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Met Office loses BBC contract


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Posted
  • Location: Northiam, East Sussex, 70m asl
  • Weather Preferences: snow,thunder,tornados
  • Location: Northiam, East Sussex, 70m asl

Can you imagine the excitement and tension if madden was in charge,britain would go into meltdown by october,i can see the mail and the express headlines now,britain braced for worst winter ever,-80c howling winds,and laying snow taller than everest,than a scorching summer lasting 6 months with minimum temps not getting below 55c,but watch out f5 tornadoes daily,and frogs falling from the sky

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Posted
  • Location: NW LONDON
  • Weather Preferences: Sun, sleet, Snow
  • Location: NW LONDON

I hope they don't opt for WeaterAction! :rofl:

LOL! The Corbyns would be on a roll, one will be the prime minister for 5 years and the other will provide forecasters that are accurate once every five years, :crazy: allegedly of course. :ninja: The excuses for inaccurate forecasts would be entertaining though, 'the moon let off an unexpected filament' :cc_confused:  I'd have to rely on my Argos weather station instead. I blame the batteries when that is wrong. :ninja: Muggy, cloud building, some weather expected this afternoon, 24.2c

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Posted
  • Location: Truro, Cornwall
  • Weather Preferences: Winter - Heavy Snow Summer - Hot with Night time Thunderstorms
  • Location: Truro, Cornwall

And here's a thought, if Metra were to win it, maybe we could end up with Dan Corbett back on our screens!

That would please many here including myself! One of my favourites!
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Posted
  • Location: N.E. Scotland South Side Moray Firth 100m asl
  • Location: N.E. Scotland South Side Moray Firth 100m asl

In the words of my late mother a former BBC employee "Better the devil you know than the devil you don"t" Will be interesting to see the outcome especially if the unusually cold Atlantic  stays in  the equation this winter.

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Posted
  • Location: Lochgelly - Highest town in Fife at 150m ASL.
  • Weather Preferences: Snow and cold. Enjoy all extremes though.
  • Location: Lochgelly - Highest town in Fife at 150m ASL.

Am I right in thinking that some (not all) of the 'presenters' are metereologically qualified? therefore are actually employed by the Met Office and not the BBC?   I think I read somewhere that some presenters have been on courses and such like and are chosen for their presentation skills.   Seems to me that they are the ones who might be a bit worried?  I could be wrong though.

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Posted
  • Location: Cheddington, Buckinghamshire
  • Weather Preferences: Winter: Cold & Snowy, Summer: Just not hot
  • Location: Cheddington, Buckinghamshire

Am I right in thinking that some (not all) of the 'presenters' are metereologically qualified? therefore are actually employed by the Met Office and not the BBC?   I think I read somewhere that some presenters have been on courses and such like and are chosen for their presentation skills.   Seems to me that they are the ones who might be a bit worried?  I could be wrong though.

 

There are some forecasters who have proper degrees (Jay Wynne and Thomasz Schafernaker did the same degree as me), whereas some have done a crash course in weather so they know the basics.

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Posted
  • Location: just south of Doncaster, Sth Yorks
  • Location: just south of Doncaster, Sth Yorks

Am I right in thinking that some (not all) of the 'presenters' are metereologically qualified? therefore are actually employed by the Met Office and not the BBC?   I think I read somewhere that some presenters have been on courses and such like and are chosen for their presentation skills.   Seems to me that they are the ones who might be a bit worried?  I could be wrong though.

 

The person to ask for the most up to date on this is Jo.

From my past inside knowledge, most, maybe not all, those who do weather forecasts on prime time BBC1 TV news slots and BBC News 24 are fully qualified Met forecasters. Usually entering with a science degree, sometimes, like Nick L a degree in meteorology. Then at least two forecasting course before going on to tv. Jo may have more up to date comments but that was how it was when I was a Met O forecaster. The first course was about 6 months long and the second around 2 months, very intensive.

Wasn't there a New Zealand company touted in the past that could provide the data or am I completely wrong with this?

 

I believe the graphics currently used by UK Met on BBC tv are from that company.

Edited by johnholmes
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Posted
  • Location: Leeds
  • Weather Preferences: snow, heat, thunderstorms
  • Location: Leeds

There are some forecasters who have proper degrees (Jay Wynne and Thomasz Schafernaker did the same degree as me), whereas some have done a crash course in weather so they know the basics.

Laura Tobin has a degree in physics I believe - not sure if that counts! She's working for ITV these days anyway.

Edited by cheese
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Posted
  • Location: Cheddington, Buckinghamshire
  • Weather Preferences: Winter: Cold & Snowy, Summer: Just not hot
  • Location: Cheddington, Buckinghamshire

Laura Tobin has a degree in physics I believe - not sure if that counts! She's working for ITV these days anyway.

 

She did Physics & Met at Reading :)

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Posted
  • Location: Cardiff
  • Location: Cardiff

As somebody who provides bids in to Government I hope I can shed a little bit of light on why the Met Office have not been chosen. While I don't know the BBC's bid process I imagine it will be fairly similar.

 

The BBC will probably have gathered details of as many potential vendors as possible through the publication of a Request for Information (RFI). The majority of these will then have been asked to complete a Pre-Qualifying Quesitonnaire (PQQ) which provides some more details to the BBC as to what the vendors generally offer and what their commercial side is looking like.

