The BBC historically was (and maybe still is) known for its abbreviations and acronyms,
hundreds of them!

Whether EIEIO was apocryphal or not we don’t know, but gathered together here are a large number of definitely real ones.

ACGAS, HIGNFY and SROTY are perhaps familiar – the latter on the labels of 2″ tapes filling trolleys around the TC basement at each year’s end for a long time.

But what about COOBE or CHAR or SODS?

Here they all are gatherhered all together… a collection of all the known abbreviations, initials and jargon which are contained in and used in the posts and pages which make up the BBC Tech Ops website.

This lists Abbreviations known to date    02.03.2024

Please scroll down to see the complete list of entries

1

1	Camera 1	Scripts
1/2 Blue	Half blue, a lighting gel to increase the CT of light, roughly 1/2 that of full blue (CTB)	Technical
1/2 Orange	Half orange, lighting gel to decrease the CT roughly 1/2 that of full orange (CTO)	Technical
1/4 Blue	Quarter blue, lighting gel to increase CT by roughly 1/4 of full blue	Technical
1/4 Orange	Quarter orange, lighting gel to decrease CT roughly 1/4 full orange	Technical

2

2	Camera 2	Scripts
2-WIRE	Single bi-directional communication circuit Usually narrow-band (telephone quality). Basically a private phone circuit, for example between a scanner and the studio or CAR, or, (in)famously, the Betting Hotline between a racing reporter in the paddock and the sub-editors in the \Grandstand\ studio. Sometimes booked as CNR, Control No Ringers, to prevent spurious ringing to be activated by audio content when used in a single direction to feed Talk-back or Clean-feed TB to a scanner and the \talent\ at an OB, for example., Click button to clear.	Technical
2\, 4\, 6/s	Stepped wooden block(s) to put under props etc. to raise them 2\, 4 or 6 inches	Scripts
2S	Two Shot (two people or two items in the shot) (example 2S Dalek and K9) loose 2-shot   , Click button to clear.	Scripts

3

3	Camera 3	Scripts
3S	Three Shot (three people or three items in the shot)	Scripts

4

4	Camera 4	Scripts
4033	Robust STC Cardiod microphone consisting of both a moving coil and ribbon microphone capable of working together or independently Typical boom microhone of 1960s television production., Click button to clear.	Technical
4-WIRE	Go and return communication circuits Usually narrow-band (telephone quality) go and return communication circuits, typically used for two-way Talk-back between a scanner and the studio, or Network Control, or as the Coordination Circuit between the BBC producer at a foreign venue and the production team in the UK. Also used to provide Clean-feed TB to commentators at overseas events, with the return leg being used as Lazy TB from the commentators, and acting as reserve for the wide-band commentary circuit., Click button to clear.	Technical

5

5	Camera 5	Scripts

6

6	Camera 6	Scripts

A

A	Alexandra Palace (News) Studio A	Studios
A	Presentation Studio A (TVC)	Studios
A	Note above middle C to which an orchestra traditionally tunes	Misc
A leg	The left-hand signal of a stereo circuit or programme	Technical
A/B	As Before	Scripts
AB	Aberdeen	Places
AB	Aberdeen	Transmitter
ABER	Aberdeen	Places
ABS	Association of Broadcasting Staff Formerly the BBC Staff Association, which became BETA (Broadcasting and Entertainment Trades Alliance), eventually merging in 1991 with ACTT (Association of Cinematograph Television and Allied Technicians) to form BECTU, (Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union)., Click button to clear.	Misc
AC	Alternating Current	Technical

ACCESS	A commercial studio communications system Installed in BBC Belfast, it is believed, in the early 1980s. The name gave rise to the idea that the BBC Sport communication system should be called VISA (cfI/I>), Click button to clear.	Technical
Ad lib	In stage, screen and broadcast, this means unscripted dialogue added by an actor or performer on the spur of the moment Ad libitum (Latin) – at one’s liberty or pleasure., Click button to clear.	Scripts
ACTT	Association of Cinematograph Television and Allied Technicians 1933 to 1991., Click button to clear.	Misc
AGC	Automatic Gain Control	Technical
ACGAS	All Creatures Great and Small	Progs
ADFI	Another DFI (this and DFI were usually verbal amongst crew)	Scripts
ADR	Automated Dialogue Replacement	Technical
AFM	Assistant Floor Manager	People
AFL	After Fade Listen A listen of the contribution one channel makes to a mix., Click button to clear.	Technical
AFP	Axial Front Projection	Technical

AH	Aldenham House	Places
AI	Appreciation Index	Technical
AIDA	Angenieux Image Diffusing Attachment	Technical
Aims Minim	A system at BBC TVC and TVT. Studio SPL was measured and if it exceeded a threshold, power was cut to the PA and amps	Technical
AM	Amplitude Modulation	Technical
AMA	Auxilliary Mixing Area, formerly The TVC Music Studio	Studios
AMPEX	Early generic name for VT In the early years of 2in quad videotape, Ampex (a trade name) was used in the same way as \Hoover\. John Howell has a script where \Ampex recording\ was booked for an evening, and Roger Harvey was billed as the \Ampex Editor\. Alec Bray tells a real life story – \The director said \’run AMPEX\’ – and nothing happened. The machine being used was an early RCA machine. The VT operator heard \’run Ampex\’ and as he wasn’t, he didn’t.\ After such incidents, the term \VT\ came into common use, although the term \Ampex clock\ lasted longer!, Click button to clear.	Technical
AP	Assistant Producer	People
AP	Alexandra Palace	Studios
AP Shift	Week 1 – Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday Week 2 – Monday, Wednesday In the early days of TV from AP, programmes transmitted live at the weekend were repeated, again as a live broadcast, later in the week. The same technical crew worked on both these live transmissions., Click button to clear.	Misc

apple and biscuit	The STC 4021 omnidirectional microphone, so called because of its shape.	Technical
ARSE	Action Replay Symbol Equipment	Technical
ARSE	Automatic Receiver Selection Equipment This was how the radio mic diversity kit at TVT was labelled for a while., Click button to clear.	Technical
ASAP	As Soon As Possible	Scripts
ASM	Assistant Stage Manager	People
ATA	Audio and Telecommunications Area BH Lines/Comms Dept., Click button to clear.	Technical
Atmos	‘atmosphere’- continuous sound that matches a situation A wildtrack of sound on set or location without any dialogue, but with all artists and crew in situ to record at least 30 seconds of atmos for sound editing purposes., Click button to clear.	Technical
ATOM	Assistant Technical Operations Manager (BH Control Room)	People
Avocet	Panning Head (Vinten) Became the Vision 10., Click button to clear.	Mountings
AXBT	Ticonal magnet ribbon microphone dating from 1944 , Click button to clear.	Technical

