BBC News – Behind the Scenes

Pretty close, but I did spot a couple of things.

Even when the regional studio is off air (or "out of circuit" to use the more common term) the network signal still takes a round trip through the regional centre on it's way to CCM. But only as far as the opt switch in the Central Technical Area, not the studio.

The soft opt is the idea of taking the network feed to air through the regional studio a few minutes before the opt so you get a clean transition to local material - the video suggests it's the cut away from network rather than going into circuit carrying network.

You can see it happening here:

Putting the BBC East regional news on the air in 1983 with Judi Lines... pic.twitter.com/TF52RWJ6nW

— The Telly Box (@tellytvbox) March 7, 2021

She has already soft opted before the video starts, that is to say faded up network sound on the right hand fader and selected the network vision source then gone into circuit so Michael Fish is routed via this desk.

Once the weather ends she fades down the network audio and cuts to the ident, then fades up her mic and begins talking.

So the audio feed isn’t sent with the video or encoded with the camera in the HDSDI out? That seems like a way to get things out of sync.

It is on the telco part of the link,
but in the studio centre it is a lot easier and cheaper
and more flexible to have the audio un embedded.

No as far as I know it's all embedded audio, I think that's just diagrammatic for the video. However it is possible to combine one video source with different audio source(s) in a package

That's my understanding too. Once the signal hits the BBC's news studio routing system, the embedded audio tracks are (or can be), detached so they have the ability to be shuffled, and re embedded into other video signals. Pretty much standard practice for any proper broadcaster

One thing that isn't clear is why there are two audio feeds. Is that just a stereo pair or is it the thing where you would have atmos on one and the reporter's mic on the other so the studio can balance it and record a clean copy for later use?

The standard for news is the reporters personal mic will be on track 1 and the cameras in built mic on track 2. The camera mic sound is almost always cut for most items, but is a very useful backup in dire circumstances. If it’s an interview with another guest though, track 2 can be used for an additional personal mic. Finally, allowing 2 audio tracks also allows the crew to use a mixer on location and send back (should they want to) and stereo mix.

Thanks for sharing - really enjoying the BBCOutputOps twitter account. Today, they shared a short video from a BBC Academy Apprentice from behind-the-scenes at Breakfast:

Working 5-9! 🎶☕️
Here’s a usual morning routine for the @BBCBreakfast floor manager 🌅 with @sallynugent @mrdanwalker @NinaWarhurst @JohnWatsonSport 📺 pic.twitter.com/3FBRs4fbcM

— Katie Saoirse Bryson (@ktsaoirsebryson) March 25, 2021

I'd not seen the studio without the coloured lights on before:

Gives a good idea of what a weird shape and how cramped that studio is.

In that far left hand corner, are very thick curtains that block out the sunlight from the real world. It's the corner of the building that faces East/South

The curtains are all the way round.. there’s no daylight at all

A recent Tweet of yours illustrates this very well



Interesting stuff, thanks for sharing.

The creatively renamed mobile networks made me smile


I came across this video the other week (along with a couple of videos posted by deejay). I didn't realise how complex the process was, especially with there effectively being four separate opt outs within just over half an hour on the Six O'Clock News.