back to article BBC Vision and Audio tossed on bonfire, replaced by 'TV', 'Radio'

In a radical rebranding move, the BBC will rename the department responsible for television programmes to "TV", and the department responsible for radio to "Radio". The department that produces journalism - sport and news - will henceforth be known as the "Journalism" department. The changes coincide with a reshuffle of Beeb …

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  1. Code Monkey
    Thumb Up

    Good move

    I'm all for that. Call the telly the telly and all that.

    1. P. Lee
      Coat

      Re: Good move

      I hear a whale, not singing, but sobbing...

  2. Cameron Colley
    IT Angle

    What's a radio?

    Do you mean the programming I sometimes watch or listen to on my laptop?

    I take it TV is the new name for YouTube, iPlayer, Netflix and other video services?

    Yes, I know most people probably do still have a traditional television and, possibly, still listen to traditional radios (well DAB ones soon, perhaps) but surely I'm not the only person for whom a "TV" and "radio" don't exist any more?

    1. dotdavid
      Facepalm

      Re: What's a radio?

      Vision - sounds too strategy-boutique, so call the division "Video"

      Audio and Music - music is still audio, so call the division "Audio"

      There, that took ten seconds.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: What's a radio?

        Vision - sounds too strategy-boutique

        Quite ... when in the recent DG merry-go-round one of them was described as previously being "Director of Vision" I assumed that he'd been in charge of some "blue skies" group that had been coming up with ideas of where broadcasting should be going in 5-10 years time. It was a bit of a shock to find out the "Vision" just meant TV programs!

        Anyway, why not a Dept of Radio and a Dept of "Radio with Pictures"!

        1. Youngone Silver badge
          Happy

          Re: What's a radio?

          Funnily enough we had a TV show called Radio with Pictures in the early 1980's.

          Have a look here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMfOgxLgDiY

          This gives a quick potted history: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pD-t6j9-yVM

          Great memories.

      2. Captain Hogwash
        Thumb Up

        Re: Vision - sounds too strategy-boutique

        This was a vision, fresh and clear as a mountain stream.

        The mind revealing itself to itself.

        etc.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: What's a radio?

      TV: TeleVision

      Tele: (long) distance

      Vision: seeing something.

      Therefore TV means "Seeing something from a distance". Unless you're using your laptop in the studio, I would argue that you are watching it from a distance and therefore all of those VoD services still fall under my definition of TV.

      Coincidently, the TV broadcast system as we know it also falls under my definition of radio.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: What's a radio?

      What's a laptop? Oh, I guess it's one of those things old people used to use before tablets and smartphones were invented.

      1. William Oakley

        Re: What's a radio?

        Isn't a laptop something you carry around all day but only actually use on a desk?

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: What's a radio?

      " but surely I'm not the only person for whom a "TV" and "radio" don't exist any more?"

      possibly not, but, I bet there a lot more people out there who prefer to watch on a TV set that is at least 42" and is hooked up to at least a 5.1 surround system.... you enjoy watching on your 13" laptop with tinny speakers.

      1. Cameron Colley

        Re: What's a radio?

        Why would anyone watch video on a laptop in my living room? Have you never heard of monitors and projectors? I mentioned the laptop because it, and my phone, are the only radio devices I tend to use regularly so I took it that when watching a video in bed I'm using this "radio" they talk about.

        I do think that Video and Audio (possibly Video Programming and Audio Programming) are much better than the silly Vision though.

        As to the strict definition of television since it's essentially a brand name it can mean what you want it to. I've no problem with extending it to include YouTube but what about downloaded films? I wasn't in the studio then either. I also saw the moon on television once through a telescope?

      2. Fibbles
        Megaphone

        Re: What's a radio?

        "possibly not, but, I bet there a lot more people out there who prefer to watch on a TV set that is at least 42" and is hooked up to at least a 5.1 surround system.... you enjoy watching on your 13" laptop with tinny speakers."

        I don't own a TV. I do have a large dumb panel in my living room for watching downloaded and steamed content.

        1. Fibbles

          Re: What's a radio?

          When I'm browsing on my mobile I really should double check my posts before hitting submit. I didn't pick that icon and I'm not exactly sure what 'steamed' content is...

          As you were.

          1. This post has been deleted by its author

    5. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: What's a radio?

      "but surely I'm not the only person for whom a "TV" and "radio" don't exist any more?"

      You probably one of the few. Even the most ardent techno geeks tend to listen to the radio occasionally even if its only in the car.

      1. TheOtherHobbes

        Re: What's a radio?

        There's at least two of us then.

        But shouldn't it be called "TV TV TV", because it's mostly repeats?

  3. Anonymous Custard
    Joke

    And the department responsible for sport...

    ...will be renamed "Sky".

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: And the department responsible for sport...

      ..will be renamed "Sky".