B

B	Alexandra Palace (News) Studio B (195 square meters)	Studios
B	Presentation Studio B (TVC)	Studios
B leg	The right-hand signal of a stereo circuit or programme	Technical
B-Y	Blue minus Luminance	Technical
B/G	Background	Scripts
B/W	Black and White	Technical
BAR	Bartley	Misc
BB	Black Balance Term rendered obsolete by modern cameras., Click button to clear.	Technical
BCU	Big Close Up , Click button to clear.	Scripts
BCQ	Ballachulish	BBC Transmitter

BE	Belfast	Places
BECTU	Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union Founded in 1991 as a result of the merger of the Association of Cinematograph Television and Allied Technicians (ACTT) and the Broadcasting and Entertainment Trades Alliance (BETA)., Click button to clear.	Misc
Best of Both	Best of Both Worlds BBC 2 programme from 1964 (onwards) which featured big orchestras from both sides of the Atlantic, directed (usually) by Yvonne Littlewood, Click button to clear.	Progs
BETA	Broadcasting and Entertainment Trades Alliance	Misc
BG	Bangor	Places
BGD	Burghead	BBC Transmitter
BH	Broadcasting House Usually refers to BH London, but regional centres were also often known as BH, such as BH Bristol, in Whiteladies Road, Clifton., Click button to clear.	Studios
BISQUE	One of two days a year holiday that could be taken without giving a reason	Misc
Black level clamp	Black and white analogue television – in receivers and monitors, a fixed DC level is set (at the pedestal level) for black in a picture signal at the beginning of each scanning line	Technical
BLINK	BBC Local Information NetworK Put on a diagram by Mike Giles to make sure everyone had read the piece thoroughly., Click button to clear.	Technical

Blocking	The first part of camera rehearsal Slowly work through a script with the actors or performers and match shots to dialogue and moves., Click button to clear.	Scripts
Block shots	The first part of camera rehearsal To slowly work through a script with the actors or performers and match shots to dialogue and moves., Click button to clear.	Scripts
BM	Birmingham	Places
BNC	Bayonet Neill-Concelman connector – a bayonet-type quick connector Available in 75 ohm version (for video) and 50 ohm versions (for Ethernet 10BASE2). Sometimes erroneously called a British Naval Connector or Bayonet Nut Connector, the connector used with coaxial cables., Click button to clear.	Technical
BNC	Blimped version of the Mitchell NC (News Camera) The Mitchell 35mm film camera was used worldwide for major feature films., Click button to clear.	Technical
BNT	Barnstable	BBC Transmitter
BOF-phone	BOF-phone – Frank Bough phone A telephone handset in the gallery, devised for Frank Bough, to allow the Editor on sports programmes to interrupt talkback to the presenter and speak to the presenter only via the telephone mouthpiece. The original version incorporated a ringing system to allow the presenter to call the Editor, but this became unused with the advent of presenter prehear, which allowed the presenter simply to ask the Editor to pick up the BOF-phone. The benefit of the BOF-phone for the presenter was that it reduced the cacophony of voices on production talkback, but if the handset wasn’t replaced properly, talkback to the presenter remained cut! Eventually, the rather complex telephone handset system was replaced simply by giving the Editor a non-locking key, which fed just his TB mic to the presenter. When the Editor let go of the key, a mix of all three gallery TB mics was restored, i.e the presenter didn’t get normal PTB, which could be spoken on by Tom, Dick and Harry, whom he would not wish to hear., Click button to clear.	Technical
BOG	Board of Governors	People
BOM	Board of Management	People
BP	Brookmans Park	BBC Transmitter

BP	Back Projection	Technical
BP	Blue Peter	Progs
BR/S	Brighton Local Radio Studio	Places
BR/T	Brighton Transmitter	BBC Transmitter
BRQ	Bandwidth request	Technical
BRTB	Boom Reverse Talkback Circuit from Boom Operators to the Sound Supervisor., Click button to clear.	Technical
BRW	Barrow	BBC Transmitter
BS	Bristol	Places
BTH	Bournemouth	BBC Transmitter
BU	Bush House	Places

BUSH	Bush House	Places
BX	Bexhill	BBC Transmitter
BY	Blaen-Plwyf	BBC Transmitter

C

C	Centre Stage	Scripts
C/A	Cutaway	Scripts
CA	Camera Assistant (SODS)	People
CAB	Central Area Bookings TC studio and circuit bookings office., Click button to clear.	Misc
Cam	Cameraman class I	Misc
Cam	Cameraman class II	Misc
camera tape	White self-adhesive 1 inch wide relatively loosely-woven fabric-based tape Used to fix lighting, autocue and other cables to camera cables – and used for all sorts of repair work. , Click button to clear.	Technical
Cans	Headphones	Technical
CAR	Central Apparatus Room	Places
CAT	Caption Addition Trolley	Technical

CAU	Circuit Allocation Unit BH Lines/Comms Department Bookings office., Click button to clear.	Misc
CAV	Caversham	Places
CAVER	Caversham	Places
CB	Colour Balance	Technical
CC	Comms Centre Comms Departments (Regional vision and sound routing)., Click button to clear.	Technical
CCD	Charge-Coupled Device	Technical
CCR	Central Control Room	Technical
CCR	Colour Control Room	Technical
CCU	Camera Control Unit	Technical
CF	Clean Feed Programme sound, minus sound from the contributing source to which the individual clean feed is directed. Known outside the BBC as mix-minus, which is more descriptive., Click button to clear.	Technical