 

So at this point the BBC will have a short(er) list of potential vendors to which they will have issued an Invitation to Tendor (ITT) - this is essentially the vendors full proposal. This often comes in two parts; one technical and one commercial. The ITT is basically an exam with set questions having to be answered in a maximum number of words.

 

Each of these will be independently marked by both a technical team and commercial team. Given that Government and the BBC work on 'Value for Money' there will be a technical to commercial weighting of say 70:30 meaning 30% of the marks are for cost and other commercial factors. This weighting would differ depending on the contract and flexibility in budgets etc. Given the BBC are a bit strapped for cash this weighting could be more on the commercial side.

 

Once each ITT has been marked a Preferred Bidder will be selected and they will go in to further negotiation with the BBC. Time will be given for all potential vendors to challenge the results.

 

So why didn't the Met Office win? - they were simply charging too much for the services they were offering compared to other vendors. So it's not just that the BBC will have chosen the cheapest option as the cheapest would likely score very low on technical. You have to get the technical:commercial balance right in your proposal.

 

Again, this is the process used by most Government departments and may not be exactly the same as that used by the BBC but I imagine it will be quite similar.

Edited by CardiffStorm
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Posted
  • Location: Sheffield South Yorkshire 160M Powering the Sheffield Shield
  • Weather Preferences: Any Extreme
  • Location: Sheffield South Yorkshire 160M Powering the Sheffield Shield

I would imagine that the imcoming company would seek to keep a lot of the forecasters on (should they want to switch), because it's a lot better/simpler to do that than to train a whole load of new ones and not have the popular and familiar faces still on the tv. 

Well sack them and take them on a lower rate is the normal method. Whether they'll want to stay is another matter. They'll probably get better offers elsewhere or jump first.

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Posted
  • Location: Camborne
  • Location: Camborne

The person to ask for the most up to date on this is Jo.

From my past inside knowledge, most, maybe not all, those who do weather forecasts on prime time BBC1 TV news slots and BBC News 24 are fully qualified Met forecasters. Usually entering with a science degree, sometimes, like Nick L a degree in meteorology. Then at least two forecasting course before going on to tv. Jo may have more up to date comments but that was how it was when I was a Met O forecaster. The first course was about 6 months long and the second around 2 months, very intensive.

 

I believe the graphics currently used by UK Met on BBC tv are from that company.

 

That is correct John/

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Posted
  • Location: South Norfolk, 44 m ASL.
  • Weather Preferences: Varied and not extreme.
  • Location: South Norfolk, 44 m ASL.

Depends what you mean by 'broke'.

 

Well, as I understand it, the Met Office's 2 and 3-day forecast accuracy is as good as anyone else's and better than most.

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Posted
  • Location: Edinburgh (previously Chelmsford and Birmingham)
  • Weather Preferences: Unseasonably cold weather (at all times of year), wind, and thunderstorms.
  • Location: Edinburgh (previously Chelmsford and Birmingham)

What happened to "If it ain't broke, don't fix it", I wonder?

Monetarily broke?

Well okay, maybe not broke but money will have something to do with it.

Edited by 22nov10blast
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Posted
  • Location: Jordanstown, Co. Antrim
  • Weather Preferences: Cold winters, warm sunny summers.
  • Location: Jordanstown, Co. Antrim

I'm surprised they didn't award the contract to James Madden and Exacta Weather, seriously :D

Personally, I'll be tuning in to RTE from now on which sources it's data from Met Éireann

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Posted
  • Location: Cardiff
  • Location: Cardiff

Well, as I understand it, the Met Office's 2 and 3-day forecast accuracy is as good as anyone else's and better than most.

 

It's not all about technical and accuracy though - if they're charging too much for it then they won't win the bid, which they didn't.

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Posted
  • Location: Milton Keynes (and sometimes east London/Essex)
  • Location: Milton Keynes (and sometimes east London/Essex)

And who will present the forecasts?

(I do have my favourites)

Edited by nicol@
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Posted
  • Location: Beccles, Suffolk.
  • Weather Preferences: Thunder, snow, heat, sunshine...
  • Location: Beccles, Suffolk.

It's not all about technical and accuracy though - if they're charging too much for it then they won't win the bid, which they didn't.

Which is just what's wrong with today's, carefully orchestrated, 'economic reality': the bids may well be lower (on paper and in the short-term) but who foots the bill for all the redundancies, here in the UK? The UK taxpayers, that's who!

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Posted
  • Location: Bedfordshire 33m above mean sea level
  • Weather Preferences: Snowy and thundery.
  • Location: Bedfordshire 33m above mean sea level

I'm sorry but this post really made me laugh :D I don't think I've ever seen such a strong opinion on a seemingly harmless show :p

:p laughter makes the world go round :acute:

My hubs loves it. Cheesy and all. Personally I have better things to spend money on. :D

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Posted
  • Location: Wigan 259 ft ASL where it always rains
  • Weather Preferences: Hot Sun ,Snow and Cold
  • Location: Wigan 259 ft ASL where it always rains

Let's hope the METO launch their own weather channel on cable/satellite.

Ridiculous decision , the Meto Is by far the most accurate

 

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