The
BBC mainly uses live announcers on its flagship television channels BBC One and BBC Two, and on its digital channels (apart from
BBC News and
BBC Parliament, which do not use announcers at all). Separate continuity for BBC One and BBC Two in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is provided by local announcers who also double as transmission directors. Presently, the only UK national radio station to use continuity announcers is
BBC Radio 4, where many of the announcing staff also act as newsreaders and also introduce the station's
Shipping Forecast. The
BBC World Service still uses announcers as radio newsreaders but live continuity was discontinued in the early 2010s. Until about 1990,
BBC Radio 2 used continuity announcers (separate from newsreaders) for its weekend and evening output, but these have since disappeared. Similarly,
BBC Radio 3 has downgraded the former role of its announcers in favour of a new style of presenter. Continuity announcers played a much heavier role on the pre-1967
BBC Home Service,
BBC Light Programme and
BBC Third Programme (and other services on the last-named's frequency).
BBC Radio Scotland discontinued the role of dedicated announcers around 2008. Promotional content is included within programmes, while news bulletins are read by Broadcast Journalists. Announcing staff for
BBC Radio Cymru,
BBC Radio Ulster and
BBC Radio Wales double as newsreaders and technical operators. Continuity announcements for BBC television channels are broadcast from
Red Bee Media at the White City Media Village in West London, with separate continuity teams for the nations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland based in the broadcasting centres in Belfast, Cardiff and Glasgow, providing links for the local variations of BBC One and BBC Two, as well as the BBC Scotland channel.
CBBC and
CBeebies continuity now airs from studios at
MediaCityUK in
Salford Quays – up until September 2011, CBBC presentation was broadcast from a small studio in the East Tower of
BBC Television Centre while
CBeebies presentation was also live at
Teddington Studios. The announcing team for BBC Radio 4 work from a suite of studios on the 7th floor of
Broadcasting House in London. Historically, BBC announcers mostly spoke with
Received Pronunciation, but the range of accents heard has widened considerably in recent years, and the general tone has become more informal.
In-vision continuity Early continuity Andrew Martin, an expert from the BBC archives, described continuity announcements as "an essential part of television," which "actually tell us quite a lot about the style, the kind of attitudes of television in their particular era." In-vision continuity announcers, who appeared on screen between programmes, were a staple part of television broadcasts from the very earliest days of television, because "there was a need for linking material between programmes just to kind of announce them." In the early days of television, it was almost like a variety bill in the theatre... [and when] an item would come on, somebody had to say what it was often listing an entire evening's up-coming programming in one link. The early announcers became "celebrities in their own right," often receiving considerable amounts of
fan mail, as they were among the most recognisable on-screen individuals, appearing every day, at the start of an era when television celebrity began. Early in-vision announcers included
Elizabeth Cowell,
Leslie Mitchell, formerly a
newsreel announcer, and
Jasmine Bligh, who re-opened the television service in 1946. The early continuity announcers were auditioned, as "they had to look good but they also had to speak well", as clear speaking was crucial to their role.
Later continuity It is believed that in-vision continuity was last used during the peak viewing hours on BBC TV in the early 1960s, with a link into the
Eurovision Song Contest 1963 the last-known example of the corporation's use of in-vision continuity (as well as existing out-of-vision continuity) across the national network. Between the late 1960s and circa 1980, many of the BBC's English regions provided their own continuity on weekday evenings, including in-vision presentation – particularly at closedown. Regional in-vision continuity was still used by BBC South in
Southampton, BBC Midlands in
Birmingham and BBC North West in
Manchester by the time English regional continuity was phased out. From 1998 to 2001, the
Northern Ireland regional service on
BBC Choice used in-vision continuity links.
Children's continuity The presentation of children's programmes had in-vision continuity from its instigation until 1965. The best-known children's in-vision continuity face was that of schoolgirl
Jennifer Gay, one of the
Children's Hour announcers, who introduced such favourites as
Muffin the Mule between 1949 and 1953. In-vision continuity was re-introduced as part of Children's BBC/
CBBC) on 9 September 1985. From then until 1994, this came from the main BBC1 continuity suite itself, referred to as "the broom cupboard" and introduced by various presenters including
Andy Crane,
Andi Peters and
Phillip Schofield; Since then, it has come from larger, specialised studios. Children's BBC Scotland used in-vision continuity from 1992–1996, but this was omitted in favour of out-of-vision continuity from 1997–2000. As of September 2011, presentation for both
CBBC and
CBeebies originates from the BBC's
MediaCityUK studios in Salford Quays, following the BBC Children's department move from London.
Modern continuity In February 2008, BBC Three introduced in-vision continuity links, in the form of live links with presenter Jose Vanders and recorded links with BBC Three viewers. For a time, the BBC Three website offered viewers the opportunity to record links for programmes. The live in-vision links were dropped after only a few months although live out-of-vision continuity during peak time returned in September 2011. On 19 September 2008, the Scottish Gaelic-language digital channel
BBC Alba launched with in-vision continuity from the channel's sole announcer, Fiona MacKenzie. A second in-vision announcer, Moira MacDonald, was appointed in July 2009. All continuity links are live in Stornoway and transmitted from BBC Scotland's headquarters in
Glasgow. ==ITV==