CF	Cardiff	Places
CFTB	Clean Feed Talkback The means for studio galleries to talk on the clean feed circuit to remote source., Click button to clear.	Technical
CFX	Clean Effects In particular, the sound from a sport venue excluding commentary., Click button to clear.	Technical
CG	Computer Generated or Computer Graphics	Technical
CGI	Computer Generated Image	Technical
CHA/LS	Chatham Local Radio Studio	Places
CHAR	Camera Head Attachment – Rocking It was rumoured that they were going to call the CHAR the Camera Right Angle Pivot!, Click button to clear.	Mountings
CiN	Children In Need	Progs
CL	Clevedon	BBC Transmitter
CL	Single bi-directional communication circuit Basically a dedicated phone line., Click button to clear.	Technical

CLAP	Camera Low Angle Platform (in Manchester)	Mountings
CLUG	Colour Line-Up Girl(s)	People
CM	Cameraman People Click button to clear.	(SODS)
CM	College Mews Old News studios – Abingdon Green, Click button to clear.	Places
CMCCR	Colour Mobile Central Control Room OBs Colour Mobile TV Control gallery etc., Click button to clear.	Technical
CMCR	Colour Mobile Control Room	Technical
CMS	Close Mid Shot	Scripts
CNR	Control line with No Ringers A single uni-directional communication circuit., Click button to clear.	Technical
COMMAG	Film with COMbined MAGnetic sound track	Technical
Comms	Communication Lines	Technical

COMOPT	Film with COMbined OPTical track	Technical
CONF	Conferenced circuit Effectively a multi-way working for comms, whereby contributors heard all other contributors except themselves., Click button to clear.	Technical
COOBE	Commentator Operated Outside Broadcast Equipment Devised by BBC Radio and used by football reporters into BBC Television Sport., Click button to clear.	Technical
COOBE	Commentators Outside Broadcast Equipment	Technical
COORD	Coordination circuit Communication circuits to and from producers at international events, may well carry Clean Feed., Click button to clear.	Technical
cord	Studio sound cable	Technical
Cormorant	Panning Head (Vinten). A bigger version of the Avoicet Became the Vision 30., Click button to clear.	Mountings
CORPSE	Complex Operations Remote Phase Surveillance Equipment	Technical
Corpse	To break down with laughter while acting on transmission	Scripts
COX ROD	Monopod support for fishing rods	Technical

CP	Crystal Palace	BBC Transmitter
CR	Concorde Road Radio OBs, Click button to clear.	Places
CPS Emitron	Cathode Potential Stabilised Emitron Pickup Tube / Camera	Technical
CPU	Camera Projection Unit	Technical
CR	Cromer	BBC Ttansmitter
CRAB	Camera (on mount) moves sideways	Scripts
Crane	Camera dolly with a jib to raise or lower the camera and camera operator A camera CRANE is generally bigger (and heavier) than a dolly, providing a higher shot position at maximum extent. It requires at least a second operator, and sometimes more, to drive and move the assembly., Click button to clear.	Mountings
CRANE UP/DOWN	Camera raised up or lowered down	Scripts
CRE	Colour Roving Eye Small vehicle mounted mobile camera., Click button to clear.	Technical
Creeper	Dexion-framed fixed pan-head height low angle dolly	Mountings

crew down	All crew members assigned a more difficult job than their usual role An opportunity to give on-the-job training – cam 4 would do cam 1, for example, sound crew relief would operate a boom, and do on., Click button to clear.	Scripts
crib card	List of shots for a specific (studio) camera with space for camera operator notes Also known as a shot card., Click button to clear.	Scripts
CRT	Cathode Ray Tube	Technical
CS	Close Shot	Scripts
CS	Camera Supervisor	People
CSO	Colour Separation Overlay	Technical
CT	Colour Temperature	Technical
CTB	Colour Temperature Blue (also known as Full Blue) A lighting gel (filter) to convert tungsten light at 3200K to daylight, 5600K., Click button to clear.	Technical
CTO	Colour Temperature Orange (also known as Full Orange, although this term israrely used) A lighting gel (filter) to convert daylight to tungsten colour temperature, sheets of this often taped over windows in order to light interiors with tungsten lamps., Click button to clear.	Technical
CTB	Camera Talkback (from cameras to Director)	Technical

CTR	Communications Test Room OBs Kendal Avenue., Click button to clear.	Places
CTR	Central Tape Room (Bush House) There were two large Central Tape Rooms containing rows of BTR2s (EMI tape machines), Click button to clear.	Places
CU	Close Up , Click button to clear.	Scripts
Cue	An instruction to start	Scripts
cue light	Red light mounted usually on top at the front of a camera, with repeater lights in viewfinder, to show that the camera is selected for transmission through the vision mixing desk The cue lights could be patched sround if necessary, and on some shows the bulbs removed., Click button to clear.	Technical
cue light	A free-standing bulb (usually green) mounted on a suitable stand, used to cue a presenter or performer	Technical
CUFT	Considered Unfit For Transmission Written diagonally across radio recording reports., Click button to clear.	Technical
CUM	Cumulative Duration The timing of all items up to this point in the programme., Click button to clear.	Scripts
CVAR	Combined Vision Apparatus Room A combined apparatus room for TC6, TC7, and TC8., Click button to clear.	Technical
CW	Camera Woman Only used in SODS and used despite protests from the Union Equality Officer., Click button to clear.	People

cyc	Cyclorama A large curtain positioned at the back of the set. Now a word in its own right., Click button to clear.	Scripts
Cygnet	Panning Head (PH) (Vinten)	Mountings

D

D	Studio D Lime Grove (500 square metres)	Studios
DAC	Direct Acoustic Coupling This means you can hear each other without the need for microphones, headphones or speakers!, Click button to clear.	Technical
DART	Director’s Automatic Reverse Talkback Used in the early 1980s for the director in the General Election studio to talk to OBs located in the counts., Click button to clear.	Technical
DC	Direct Current	Technical
DDFAP		xx
DE	Dundee	BBC Transmitter
DEI	Droitwich	BBC Transmitter
derig	(Studios) Disconnect all studio equipment, stow booms, cameras, cables and cranes neatly in the Studio Technical Store, return other equipment to Stores	Technical
DEL	Direct Exchange Line GPO (later BT) phone line installed especially for an OB., Click button to clear.	Technical
DFI	Director’s Final Instruction (usually verbal) In reality – Different F****** Idea), Click button to clear.	Scripts

