GB
Just to throw another wee bit of light (maybe) on this, the post-closedown output of 'BBC Scotland', later 'BBC1 Scotland', later still 'BBC Scotland on 1' tended to improve as the years went by, though it still wasn't as good as the normal output.
Plus, of course, we missed the picture roll from home!
Plus, of course, we missed the picture roll from home!
Mind you, I don't know how...!
GB
No thanks, chaps, nostalgia isn't what it used to be.
It was the fact that the guys (and girls) behind the mic at the time denied all knowledge of what I and others were talking about.
Then there was the bleedover, too ....
It was the fact that the guys (and girls) behind the mic at the time denied all knowledge of what I and others were talking about.
Then there was the bleedover, too ....
Last edited by GavBelfast on 11 July 2004 11:09pm
MA
Actually, it's amazing to think how far we've come in the last 7 years or so. It's not that long ago that Kathy Clugston and I sat in mini-con (a presentation suite knocked up for £15K for when we needed to do continuity on two channels at once) with virtually no facilities whatsoever. It was so difficult to get anything on-air from there that quite often at the end of a junction you wouldn't have a clue whether it had gone out or not and you'd have to trundle off to a VCR of an off-air recording to check. It required so many hand movements at the same time to do anything that there was no possible way you could also open your mic at the same time as cutting vision and mixing audio, so we had a foot pedal to open the mic. (I kid you not). There were buttons added to allow control of a tape machine but then someone realised that it wasn't physically possible to cut to it and run it at the same time. Nothing was synchronous there, which is why we would simply remove the network sound and voiceover the network symbol - it was easier and looked better than making a dodgy attempt to cut to the local one! Kids these days, don't know they're born...
TV
Why was mini-con introduced exactly? I remember being slightly perplexed at the time. There were many occasions prior to this when local continuity was done simultaneously on both channels (and yes I know that the same desk was used at times to broadcast on both channels where junctions didn't occur at the same time on BBC ONE and TWO).
Also - one other oddity from around that time. For some strange reason - somewhere around the mid-1990s - and for quite some time - *Network* BBC TWO symbols were used for local programming. Why was this? (This was pre-mini-con).
marksi posted:
Actually, it's amazing to think how far we've come in the last 7 years or so. It's not that long ago that Kathy Clugston and I sat in mini-con (a presentation suite knocked up for £15K for when we needed to do continuity on two channels at once).
Why was mini-con introduced exactly? I remember being slightly perplexed at the time. There were many occasions prior to this when local continuity was done simultaneously on both channels (and yes I know that the same desk was used at times to broadcast on both channels where junctions didn't occur at the same time on BBC ONE and TWO).
Also - one other oddity from around that time. For some strange reason - somewhere around the mid-1990s - and for quite some time - *Network* BBC TWO symbols were used for local programming. Why was this? (This was pre-mini-con).
MA
Not in my time, no. Did happen occasionally before that though, as that's the only way they could have done junctions on BBC ONE and BBC TWO at the same time. Minicon was created to allow live continuity on both channels at once. That said, it was such a nightmare to operate and the quality of the output from there was so awful it was rarely used. There used to be an hour of local programmes on BBC TWO on a Thursday evening and so minicon would have covered the BBC ONE junctions at that time. Was also used during big news stories.
As to why network BBC TWO symbols would have been used, I don't know - though perhaps it would have been because most of the time people would only have seen network continuity on that channel and it kept it all more uniform. That's only a guess though. If it was in the mid 90's the facilities for local idents were there, the "BBC Northern Ireland" branding was overlaid live on the symbols.
Quote:
You mean opt-out junctions weren't pre-recorded, at least some of the time?
Not in my time, no. Did happen occasionally before that though, as that's the only way they could have done junctions on BBC ONE and BBC TWO at the same time. Minicon was created to allow live continuity on both channels at once. That said, it was such a nightmare to operate and the quality of the output from there was so awful it was rarely used. There used to be an hour of local programmes on BBC TWO on a Thursday evening and so minicon would have covered the BBC ONE junctions at that time. Was also used during big news stories.
