Red Button broadcasts

Just looking at Final Score continuing on BBCi here was just wondering how these red button broadcasts work?

Does the gallery (in this case I'm guessing TC5) just keep on broadcasting as normal and the Red Button team pick them up or is it a bit more complicated from when they finish on BBC1 to BBCi? Also is there any time limit on shows that carry on on the red button or do the production team just keep going until they feel the show has reahced its natural conclusion?

AFAIK BBC 'Red Button' broadcasts on BBCi (Freeview/BT Vision/Top Up TV/Tiscali TV)301-303, Sky Digital and Virgin Media as well as on the Internet) are scheduled, so if a programme runs over on the usual BBC Channels, it does on BBCi as well.

Production is controlled by the originating transmission suite if it carries over to BBCi and at the end of the broadcast a message such as "This programme has now finished. Press Back Up or Exit to continue".

Not all BBCi services are available on all platforms though and the Freeview version is sometimes different to the Sky and Virgin versions.

Currently on Freeview is:
301: BBC Radio 1 Big Weekend: Maidstone Highlights
302: BBC Radio 1 Big Weekend: Maidstone The Best Of
303: Off air
305: BBCi News Multiscreen Audio

I know Sky and Virgin Media are carrying the Big Weekend coverage but I think there is also something to do with Eurovision on a loop.

Tomorrow on BBCi (Main):
0600 - Radio 1 Big Weekend: Maidstone: The Best Of (Hourly looped)
1400 - CBBC Interactive Feature (10 min looped)
2100 - Radio 1 Big Weekend: Maidstone: The Best Of (Hourly looped)

Quite a few different ways depending on the nature of the broadcast - some are pre-recorded, some come from conventional studios, some come from a special playout area run by Red Bee, some come from a special interactive gallery run by BBC Studio Resources.

The actual video streams on Freeview and Satellite (don't know about cable) are permanently broadcast. On Freeview they have channel numbers (a legacy of old receivers requires this) but on Sky they are not in the EPG - but can be tuned by PC cards and some FTA boxes.



In the case of Final Score / Score Interactive - AIUI the show continues from the standard gallery, with BBC One opting out and back in as required.

The Press Red stream may be routed through a separate Playout area dedicated to interactive services at Red Bee, and may also be routed through the Studio Resources interactive area if extra video processing (multiscreen menu etc.) is required.



Just as with a standard channel there will be a schedule for each stream - and there will be a staff schedule etc. for booking technical crew which will have to be kept to. However there may be more latitude for running over or under - as the streams are not strictly linear channels.

303 and 305 are always the same. Not sure what the purpose of 303 actually is now but it used to be the workings behind the BBC News 24 multiscreen & BBC Parliament stream. Now of course Parliament is full screen and BBC News streams are all behind 305 (though if you tune directly you don't see the picture).



The BBC Sport stuff has a published schedule, which is on the Radio Times website (and also see my signature) - but they are flexible with the end times when there's nothing scheduled to follow, as I've noticed MotoGP coverage to overrun by up to 15 minutes in the past.

Do the CBeebies Games still divert to 303?