BBC News Special

BBC News Special is the title given by BBC News to a news programme covering one specific and important event, often unscheduled. It is usually used to refer to situations where the programme being broadcast on the BBC News channel is also broadcast on either (or a combination of) BBC One, BBC Two or BBC World News simultaneously.

This happens during important pre-arranged events such as the announcement of the host of the London 2012 Olympics, and also happens for events where normal programming on BBC One or BBC Two is interrupted, such as the 7 July 2005 London bombings or the emergency ruling in Pakistan. It is also used for programmes that don't interrupt programming on BBC One/Two, but do replace the originally intended programming in order to give an extra news bulletin to provide an update on an ongoing event such as the 2007 United Kingdom floods.

When a BBC News Special interrupts programming on BBC One or Two, a bar will often appear at the bottom of the screen on the other channel with, "BBC News report on BBC One ". However, instances such as the death of the Queen Mother have been reported on both BBC One and BBC Two, both simulcasts of BBC News 24. Similar bars have also been used on other networks; Sky One displayed a bar intermittently when the Queen Mother's death was reported, referring to its news channel Sky News.

Most BBC News Specials broadcast on BBC World News and the BBC News channel as well. Some BBC News Specials can last between 1 – 6 hours long, depending on the event.

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