Seven weeks after the BBC made major changes to its TV news channel, the broadcaster is about to make further adjustments.
New weekday strands will replace the previous generic rolling news bulletins from 12:00-20:00.
Lucy Hockings, Matthew Amroliwala and Yalda Hakim will front the new programmes, effective Monday 22nd May – full details below.
The BBC combined its UK and world news channels on Monday 3rd April. Ahead of the change, BBC management told staff not to expect a big bang moment. Instead changes were to be phased in over time with new “dynamic presentation” promised.
12:00
At midday, BBC News Now will bring viewers the day’s main world news stories with Lucy Hockings.
UK viewers will opt-out at 13:00 for a simulcast of BBC News at One followed by Sportsday. However on Wednesdays, the first hour will also not be broadcast in the UK due to Prime Ministers Questions.
15:00
From 15:00, Matthew Amroliwala presents Verified Live, in association with BBC Verify, the new division of BBC News devoted to fact-checking.
The final half hour of the programme at 17:30 will be exclusive to UK viewers. World viewers will see Focus on Africa.
18:00
From 18:00 outside of the UK and from 19:00 for UK viewers, Yalda Hakim will leading the conversation on key global issues, with new show The Daily Global.
The first hour is replaced in the UK by BBC News at Six and Sportsday.
This is followed by The Context at 20:00, which was the only surviving branded segment during daytime/evening.
Previous branded shows, including Live, Impact and Global on BBC World News were ditched ahead of the changes at BBC News.
Other recent changes to the schedule have been announced at short notice. For example, The Context was only confirmed by BBC schedule information as still running on the day of the News channel relaunch within hours of its broadcast, a sign of some of the seemingly sudden and haphazard changes taking place on the channel.
Ahead of the merger, the BBC promised “two premium feeds” for UK and international feeds. The reality has seen viewers crashing in and out of programmes, sometimes mid-sentence. On Friday 5th May, BBC News viewers in the UK were abruptly shunted multiple times within a two hour period between a simulcast of the local election special on BBC Two and Coronation coverage on the world feed.
Newsnight frequently crashes into the end of the News at Ten. And at the end of Newsnight, viewers find themselves crashing into the ongoing edition of Newsday. In the mornings, a simulcast of Nicky Campbell’s radio phone-in replaces rolling news.
Meanwhile, a number of popular BBC News presenters have been left without an on-screen role. BBC management chose existing World News presenters to front most of the daytime and evening schedule.
Marc Thornham
[Images: BBC]