We were fortunate enough to be allowed to visit the BBC at Broadcasting House in Southampton on 9 June 2011.
We met in reception and started networking for business when we arrived, as well as simply socialising.
We watched South Today go out live as well as being able to listen to what went on in the production control room at the same time. Many of us took our hats off to the presenters for their ability to multi-task (reading from an auto cue, listening to conversations going on between production team and camera operators as well as information and instructions to them personally, dealing with last minute programme changes, breaking news, etc.) whilst looking completely calm and collected and delivering the programme in a polished and professional way. The consensus was that most of us would have been gibbering wrecks by about 3 minutes into the prgramme.
We were taken into the control room to see how the technical aspects of delivering the programme worked, how the tie-in with the Oxford studio was achieved and how the static and mobile cameras were organised. The number of screens, knobs, dials, sliding switches and autocue functionality was definitely mind boggling for the uninitiated!
From there we visited the Studio and does that look different in real life, especially without the full lighting effect! We learned the secrets of Sally's chair and some of us actually made contact with the hallowed red sofa! We also know how the weather map works too! Would you believe that the weather presenter stands in front of a green wall that doesn't have anything on it at all? She has to take sneaky looks at a screen up in the rafters to figure out if she is pointing at the right place on the map!
From the Studio we went to visit the Newsroom, saw how reports can be filmed in there when there is a need and met the team working through the preparation for the next local news buylletin at 8:00 p.m.
From the South Today Newsroom we visited Radio Solent before leaving the BBC at around 8:00 p.m.
One of the questions I was asked to raise on behalf of someone who couldn't attend was why doesn't South Today transmit in HD. The answer is down to the cost and budget. It will happen, we just don't know when because the technological changes required to achieve this are very expensive. So sorry, if you watch the BBC News Channel in HD, you will still have to switch to the old BBC for your local news.
Our thanks go to Claire and Rose for making our visit so informative and interesting.
Want to see some of the pictures? Networking for business and our visit to the BBC in glorious colour!