I've often wondered if it's possible for them to add an extra screen to the other side of the studio, much like the East studio has. Is it due to lack of space/studio layout that they use a single screen?
I'm guessing if they had room (and budget) for a second screen, they'd have one. I believe that's where the door and an access ramp is. Oxford have a similar l-shaped set, though they did get a second screen for stand up sequences, which is along the longer wall. As Oxford was done later than Cambridge, prices had come down a bit for large screens and Oxford bought two semi-pro flatscreen monitors. Cambridge looks like a back projector... And back projectors need room behind the screen to work, which is tricky if you want to maximise floor space by having bits of your set hard up against studio walls.
JD
JDN
Is there any need for a second screen though? It looks good enough how it is, and I don't see any advantage of having a second screen. Surely this way also allows for cameras to get a tight side shot, unlike these new ITV sets where everything is shot awkardly.
Border (Same studio as Tyne Tees but no HD feed for that region yet)
In that case you'd think they would take Tyne Tees HD rather than Granada so at least they'd get the same news presenters and any of the shared bulletins (if they still have any).
Fully split editions of Look East tonight, presumably as it made no sense to for the east and west opts to link up for five minutes at the end.
Was there a particular reason for the split?
Duration was cut to 20 minutes due to Wimbledon. Different stance on the days political news - the east went with Ukip and the west with Andrea Leadsom.
The first fifteen minutes or so are always split at 6:30 as it is, so as I said it probably didn't making sense for the two opts to link up for five minutes for one VT and the weather (which was a pan-regional prerecord - would this have been done especially or is there always a recorded version anyway? I believe the video uploaded to the BBC Weather website is always from a TV forecast).
Look East West isn't the official name though, it's just the way it's referred to as a sub opt, and on some epg listings, channel identifiers etc. The programme is called Look East on air. The split element of Look East was originally known as Close Up when the opt was a newsbelt in the middle of the programme.
The subopt for Oxfordshire has had a more fluid name over the years, being known variously as South Today, South Today Oxford, BBC Oxford News and now South Today again. There are still many references to BBC Oxford News on the website and iPlayer, which seem to be clinging on, despite the name changing back to South Today some years ago.
Incidentally, there was a plan back in the mud 90s to merge Cambridge and Oxford's operations into a full "Oxbridge opt", though naming it proved a real headache (along with a lot of other things). A site was apparently identified in Milton Keynes, but the idea was eventually dropped.