DG	Director General	People
DG	Douglas (Isle of Man)	BBC Transmitter
DI	Direct Injection A direct electrical feed from a guitar, as opposed to a microphone in front of the guitar amplifier’s speaker., Click button to clear.	Technical
DIDDLE	Drawmer Intermediate Drake Ducking at the Local End A variation on DODDLE cf.) Used for World Cup in Dallas, to allow a common London clean feed to several venues to be ducked for the specific venue only when it was spoken to by the Dallas BBC control room., Click button to clear.	Technical
Ditty Box	Box of bits OBs usage – a box of bits. From Naval slang – probably from odditty box., Click button to clear.	Technical
DIV	Divis (Northern Ireland)	BBC Transmitter
Dixon	Dixon of Dock Green	Progs
DMI	Digital Media Initiative Often subverted to ‘Don’t Mention It’., Click button to clear.	Technical
DO	Dolly Operator	People
DO1	Dolly Operator 1	People

DO2	Dolly Operator 2	People
doc	Documentary	Scripts
doco	Documentary	Scripts
DODDLE	Drawmer Operated Drake Ducking at the Local End Used for World Cup in Dallas, to allow a common London Clean Feed to several venues to be ducked only for the specific venue which the BBC London control room was speaking to., Click button to clear.	Technical
DOG	Digitally Originated Graphics	Technical
DOG	Digital On-Screen Graphic The ident logo in the corner of frame., Click button to clear.	Technical
DOIL	Day Off In Lieu (of working a Bank Holiday)	Misc
Dolly	Camera mounting allowing camera and camera person to move forward and back (and, in TV studios, sideways), needing a second operator to move the assembly A camera DOLLY offers a wider range of movement than a ped, and requires a second operator (a dolly op) to drive, or provide the motive power to move, the assembly. In TV studios, the dolly is free-moving. Used in OBs, the dolly may be mounted on a track (which contrains its degrees of freedom but provides a smoother movement)., Click button to clear.	Mountings
Dolly Op 1	Dolly Operator 1	People
Dolly Op 2	Dolly Operator 2	People

Dolphin	Jib Arm (JA) (Vinten)	Mountings
DOOS	Day Off On Site When working away from base (on location, and almost certainly on Sched A) the crew would have a day off scheduled, usually one in a week., Click button to clear.	Misc
DoP	Director of Photography	People
double-ender	A cord with two PO jacks at each end for use on a jack field	Technical
double-ender (reversing)	A cord with two PO jacks at each end, but with ring on one end connect to the tip at the other , Click button to clear.	Technical
DR	Dover	BBC Transmitter
DR	Dispatch Rider	People
Dress rehearsal	The final continuous run through of the complete script or programme A rehearsal with full make up and costume (and any costume and scene changes), only stopping at recording breaks (unless the programme is going to be live)., Click button to clear.	Scripts
Dress run	The final continuous run through of the complete script or programme A rehearsal with full make up and costume (and any costume and scene changes), only stopping at recording breaks (unless the programme is going to be live)., Click button to clear.	Scripts
Dry	To forget lines	Scripts

DS	Down Stage	Scripts
DS	Durris (Scotland)	BBC Transmitter
DSIS	Dual Sound in Syncs	Technical
DSS	Deputy Sound Supervisor	People
DTMF	Dual Tone Multi Frequency	Technical
DTT	Digital Terrestrial Television	Technical
Dunlin	Vinten Panning Head	Mountings
Dupe	Duplicate negative	Technical
DUR	Duration (that is, the timing of a specific item.)	Scripts
DUR/LS	Durham Local Radio Studio	Places

DWS	Designer will select	Scripts
DX	Daventry Domestic and overseas service., Click button to clear.	BBC Transmitter
DY/LS	Derby Local Radio Studio	Places

E

E	Studio E Lime Grove (446 square metres)	Studios
EA	Eastbourne	BBC Transmitter
EBCU	Extra Big Close Up , Click button to clear.	Scripts
ECM	Electret Condenser Mic Sony produced ECM personal/clip mics, for example the ECM50, Click button to clear.	Technical
EDIN	Edinburgh	Places
EDP	Extra Duty Pay In the 1960s, overtime pay for time in excess of contracted regular hours plus eight hours (this latter taken as TOIL) in any thirteen week period., Click button to clear.	Misc
EE	Eastenders	Progs
EETPU	Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbers Union	Misc
EFP	Electronic Field Production	Technical
EH	Edinburgh	Places

EH/T	Edinburgh Transmitter	BBC Transmitter
ELA	Studio A Elstree (515 square metres)	Studios
ELB	Studio B Elstree (515 square metres)	Studios
ELC	Studio C Elstree (605 square metres)	Studios
ELD	Studio D Elstree (836 square metres)	Studios
ELE	Studio E Elstree (84 square metres) Can be used as additional studio space with Studio D, Click button to clear.	Studios
ELS	Extreme long shot	Scripts
ELSTG1	Elstree Stage 1 (879 square metres)	Studios
EM	Engineering Manager	People
EM1	Engineering Manager 1	People

EM2	Engineering Manager 2	People
EMX	Engineering Manual Exchange	Technical
ENG	Electronic News Gathering	Technical
ENPS	Electronic News Production System	Technical
EQ	Equalisation	Technical
EQUITY	The trade union for actors, stage managers and models in the United Kingdom	Misc
ER	Edit Room	Places
ERR	Extra Responsibility Reward	Misc
ET	Eagle Tower OB Comms aerial mast (Generic name)., Click button to clear.	Technical
ET	East Tower East Tower TC including Comms Links receive room., Click button to clear.	Places

ETD	Engineering Training Department Formerly based at Wood Norton Hall, Evesham., Click button to clear.	Places
EV	Evesham (Wood Norton) seeETD, Click button to clear.	Places
EX	Exeter	BBC Transmitter
EX	Exeter	Places
Ext	Exterior	Scripts

