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BBC Radio 5 Li-- we seemed to have lost the line...
Ian Aberdon
Posts: 2,172 Forum Member
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This is still happening all too often.
I know this happens from time to time everywhere, but I am tiring of the BBC losing the link to its reporters or whoever they are interviewing, or not being able to establish contact when trying to join them.
Are they operating 60s technology? Or (and I'm genuinely curious) is the move to Salford anything to do with it - I mean, it's not as if they've only just 'gone live' in the last couple of days is it?
Also much more reliance on dodgy mobile phone lines.
DQF my ****.
I know this happens from time to time everywhere, but I am tiring of the BBC losing the link to its reporters or whoever they are interviewing, or not being able to establish contact when trying to join them.
Are they operating 60s technology? Or (and I'm genuinely curious) is the move to Salford anything to do with it - I mean, it's not as if they've only just 'gone live' in the last couple of days is it?
Also much more reliance on dodgy mobile phone lines.
DQF my ****.
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But you're also right in mentioning DQF. Five Live have lost a number of their bespoke reporters and have to compete for the time of correspondents working across BBC news.
Another major irritation is having three or four callers on the lines at once talking across each other in a big to stage listener arguments.
Five Live has not benefitted from the move to Salford in any way.
Not what we've come to expect from the BBC.
One in twenty minutes sounds pretty bad, but if it was one during a three hour show, that's slightly different. As you hinted, context is everything. The OP has suggested that the increase in dropped lines is connected to the Salford move. Fact is, a lot of political coverage on Five Live has historically been conducted "down the line" - between TV Centre and Westminster
Yes, of course I might just've got 'lucky', but it was an interesting coincidence in the light of this thread.
Quite the opposite, I would fancy. Voice over IP is both the latest and the least reliable thing in broadcasting at the moment. But it's cheap, innit (and - to be fair - when it works, it makes it possible to get quality audio back from places where that would never have been possible in the past).
Don't think you can blame 5live for this - it's just the way of the modern world. There's an increasing number of (especially younger) people who don't have or use landlines, and if your guest is is out of the office or taking time out of a meeting to do an interview then you're stuck, really (and if you were to put a blanket ban on mobiles there's be a lot of dead air). Also worth pointing out that some of the worst phone lines I've encountered are landlines (alongside anything in the USA).
It's a live news and sport network with an emphasis on "live". It's not always possible to predict when a press conference is going to start (and published start times can very from perfectly accurate to complete untruth). Also as Mapperley alludes, correspondents are very often shared between outlets so if 5 live are at the back of the queue and the News Channel or Radio 4 run late or there's an issue getting the lines switched or a hundred and one other things that are out of the hands of 5 live, everybody can be left on a very sticky wicket.
Regrettably, the BBC does not yet control the Bangladeshi phone network (and it was the only line that dropped during the whole three hours, so you were unfortunate).
It happens enough when they talk to someone in Manchester let alone Asia - I think they have a problem but then again it is minor compared with some of the presenter issues the new controller has to address.
I assume it's because the digital technology they use now isn't as robust as the old analogue systems
But it's absurd to suggest that a rolling speech network shouldn't take advantage of developments like Skype, 3G live links and a whole host of technology which - as someone else has said - allows you to connect to places you could never have done before. Equally, you can't blame Five Live for the variable quality of mobile phone signals. As a producer, you can have a perfectly clear line one minute which suddenly breaks up on air.
I think Id rather have a station that's willing to take a few risks from time to time rather than a sanitised network like Radio 4.
I wonder if both the R5L and R4 issues are connected.
Today/WATO/PM are now all in New Broadcasting House and of course plenty of R5L programmes come from there even though they don't always admit their location.
(but the majority of BBC Local and NAtions (And WS) Audio is over IP and has been for almost 5 years !!
Does anyone at the BBC/Five Live actually take note of this & listen to what people say to them?
DQF :rolleyes:
Of for goodness sakes! What do you actually expect them to do?? Generally the presenter will apologise - is that not enough for you? Do you want a personal written apology? Blood?
S**t happens - it's technology, it breaks sometimes. Looking forward to your praise for the 99% of lines that don't drop.
In a typical week the following programmes come from NBH:
Danny Baker (Sat, 9 - 11am)
Sportsweek (Sun 8.30 - 9.30am)
Half of "Double Take" (Sun 9.30am - 11am)
On The Money & Mens Hour (Sun 8 - 10pm)
Kermode & Mayo (Friday 2 - 4pm)
It's no secret...honestly! At most 8 1/2 hours of programming is produced and presented from London - the other 159 1/2 hours is produced from the Salford site. Again - no secret.
Thankfully not when it comes to DS.
Ahem. But then you'd have to scroll round loads of threads looking for the negative stuff. Why would anyone want that?
I agree. Nicky Campbell is the worst offender of this. He really is a 3rd rate shock jock (no pun)
Just have one caller at a time, there's not point trying to have a debate as you always get the same moronic callers who simply spout their rubbish and continue to speak no matter what.
The 9am phone is is a steaming pile of poo when Campbell does it. Really time to pension game show Nicky off.
No. BBC phone ins don't operate a delay. If someone drops an unmentionable the presenter generally apologises and moves on.
Blood please
Yet during the preceeding 58 minutes there is plenty of idle chit chat or filling.
Why have a guest on the line so close to the news or programme change over?
Exactly. It's not Nicky's fault. I think he's brilliant at what he does - light-hearted and convivial but right on top of the political stuff at the same time.
The ratio of idiots to sane people on "Your Call" is embarrassing but you can only present what's put in front of you.