Monday’s relaunch of the BBC News Channel was an absolute disaster, and an example of how to reallly botch a new channel relaunch. Mismatched graphics (Chameleon vs. 2008 globe and lack of real visual consistency) has led to think on a much improved solution that could leverage the most of the new BBC Chameleon brand system.
On working on this, I decided the 2008 globe from Martin Lambie-Nairn is dropped, 15 years of use is already too much and BBC News needs something new, but without compromising their existing brand equity (the china red colour and the David Lowe themes will be retained). Many of the existing full screen graphics are being refreshed, but the plain white backgrounds are replaced by the new white Chameleon background already in use in overall non-programming presentation.
I did refresh, however, the 2019 supers, giving them a Chameleon-style treatment and a new layout, inspired by Franceinfo, TVE Telediario, and the ESPN BottomLine. The permanent headline would have a much smaller sizing to allow for names to appear without any hassle. Additionally, a new BBC News DOG in the top left corner (similar to BBC Three and Four) in full-color will appear in all News Channel rolling content and, also, in the network bulletins (including Newsnight and Breakfast). The clock would rotate between GMT/BST, EST/EDT and SST, and the show marker would be placed next to it. The ticker would be retained during all non-news/feature programming, as well as the DOG, but in a much more transparent rendition.
Supers would have a blurred Chameleon background in dark red; this would become light red in the case of breaking news. These would behave as currently (scrolling up and down), but with animation reflecting the Chameleon motion style. The supers would be recolored for feature programming, and also include a graphic referring to the programme. This will be also the case for network shows.
When simulcast programming airs on BBC One/Two and the UK feed, the network would receive a ticker-less version of the supers (with added clock on Breakfast); on the News Channel, these would be formatted into the channel’s layout, but with its own coloring.
As for the opens, the globe is done and dusted. Instead, a real-time opener which would use imagery taken live from the BBC News website and constantly updated throughout the day. The BBC News Online icon would be centerpiece of the opening titles, transitioning (in Chameleon-style) to the main brand logo. When fading to the newsroom/studio cam, the look would expand to the Chameleon expanded brand layout: in the case of national bulletins, the 1/6/10 would appear in a box device, and disappear after the BBC/News elements scroll out.
When the main opener theme is done, and relaunching a practice done in the 80s, a voice-over introduction from Mishal Husain would be played: for national bulletins, this would be “The One/Six/Ten O’Clock News from the BBC, with (presenter name)”; for the News Channel, this would be "Live from London/Singapore/Washington, this is BBC News, with (presenter name).
Some news programming, like Newsday, BBC World News America and The Context, would also adopt a voice-over introduction, to cite an example “Live from BBC News in Washington, this is World News America, with Sumi Somaskanda”. In regards of non-core show openers (like what they did for The Context) would also adopt the Chameleon layout; many of the former BBC World News shows, as well as Newsnight and Sportsday/World Sportsday/Sport Today would only have a BBC logo in the upper part of the screen. This also applies to feature content.
Finally, for promos and presentation, there will be no change, except for the blip/sting, which would now have the BBC News Online symbol (with its animation) instead of the layered globe. The idents before programming would feature snippets of countdown sequences, followed, in case of feature programs, by the strand identifier.
And that’s a wrap for this!