F

F	Scene Store F Lime Grove	Studios
F/G	Foreground	Scripts
F&E	The manufacturer \’Films & Equipment\’	Technical
FA	Floor Assistant	People
FAC	Facilities Allocation Centre (TV Centre)	Misc
FAC(s)	Facility/Facilites	Misc
Falcon	An OB Dolly (tubular construction) with hand operated crane switch (Vinten) Zoom, focus and crane together was tricky. Later modified with a foot operated ring which helped. Needed a strong rigger to push and there was a nitrogen and air (pump) to balance for camera / operator load. If going from l/w to full-size camera it was necessary to increase the nitrogen pre balance charge so it needed to travel with a nitrogen cylinder. Choice of pneumatic or hard wheels. It was the forerunner of the Kestrel. Absolutely ancient now but as a cheap, quick to position mobile rostrum it still works., Click button to clear.	Mountings
FAP	Front Axial Projection	Technical
FAV	Favouring (example \’O/S 2S Fav. Smith\’ means an over-shoulder 2-shot in which Smith is the one facing towards camera., Click button to clear.	Scripts
FB	Foldback Selected sources of sound fed to speakers on the studio floor for the benefit of the presenters, performers, atistes and so on., Click button to clear.	Technical

FB	Feedback Return sound to commentators at international events, may well be fed from CFTB cf.), Click button to clear.	Technical
FCV	Foreign Commentary Vehicle	Technical
FG	Foreground	Scripts
FIT	Fitful Head (Shetlands)	BBC Transmitter
FK	Falkirk BBC Studio	Places
FK/T	Falkirk Transmitter	BBC Transmitter
flat	A two-dimensional wooden framework covered on one side with stretched canvas, painted or wallpapered Used to construct sets (scenery) with a brace for support, the foot of the brace held against the floor with a stage weight. , Click button to clear.	Scripts
floor mark	Mark made with a wax crayon on studio floor to set camera position For a ped, usually an arc with the shot number or a letter as identifier. (Camera cranes usually used a ladder.) , Click button to clear.	Scripts
FLS	Full Long Shot	Scripts
FM	Frequency Modulation	Technical

FM	Floor Manager	People
FRM	Fareham	BBC Transmitter
FMRTB	Floor Manager’s Reverse Talkback	Technical
FO	Fade out	Scripts
FOUR-WIRE	Go and return communication circuits	Technical
FPPA	Film Post Production Area (used in TK)	Technical
French flag	Attachment to a lantern to give greater control of lit area	Technical
FS	Full Shot	Scripts
FST	Fairseat Comms Relay on Eurovision link., Click button to clear.	Technical
FTR	Facilities Test Room OBs Kendal Avenue, Click button to clear.	Places

Fulmar	Camera studio pedestal (ped) (Vinten)	Mountings
FW	Fort William	BBC Transmitter
FWD	Forward	Scripts
FX	Effects (specifically sound effects)	Technical
FX	Effects	Scripts

G

G	Studio G Lime Grove (558 square metres)	Studios
GAZE	Ganged Angenieux Zoom Equipment	Technical
Genlock	Destination locks sync pulses to source Typically used to allow studio to mix to or superimpose over OB pictures., Click button to clear.	Technical
Gennie	Generator	Technical
GFX	Graphics Effects (On-Screen, area or person)	Technical
GG	Golder’s Green Hippodrome	Places
GGH	Golder’s Green Hippodrome	Places
Git	Guitar	People
gnat’s	A hypothetical small unit of adjustment, irrespective of type of control eg \tweak it up a gnat’s\ (from gnat\’s whisker)	Technical
GNS	General News Service BH Comms teleprinter news distribution service., Click button to clear.	Technical

Gobo	Attachment to a lantern to give greater control of lit area	Technical
goose neck	A long, slender, flexible metal mounting for a microphone	Technical
GQT	Gardeners Question Time (Radio)	Progs
Grad	Graduated (and/or Graduated filter) e.g. ND grad An on-camera filter placed in the MB, dark grey along one edge, shading across the filter to clear glass at the opposite edge, often used with dark edge top of frame to darken the sky., Click button to clear.	Technica
Gram Op	Gramophone Operator (Tape decks, turntables, SFX in general)	People
Grips	person responsible for operating heavy camera equipment	People
GS	Group Shot	Scripts
Gt	Guitar	People
GTR	General Test Room OBs Kendal Avenue, Click button to clear.	Places
GTS	Greenwich Time Signal, the pips A switch labelled GTS – on the production desk – would inject the time signal on the hour into the sound o/p., Click button to clear.	Technical

GV	General View	Scripts
GW	Glasgow	Places
GW/T	Glasgow Transmitter	BBC Transmitter
GWT	Greenwood Theatre	Studios
GY	Gurnsey Also the relay site from mainland., Click button to clear.	BBC Transmitter
G-Y	Green minus Luminance	Technical

H

H	Studio H Lime Grove (Colour) (260 square metres) In the 1960s this was the Colour studio equipped with Marconi \coffin\ Colour Cameras, Click button to clear.	Studios
H Cat	Head of Catering	People
H.Tel. Sound	Head of Televison Sound	People
H/H	Handheld	Scripts
H/L	High Level sound circuit for use at Zero Level Circuit might be subject to crosstalk or noise if used at low level, Click button to clear.	Technical
HA	High Angle	Scripts
HAV	Haverford West	BBC Transmitter
Hawk	Camera pedestal (ped) (Vinten)	Mountings
HAWS	High Angle Wide Shot	Scripts
HDTV	High Definition Television	Technical

Hercules	Chapman hired-in Camera crane for extra high shots	Mountings
Heron	Camera dolly capable of crabbing and tracking, on hydraulic reservoir or electric power (Vinten)	Mountings
Hexiplexer	Allowed more than one VT to be fed to a studio on a single source/line	Technical
HF	High Frequency	Technical
Hi Hat	A round metal collar to place under the panning head to raise the height of the camera Usually about 8 to 10 inches in eight. More often to be found on a camera crane to give extra height when fully craned up. In today’s industry (2015), there are many types of hi hat, some of which are actually mini tripods., Click button to clear.	Mountings
HIGNFY	Have I Got News For You (later than Tech Ops site main period.), Click button to clear.	Progs
HL	\Handy Looky\ prefix of Ikegami hand held cameras e.g. HL79	Technical
HM	Holme Moss	BBC Transmitter
HMI	Osram brand name Hydrargyrum (Latin for mercury) Metallic (poss Medium arc) Iodide	Technical
Hot Line	Exclusive Control Line between two points A dedicated phone line with ring phones at each end, gallery to VT, for example, or the notoriously unreliable Racing Hotline from the \Grandstand\ studio floor to the paddock, so that the sub-editors could get up-to-the-minute betting information, Click button to clear.	Technical