As to why network BBC TWO symbols would have been used, I don't know - though perhaps it would have been because most of the time people would only have seen network continuity on that channel and it kept it all more uniform. That's only a guess though. If it was in the mid 90's the facilities for local idents were there, the "BBC Northern Ireland" branding was overlaid live on the symbols.
GB
[quote="marksi"]
That must have required a good deal of manual dexterity?!
Anyway, have just watched the BBC Scotland childrens programmes stuff from 1984 - the picture looks fine. 1985 will have to wait to the next tedious Bank Holiday!
Quote:
If it was in the mid 90's the facilities for local idents were there, the "BBC Northern Ireland" branding was overlaid live on the symbols.
That must have required a good deal of manual dexterity?!
Anyway, have just watched the BBC Scotland childrens programmes stuff from 1984 - the picture looks fine. 1985 will have to wait to the next tedious Bank Holiday!
TV
I must say Mark, this baffles me. Going back to my previous postings about the reasoning behind the need for mini-con...I am quite certain that there was an ability to broadcast live continuity on both channels pre-mini-con. I can go back as far as the late 1980s, where a live NI soccer match was shown on BBC TWO N. Ireland - with Lynda Bryans doing the continuity IIRC - whilst normal local continuity continued on BBC ONE NI - with a different announcer - and it all certainly seemed to be live. Certainly, with the kit used on those days, I don't think recorded continuity would have been as slick as that particular performance appeared to be.
I do know that there were countless occasions where when local output was going out on TWO, they simply didn't bother with local junctions on ONE. Not because they couldn't - just that certain Con Dirs didn't bother. The analogue suite used during most of the 1990s had the ability to broadcast on both channels at the same time. Would have been tricky doing continuity simultaneously under that arrangement I do admit. I do recall one occasion where a particular Con Director managed to cover both channels with live announcements only 20 secs apart!!! However, I am quite sure that another desk was available where local junctions were required at the same time on both channels. I can only assume that some studio gallery (e.g., Inside Ulster) may have been used for one channel.
marksi posted:
Minicon was created to allow live continuity on both channels at once.
I must say Mark, this baffles me. Going back to my previous postings about the reasoning behind the need for mini-con...I am quite certain that there was an ability to broadcast live continuity on both channels pre-mini-con. I can go back as far as the late 1980s, where a live NI soccer match was shown on BBC TWO N. Ireland - with Lynda Bryans doing the continuity IIRC - whilst normal local continuity continued on BBC ONE NI - with a different announcer - and it all certainly seemed to be live. Certainly, with the kit used on those days, I don't think recorded continuity would have been as slick as that particular performance appeared to be.
I do know that there were countless occasions where when local output was going out on TWO, they simply didn't bother with local junctions on ONE. Not because they couldn't - just that certain Con Dirs didn't bother. The analogue suite used during most of the 1990s had the ability to broadcast on both channels at the same time. Would have been tricky doing continuity simultaneously under that arrangement I do admit. I do recall one occasion where a particular Con Director managed to cover both channels with live announcements only 20 secs apart!!! However, I am quite sure that another desk was available where local junctions were required at the same time on both channels. I can only assume that some studio gallery (e.g., Inside Ulster) may have been used for one channel.
MA
The Studio B news gallery could provide continuity facilities for something like a football match, however it's a little difficult to justify fully staffing a gallery for a few junctions and that is why mini-con was created.
The old analogue suite could indeed do two channels at once, but not if the junctions were simultaneous, after all there was only one person sitting at the desk. That said, depending on your level of manual dexterity you could do channels on two junctions quite close together... as far as I know the record for moving from BBC ONE to BBC TWO was 9 seconds.
The old analogue suite could indeed do two channels at once, but not if the junctions were simultaneous, after all there was only one person sitting at the desk. That said, depending on your level of manual dexterity you could do channels on two junctions quite close together... as far as I know the record for moving from BBC ONE to BBC TWO was 9 seconds.