the orange lighting on KB@B. It looked dated and a purple or pink would have been more appropriate with the blue.
Also, why no new graphics? Not even the logo has changed. None of it makes sense anymore and I’m sorry but they shouldn’t have ever got rid of Sky News Centre at Osterley. That space was amazing and so fit for purpose. The glass box doesn’t come close and it is so inflexible with formats. Ok, we don’t need to go back to triple headed shows with people climbing stairs whilst reading headlines from 2005 but somewhere in between would be nice rather than the opposite end of the spectrum as now. I have to say, Sky News Centre never looked better than just before they left. In fact, when they decamped back there whilst the glass box was having its ‘improvements’, they should have stayed put. I mean, is no one at Sky actually watching the output these days? It looks dreadful and messy. The lighting is awful and they are just sleep walking from one disaster to the next. The apologetic tone they use to announce breaking news is beyond satire. Sky used to be ‘first for breaking news’. Now it’s like they don’t want Maureen to spill her cornflakes. Come on Sky! Get back to what you do best. Give your loyal viewers a reason to stay. At the moment, we might as well flick to BBC as the presentation is just as bland. Remind us why we picked you in the first place.
Sadly it all started going downhill from around 2011 when a raft of strange decisions started happening. First they axed all standing presentation completely (not just in part) with everything coming from the desk, they then only started using the gallery backdrop and wouldn't rotate the desk to the newsroom view. The titles also started getting messed about with. The
TOTH voiceover was dropped a few years later and we are where we are now. Sky News used to be distinctive and a nice alternative to BBC News in terms of presentation, pace and feel. It isn't the be-all-and-end-all but at the moment it just seems like they're out of ideas or their budget is so tight they can't afford to produce anything that stands out from the crowd.
Journalism and reporting should always be number one, of course. But when everything surrounding it looks so visually drab and poor, including a lack of energy - it's just a bit meh!
All in all the presentation on all UK news channels is extremely safe and belt and braces these days. I wonder how long it'll be before Sky or the BBC try something a little bolder - perhaps borrowing some ideas from TV news channels in Europe? I've always thought Franceinfo is a good half way house.