HP	Hydraulic Ped	Mountings
HPPO	(known as HIPPO) Head of Post Production Operations	People
HS	Hastings	BBC Transmitter
HTOTelS	Head of Technical Operations, Television Studios	People
HU/LS	Hull Places	Places
Hz	Hertz – Unit of frequency	Technical

I

IBS	Institute of Broadcast Sound	Misc
ICR	International Control Room	Places
IFB	Interrupted Feedback An American term for a Clean Feed that can be interrupted by talkback (see CFTB)., Click button to clear.	Technical
Ike	(pronounced \ikky\) Ikegami Ikegami produced a range of hand-held TV cameras with the prefix \HL\ (qv), Click button to clear.	Technical
Int	Interior	Scripts
IO	Image Orthicon Pickup Tube (Camera)	Technical
ips	Inches per second (eg tape recording speed)	Technical
IPS	Institute of Professional Sound Formerly IBS (Institute of Broadcast Sound), Click button to clear.	Misc
IS	International Sound Basically, if you can see it, you should hear it, but it should not but it should not include commentary., Click button to clear.	Technical
ISDN	Integrated Services Digital Network	Technical

ITV	Until Feb 2004, an unbrella term for the various regional independent TV Companies under the aegis of the Independent Television Authority (later the Inedependent Broadcasting Authority)	Misc
ITV	Since Feb 2004, Independent Televion (plc) following the merger of Carlton and Granada	Misc
ITS	Insertion Test Signal	Technical
IV	In Vision	Scripts
IV	Interview	Scripts
I/V	Interview (Also IV occasionally used as designation.), Click button to clear.	Scripts

J

J lens	Close focus lens for an EMI 2001 Colour Camera	Technical
JA	Jib arm – (counterbalanced) arm with remote camera on one end, mounted on dolly or ped A Jib arm provides the reach of a crane, and can be mounted on a ped or dolly Click button to clear.	Mountings
Jack	The socket on a jack field into which is plugged the Jack plug	Technical
Jack plug	Cylindrical bodied \male\ connector for analogue signals, typically audio Originally invented for use in telephone switchboards in the 19th century., Click button to clear.	Technical
Jack field	A bay of jacks (jack sockets) for routing sound feeds	Technical
Jack socket	Cylindrical bodied \female\ connector for analogue signals, accepting the jack plug Originally invented for use in telephone switchboards in the 19th century., Click button to clear.	Technical
JAN head	Joint Army Navy optical scan head on 16mm projectors at AP	Technical
Jib	Moveable arm of a camera crane	Technical
Jib arm	(counterbalanced) arm with remote camera on one end, mounted on dolly or ped A Jib arm provides the reach of a crane, and can be mounted on a ped or dolly Click button to clear.	Mountings
JY	Jersey	BBC Transmitter

K

K lens	Close focus lens for an EMI 2001 Colour Camera	Technical
KA	Kendal Avenue BBC Premises for Outside Broadcasts headquarters Click button to clear.	Places
KBFCHTY
K	Kelvin, colour temperature of a light source This is expressed as a number followed by ‘K’, thus 3200K representing tungsten light., Click button to clear.	Technical
Kestrel	OB dolly (box section) (Vinten) Motorised crane with similar balancing problems to the Falcon. Front wheels hinged in to go through doors. Had to elevate slightly and dismount to give clearance for wheels to hinge and not operational in this mode., Click button to clear.	Mountings
KOS	Kirk O Shotts (alternative)	BBC Transmitter
KS	Kirk O Shotts	BBC Transmitter
KW	Kingswood Warren	Places

L

L/L	Low level sound circuit suitable for Mic level signals Circuit well screened against interference etc., Click button to clear.	Technical
LA	Low Angle	Scripts
ladder	Long Floor mark in direction of track with spaced markers at right angles Usually used with camera cranes, with a reference marker (made using camera tape) on the crane body – the crane reference mark was aligned with a mark on the ladder for the start and end of a track., Click button to clear.	Scripts
LAWS	Low Angle Wide Shot	Scripts
LBH	Broadcasting House London	Places
LC1	Location Camera 1 (OBs Kendal Avenue)	Technical
LCD	Liquid Crystal Display	Technical
LCR	London Control Room London BH Sound Control Room., Click button to clear.	Places
LD	Londonderry Studio	Studios
LD	Lighting Director	People

LD/T	Londonderry Transmitter	BBC Transmitter
Ld Gt	Lead Guitar	People
Ld Voc	Lead Vocalist	People
LE	Light Entertainment	Progs
LE	Leicester	BBC Transmitter
LEI/LS	Leicester Places	Places
Lead Parrot	Shoulder mounted hand held camera	Technical
LED	Light Emitting Diode	Technical
LF	Low Frequency	Technical
LG	Lime Grove	Studios

LGS	Lime Grove Studios (more correct usage)	Studios
LHS	Left Hand Side	Scripts
Lip	Close talking Microphone that excludes ambient noise	Technical
LIS	Lisnagarvey	BBC Transmitter
LKG
LLA	Llandonna	BBC Transmitter
LLG	Llangollen	BBC Transmitter
LMCR	Lightweight Mobile Control Room	Technical
LMS	Loose Mid Shot	Scripts
LN	London	Places

LNE	Laboratoire National (de Metrologie et) d’Essais	Technical
LNLU	Late Night Line Up	Progs
LO/LS	London Local Radio (Hanover Square)	Places
LO1	London 1 OB Scanner OBs Kendal Avenue – generic name Click button to clear.	Technical
LO2	London 2 OB Scanner OBs Kendal Avenue – generic name Click button to clear.	Technical
LO21	OB Unit	Technical
LO22	OB Unit	Technical
LO3	OB Unit	Technical
LO4	OB Unit	Technical
LO5	OB Unit	Technical