      Given all those pesky regulations over what sporting events cannot be on subscription channels then you can almost imagine BBC sports lining up as "Sky Sports FTA"

      1. Anonymous Custard

        Re: And the department responsible for sport...

        Indeed, or at least Sky Sports F1 +1

  4. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

    No i?

    I assumed the new i-connected, i-cloud, i-internet enabled BBC would call the parts

    iRadio and iTV

    1. teebie

      Re: No i?

      They've already annoyed apple with iPlayer, there's no need for them to rub it in.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: No i?

        > They've already annoyed apple with iPlayer, there's no need for them to rub it in.

        There's lots of need :D

        1. teebie

          Re: No i?

          "> They've already annoyed apple with iPlayer, there's no need for them to rub it in.

          There's lots of need :D"

          Good point. I retract my earlier statement.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: No i?

        Thr whole "i" thing is a bit old now; there is no way they can use iTV thanks to the ever so long established broadcast conglomerate.

        The need to innovate with their nameing now too.

    2. Intractable Potsherd
      Happy

      Re: No i?

      I like the idea of BBC calling its visual broadcasting iTV - how deliciously confusing!!

      (For those not in the know, for many years the choice of channels in the UK was "BBC" (state owned and no adverts) and "ITV" ("Independent Television", with adverts). I still refer to the local broadcast on Channel 3 (Freeview) as ITV ...)

      1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

        Re: No i?

        And for everyone else who was distracted by the whooshing sound of a joke going over their head

        The BBC used to produce serious documentaries, funny sitcoms, expensive drama, decent science programs etc. While the commercial iTV produced cheap bargain-house-price-cooking-with-celebs type crap.

        Now that the BBC's 97 channels produces nothing but ....

  5. Pen-y-gors

    Doesn't go far enough

    Should rename radio 'wireless' and tv 'witchcraft' and be done with it!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Doesn't go far enough

      Didn't you get the memo? Witchcraft was a Russian mole.

      1. Chris Miller

        Witchcraft was a Russian mole

        Allegedly. [Spoiler alert]

  6. jacobbe
    FAIL

    Dont worry, the idiotic department names live on through the "BBC Academy" , which is actually "BBC Training" and "BBC People" which is HR or the old Personnel department.

  7. fLaMePrOoF
    Trollface

    Personally I think 'vision' and 'audio' were more fitting terms given the widening of scope to multiple media platforms; e.g. viewing iPlayer on a laptop is not TV and downloading a Podcast is not radio...

  8. This post has been deleted by its author

  9. mark 63 Silver badge
    Happy

    Function Director_General_Tony_Hall

    _TV=TV

    _Journalism=Journalism

    _Director_General_Tony_Hall="WIN!

    end Function

    '---------------------------------

    Function Director_General_Mark_Thompson

    _TV="BBC Vision"

    _Radio = "BBC Audio and Music"

    _Director_General_Mark_Thompson="FAIL"

    _bullshit=true

    end Function

    1. Steve Knox
      Stop

      PARSE ERROR

      ON LINE 8:

      Unexpected Token 'BBC' near '"WIN!

      end Function

      '---------------------------------

      Function Director_General_Mark_Thompson

      _TV="BBC'

  10. Chris Phillips
    Thumb Up

    Backtrack?? they should've gone further!

    Vision should remain in tact and ONLY deal with visual aspects of broadcast media, it's so obvious!

    Any programme broadcast on TV or online should have the visual element provided by BBC Vision, and the soundtrack 100% independently produced by BBC Audio. What could possibly go wrong?

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Personally...

    who really give a shit?

    Oh the people above....

    1. Anonymous Custard

      Re: Personally...

      People with a TV license when they realise they've been paying for this nonsense.

  12. Admiral Grace Hopper
    Thumb Up

    What an excellent development.

    Admiral Grace Hopper

    Programmer Analyst Software Engineer Development Specialist Software Delivery Champion Systems Architect

  13. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

    Helen Boaden

    I heard her interviewed on 'The Media Show' on BBC Audio and MusicRadio 4. It's an excellent program, and has kept Beeb management on their toes a few times. Boaden really doesn't appear to be the sharpest tool in the box. Her excellent defence of the Newsnight editor on the show was only undermined by the fact that she hadn't actually bothered to ask him what happened, she'd simply prepped for the interview by reading his blog online!

    When I'm dealing with a customer with a problem, I always speak to the people they're complaining about before launching a defence. It's an excellent (and easy) way to avoid looking like a total arse! Also, she's his bloody boss. Has she heard of management? Has she heard of telephones? I know Radio is the poor cousin to TV, but surely they at least get those...

    Anyway, the DG was no better. He appeared in front of a Parliamentary Select Committee, and he'd only bothered to brief himself by reading the online blog, rather than asking the guy. Perhaps the editor of Newsnight is fictional, and the role is actually fulfilled by an AI? Or he's got a phobia about phones perhaps?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Helen Boaden

      Now now.

