Launch BBC One North

[Josh]

And BBC One North begins:
https://twitter.com/StevenSaul/status/15...0724029442
https://twitter.com/StevenSaul/status/15...3251934210

[Spencer]

If they’re not going to add a ‘North’ identifier to the ident, or even acknowledge ‘BBC One North’ in the announcement, why bother? Or is ‘Eh up’ at the start of the announcement what we’re to expect?

Is this an exercise purely about giving the north announcers with regional accents, or just ensuring that viewers in the south don’t have to put up with them?

I’m quick to defend the BBC, but this seems totally unnecessary in an era when the corporation is cutting back so much.

[Andrew]

It remains to be seen how much impact this will have with the regular viewer as I doubt they are going to say ‘Ey Up’ every night

Of course even in the days of regional ITV the announcers often didn’t have regional accents. Some of them who worked for Yorkshire Television sounded fairly RP/southern

[all new Phil]

The thing is, it’s not just about how northern they can make it sound, it’s also about how un-southern too. Part of my issue I’ve long had with the BBC is how southern it feels, and that’s not just about accents. They’ve done some good things to move production out of London in many instances but I still don’t think that comes through on screen. I’m not saying southern = bad by the way but more that it is assumed south = everywhere.

I think this is a brilliant move. If I was to take it one step further, I’d do a northern One Show too, a show that for me sums up everything I’ve said above.

[m_in_m]

I hope BBC One North doesn't result in less diverse representation across continuity outside of the north.

[Inspector Sands]

It's not just the announcer, the northern regions will get different trails too. That way the Media Planning department  can target different shows to different audiences.

I can see why they haven't added 'North' to the bramding, that would be seen to ghettoise and single out the North, they want it to be more subtle. 

It certainly won't cost that much more, a couple of extra shifts (announcer and director) an evening. It might well be that it's not even an extra shift, but taken from their prep time

I'm not sure 'ay up' is the best way to start, but it will be a lot more relatable to a lot of audience than Duncan in London (despite him being, I think, from Lincolnshire)

[Brekkie]

Most people will notice no difference - Anthony is a regular announcer. And why is it framed as "North" launching rather than "South"?

[Asa]

The irony of Duncan being the announcer for the south tonight isn't lost.

I'll be interested to see what exactly constitutes alternative trails - simply banishing 'southern' voices or plugging shows they think will more appeal to northerners?

I guess not having a 'North' identifier does mask that this is only a primetime split but I just can't see the benefit of separating the continuity. Just now Anthony plugged the Lionesses on Friday while Duncan went with tonight's Panorama story. What are we supposed to take from that?

It would be interesting to know how this works in practice too, whether it's run as a separate channel like the nations, or slaved to the southern one.

Hope both aren't banished to one place either, they're excellent announcers.

[Inspector Sands]

I'll be interested to see what exactly constitutes alternative trails - simply banishing 'southern' voices or plugging shows they think will more appeal to northerners?

The latter although I imagine it'll be used strategically too. The media planners will have all sorts of data as to what appeals to who and who watches what and where they are. The ability to promote different things to different parts of the country is very useful. 

Its not something ITV do, but of course they did once. The audience of Tyne Tees wouldn't have have been getting the same mix of promos for networked shows than those watching Thames would have

[Larry the Loafer]

If this means hearing Duncan less, I'm going to be very disappointed.

[MiDzOnE]

If this means hearing Duncan less, I'm going to be very disappointed.

Same with regards Anthony who IMHO has been one of the better new recruits to BBC Continuity over recent years. The question is who gets Dan?!?

[Steve in Pudsey]

I guess there's no reason why Duncan couldn't be rostered to do the North from London and somebody in Salford do the south? Or both announcers be in the same location perhaps?

[Andrew]

I’m guessing it’ll be Anthony and that one who sounds like Julie Hesmondhalgh on the North version. I’m also hoping this doesn’t mean we won’t here the more long established announcers, who obviously work from London on the North version.

I wonder how much room for different trailers there really is, as there generally seems to be fewer trailers but aired more often these days. There seems to be a lot of campaigns that are pushed hard rather than every programme being trailed.

You’re basically talking about 4 idents a day though, 5 if it stretches to 10:45, so it’ll be very subtle I doubt anyone will notice.

[Spencer]

I'll be interested to see what exactly constitutes alternative trails - simply banishing 'southern' voices or plugging shows they think will more appeal to northerners?

The latter although I imagine it'll be used strategically too. The media planners will have all sorts of data as to what appeals to who and who watches what and where they are. The ability to promote different things to different parts of the country is very useful. 

Its not something ITV do, but of course they did once. The audience of Tyne Tees wouldn't have have been getting the same mix of promos for networked shows than those watching Thames would have

Do they need a complete separate playout and continuity setup outside London to be able do this? Surely it’s just a case of scheduling the promos on a computer which could be done from anywhere in the world.

When we’re at the point when BBC local radio programmes and regional news programmes aren’t allowed to have more than one presenter, it does seem rather a luxury to have five different people around the UK all telling us that it’s time for The One Show.

[BBCMeridian]

If this means hearing Duncan less, I'm going to be very disappointed.

Same with regards Anthony who IMHO has been one of the better new recruits to BBC Continuity over recent years. The question is who gets Dan?!?

Well I'm sorry to say but Anthony is one of the worst announcers BBC Television has ever had, just awful. The only decent announcers left are Dean Lydiate, Matthew Jackson, Duncan Newmarch, Delroy Haynes, Natalie Jaque and Emily Chiswell.