LO6	OB Unit (Scotland)	Technical
Loc	Location	Scripts
LOCO	LOndon COaxial – cable network connecting all BBC premises and plug-in points	Technical
LOF	Left of Frame	Scripts
LOTSW	Last of the Summer Wine	Progs
LRTB	Lighting Reverse Talkback for example, from a follow-spot operator to his LD., Click button to clear.	Technical
LS	Long Shot	Scripts
LS	Loudspeaker	Technical
LS	Leeds	Places
LS/LS	Leeds Local Radio	Places

LSH 1	London Simon Hoist OB Comms replacements for Eagle Towers/PTAs, Click button to clear.	Technical
LSTB	Loudspeaker Talkback Accessible by all Gallery areas, normally disabled by Transmission condition, but not by red lights only., Click button to clear.	Technical
LTB	Lighting Talkback for example, from an LD to his follow-spot operator., Click button to clear.	Technical
LTG	Lighting	Technical
LV	Luncheon Voucher	Misc
LV/LS	Liverpool Local Station	Places
LVCR	Lighting and Vision Control Room	Places
l/w	Lightweight	Technical

M

M&E	Music and Effects A sound track that has all sound except dialogue., Click button to clear.	Technical
M&S	Mid & Side, Sum & Difference A way of encoding A & B stereo to give Mono plus a width element., Click button to clear.	Technical
MB	Matte Box	Technical
MCA	Mobile Communications Area OBs Kendal Avenue, Click button to clear.	Technical
MCCR	Mobile Central Control Room OBs Mobile TV Control gallery etc, Click button to clear.	Technical
MCF	Main Clean Feed Programme sound, minus sound from any contributing source for whom an individual clean feed is required, Click button to clear.	Technical
MCR	Mobile Control Room	Technical
MCSS	Multi-Coloured Swap Shop	Progs
MCU	Medium Close Up , Click button to clear.	Scripts
MD	Musical Director	People

ME	Moorside Edge	BBC Transmitter
MEL	Meldrum	BBC Transmitter
Merlin	Jib Arm (JA) (Vinten)	Mountings
MF	Mid Frequency	Technical
MG	Manningtree	BBC Transmitter
MI/LS	Middlesborough Local Station	Places
mic	Microphone	Technical
MICR	Mobile International Control Room OBs Kendal Avenue, Click button to clear.	Technical
MILEM	Multi-Image Lens EMI Mounting	Technical
MISC I/P	Miscellaneous Input Feed to the rest contacts of a SWTB allowing a standing feed., Click button to clear.	Tecnical

Mix minus	American term for a Clean Feed	Technical
MLM	Emley Moor	BBC Transmitter
MLS	Mid or Medium Long Shot	Scripts
Mole	Mole Richardson Camera Crane (or MPRC Crane)	Mountings
MOTD	Match of the Day	Progs
Motor boating	Noise produced by faulty electret mic	Technical
Motorised	A studio-based Vinten crane with a motor for jib elevation and rear wheel steering, each rear wheel powered by its own motor It went through a number of iterations and never received a better name., Click button to clear.	Mountings
MPRC	Motion Picture Research Council	Technical
MPRC	Motion Picture Research Council Mole Richardson Camera Crane Mole crane described as MPRC Crane in \official\ documentation, Click button to clear.	Mountings
MR	Manchester	Places

MR/LS	Manchester Local Station	Places
MS	Mid-Shot or Medium Shot , Click button to clear.	Scripts
MSC	Mobile Sound Control OBs Mobile sound vehicle, Click button to clear.	Technical
MTCE	Maintenance (general term)	Technical
MU	Musicians’ Union	Misc
mux	Multiplexer Selects one of several analog or digital input signals and forwards the selected input into a single line, Click button to clear.	Technical
MV	Motorised Vinten A studio-based Vinten crane with a motor for jib elevation and rear wheel steering, each rear wheel powered by its own motor. It went through a number of iterations and never received a better name., Click button to clear.	Mountings
MV	Move (usually left or right, but possibly upstage or downstage)	Scripts
MV	Motor Vehicle	Misc
MVT	Mobile Video Tape Recorder	Technical

MVTR	Mobile Video Tape Recorder	Technical
MWW	Multi Way Working The arrangement whereby individual clean feeds are derived for each and every contributing source which requires one., Click button to clear.	Technical
MZT

N

N&CA	News and Current Affairs	Progs
N1	News Studio 1 (TVC) Became TC10., Click button to clear.	Studios
N2	News Studio 2 (TVC) Became TC11., Click button to clear.	Studios
N3	News Studio 3 (TVC)	Studios
N4	News Studio 4 (TVC)	Studios
N5	News Studio 5 (TVC)	Studios
N6	News Studio 6 (TVC)	Studios
N8	News Studio 8 (TVC)	Studios
N9	News Studio 9 (TVC)	Studios
N10	News Studio 10 (TVC)	Studios

N/A	Narrow Angle	Scripts
N/A	Not Applicable	Scripts
NATKE	National Association of Theatrical and Kine Employees	Misc
NBG	No Bloody Good	Scripts
NBH	New Broadcasting House	Places
NC	Norwich	Places
NC1	Network Control 1 (BBC 1)	Places
NC2	Network Control 2 (BBC 2)	Places
NCA	News and Current Affairs (same as N&CA)	Progs
NCR1	Network Control 1 (BBC 1)	Places

NCR2	Network Control 2 (BBC 2)	Places
ND	Neutral Density (filter)	Technical
ND	Network Director	People
NFG	(verbal) No F****** Good (Usually followed NG, for a take, usually following DFI.), Click button to clear.	Scripts
NG	No Good	Scripts
NHT	North Hessary Tor	BBC Transmitter
NICAM	Near Instantaneous Companded Audio Multiplex (stereo)	Technical
NICE	Non In Coming Early Crew 13 – courtesy Peter Ware., Click button to clear.	Misc
Nike	Chapman Nike Camera Crane The Nike had electric drive and conventional steering. The Nike obtained a camera lens height of 14 feet., Click button to clear.	Mountings
NOBA	Not Only … But Also	Progs