      As Winston Churchill so nearly said about the BBC, never in the field of management has so much money been paid to people with such nebulous job titles.

      Under Thompson, didn't they start off with 9 management levels and manage to reduce it to 7, sort of? It would be interesting to read a bovine excrement free explanation of why so many levels were needed and why so many people needed to do so much managing.

      1. Chris Miller

        bovine excrement free explanation

        To provide impressive business cards for the unbelievable number of nepotistic hangers-on that infest the place. Even Fred the bloody Shred didn't try to parachute his sprogs into senior management positions, but that's just situation normal at the Beeb.

      2. Anonymous IV

        Re: Helen Boaden

        Ah, BBC job titles! It was alleged that in the Sixties (or thereabouts) an engineer at the BBC had managed to get himself awarded the title of Engineering Information and Electrical Installation Officer, so that he could, quite validly, answer the telephone with "EIEIO?", but checking a few years ago with someone who worked at the BBC found no trace of this.

        An episode of South Parks apparently recycled the same idea with "Email, Internet, Electronic Information Officer."

        1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
          Happy

          Re: Helen Boaden

          It was alleged that in the Sixties (or thereabouts) an engineer at the BBC had managed to get himself awarded the title of Engineering Information and Electrical Installation Officer, so that he could, quite validly, answer the telephone with "EIEIO?"

          Anonymous IV,

          Ah that was good old Farmer MacDonald! Lovely chap.

      3. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

        Re: Helen Boaden

        When they stopped making programs and started commissioning them from outside companies the only job left was producer (in the movie sense) but since nobody in the "creative" parts was made redundant they ended up making everybody a manager/producer

    2. John Brown (no body) Silver badge
      Childcatcher

      Re: Helen Boaden

      Boaden...prepped for the interview by reading his blog online!

      the DG...only bothered to brief himself by reading the online blog,

      Sounds like an exercise in "plausible denyability" to me.

      "Sorry guv, I didn't have all the information, no one told me"

  14. graeme leggett Silver badge

    Missing the point

    That anyone who uses the (alleged) word "nextification" should be taken outside and shot (pour encourager les autres*)

    *that's your actual French.

    1. BoldMan

      Re: Missing the point

      mmm, bona!

  15. William Oakley

    Salaries?

    Surely "over 6 figures" would imply 7 figures?

    1. Steve Knox

      Re: Salaries?

      ... or 8 or 9 or 63....

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Please... The Wireless

    From now on, serious programs, drama, the shipping forecast (four times a day) and news including daily coverage of the royal family will the broadcast on The Home Service

    Comedy and light music will be broadcast on The Light Programme

    Serious intellectual stuff, and high-broadcast-quality classical music will be broadcast on The Third Programme

    There. Everybody should be happy now.

    Oh, I forgot the best-of-all BBC channel, the one that carries endless repeats of all the good stuff they used to make and are lucky enough to still have on tape. I don't care what they call it, as long as they keep it --- but get rid of the stupid announcers with their ridiculously exaggerated accents.

  17. s. pam Silver badge
    Childcatcher

    "BBC Vision is a good start, the next step is to abolish….

    The BBC as a whole needs to go away and be the commercial provider they are in all but the truest sense of the word.

    It is nothing more than a fascist conspiracy to continue to rip off us with yet another stealth tax, and if we all just quit paying, they'll have to reduce the gazillions of idiots back down to a manageable number of useful staff.

    Reducing the number of repeats, and imports and just produce basic TV & Radio.

    1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

      Fascist?

      Seriously? Calm down dear! It's only a commercial...

      Sure, the BBC are over-managed. However, they're not that expensive. When you think what original content the BBC produces for £3bn, and compare it to the £5bn that Sky turns over, and the lack of content that they produce with it, suddenly the License Fee starts to look like decent value. Admittedly Sky are improving that, and they spend an absolute ton of cash on both sports rights and good sports coverage (which are both expensive). But if you compare the £250 cost of basic Sky (without Sport) to the Beeb at £150, Sky look horrendously expensive!

      ITV are free, but you have to watch adverts. They have a similar budget to BBC1, but look like they achieve less with it.

  18. localzuk Silver badge
    Thumb Up

    Makes sense

    What we receive on our television sets is "broadcast TV", what we see via the internet is "internet TV" and what we interact with would be "interactive TV". So, "Video" and "Vision" both seem somewhat wrong, but TV works.

    Same for radio.

  19. Neil Barnes Silver badge
    Go

    And for those of us lucky enough to have worked in the BBC

    Since Producer Choice came along, we had to ask ourselves every month or so 'just what are we called this week?'

    Still, in spite of everything, the Beeb still churns out some excellent stuff - BBC2, BBC4, and Radio 4 for me, but your mileage may vary. And oddly enough, there are still people out there with attention spans long enough to stare at a screen on a wall *at the time the programme is broadcast*, or to listen to a radio in real time.

    Reminds me, I must go and pay my license.

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