NOT/LS	Nottingham Local Station	Places
NSN	Norman Shaw North Old News studios – Scotland Yard, Click button to clear.	Places
NSMAPMAWOL	Not So Much A Program, More A Way Of Life	Progs
NT	Newcastle	Places
NT/LS	Newcastle Local Station	Places
NTA	News Transmission Assistant	People
NTSC	National Television System Committee	Technical
NUJ	National Union of Journalists	Misc

O

O/N	Overnight	Misc
O/P	Opposite Prompt	Scripts
O/R	Outside Rehearsal	Scripts
O/S	Over Shoulder	Scripts
O/S	On Site (usually O/S time)	Misc
OB	Outside Broadcast	Scripts
Octopus	UK version of the Elemack Spyder, a single column dolly with adjustable wheels Built like a brick outhouse if you had enough labour to heave it about., Click button to clear.	Mountings
OF/LS	Oxford Local Station	Places
OGWT	Old Grey Whistle Test	Progs
ON X	Camera X on shot at start of page of script	Scripts

OOV	Out Of Vision	Scripts
Op	Operator (eg Boom Op)	People
OS	Outside Source A circuit that carries contributions into a studio or area., Click button to clear.	Technical
Osprey	Camera pedestal (ped) (Vinten)	Mountings
OT	Ottringham (Near Hull) BBC Transmitter after the war., Click button to clear.	BBC Transmitter
OTT	Over the Top	Scripts
OU	Open University	Scripts

P

P	Studio P Lime Grove (52 square metres) A 2-camera studio used in 1958., Click button to clear.	Studios
P&ID	Planning and Installation Department	Places
P as B	Programme as Broadcast The form associated with this abbreviation listed all the music contributions in a programme, after editing for Tx, and more importantly, the duration of said items, and the composer. Contributions were measured in seconds and totalled up for each show and rounded up to the next minute. This data was then sent to the PRS (Performing Rights Society)., Click button to clear.	Scripts
P as C	Programme as Completed	Scripts
P as R	Programme as Recorded	Scripts
PA	Production Assistant – Producer’s Assistant	People
PA	Public Address A system of speakers fed with selected sources of sound for the benefit of an audience., Click button to clear.	Technical
PABX	Private Automatic Branch Exchange	Technical
PAL	Phase Alternate Line	Technical
PAN	Move the camera Right to Left (or Left to Right) around a vertical axis The camera viewpoint moves from left to right (or right to left) across a scene around a vertical axis and in one horizontal plane. Now a word in its own right, from Panorama – and the way that panoramic cameras (for example as used for old school photographs) used to work., Click button to clear.	Scripts

Pan Down	Move camera view downwards on shot Camera viewpoint moves downwards about a horizontal axis in the Pan and Tilt Head. Pan down is used rather than \Tilt\., Click button to clear.	Scripts
Pan Left	Move camera view leftwards on shot Camera viewpoint moves to the left about a vertical axis in the Pan and Tilt Head., Click button to clear.	Scripts
Pan Right	Move camera view rightwards on shot Camera viewpoint moves to the right about a vertical axis in the Pan and Tilt Head., Click button to clear.	Scripts
Pan Up	Move camera view upwards on shot Camera viewpoint moves upwards about a horizontal axis in the Pan and Tilt Head. Pan Up is used rather than \Tilt\., Click button to clear.	Scripts
Patch	To connect a studio resource to the appropriate electronic apparatus (eg CCU, VM desk, amps, sound desk)	Technical
Pathfinder	Camera dolly	Mountings
PBE	Play it By Ear Used extensively during live sport shows (\Grandstand\/\Sportsnight\)), Click button to clear.	Scripts
PBU	Photo BlowUp A Photographic enlargement used to represent part of the scenery – examples include the oak panelling on the front of a bar, the view seen through a set window., Click button to clear.	Scripts
PBX	Private Branch Exchange	Technical
PCM	Pulse Code Modulation	Technical

PCR	Production Control Room	Places
PDQ	Pretty Damn Quick	Scripts
ped	Pedestal A camera PEDESTAL (ped) is a one-man operated camera mounting capable of at least one of these movements – Elevate or depress the camera position Move camera position forward or backwards Move camera position bodily to the left or the right , Click button to clear.	Mountings
Ped down	Crane down on a studio ped column	Scripts
Ped up	Crane up on a studio ped column	Scripts
Pedestal	A one-man operated camera mounting (see ped)	Mountings
Pedestal	Black and white analogue television – The difference between black level and the top of the synch pulse (which was set at +0.3 v)	Technical
PEG	Programme Effects Generator	Technical
PEL	Programme Effects Loudspeaker A small loudspeaker that only needed a PA cable and no mains cable so was easier to hide on the set., Click button to clear.	Technical
Penguin	Camera Dolly (on tracks) (Vinten)	Mountings

Peregrine	Crabbing/tracking/rotating jib arm/crane/dolly (Vinten) It was big, it was ugly, it was not all that manoeuvrable., Click button to clear.	Mountings
Petrel	Panning Head (PH) (Vinten)	Mountings
PFV	Production Facilities Vehicle	OBs Kendal Avenue
PG 65	Power Generator OB Comms generic name for mobile power generators., Click button to clear.	Technical
PH	Panning Head	Mountings
PK	Postwick	BBC Transmitter
Plover	OB Camera pedestal (Vinten) OB gas ped with pneumatic tyre option. Good for rough ground but made it very wobbly when craned up. Two wheel strut assemblies hinged inwards to get through standard doorways, making it even more wobbly – unwise to operate in this mode., Click button to clear.	Mountings
PLUGE	Picture Lineup Generating Equipment This generated a black and white rectangle (and other features). The Vision Operator adjusted the black level (brightness) on the reference monitor so the black rectangle was just visible, and the gain (or contrast) to read a specific value on a light meter., Click button to clear.	Technical
PM	Production Manager	People
PNV	Permanent Network Vision A permanent vision circuit between EBU member countries., Click button to clear.	Technical

portable	Equipment which in theory could be carried Basically, any piece of equipment equipped with one or more carrying handles., Click button to clear.	technical
PO	Post Office General Post Office (GPO), forerunner of British Telelcom (BT)., Click button to clear.	Technical
PO jack	A 1/4 inch jack plug universally used for plugging in jackfields PO316, tapered, Click button to clear.	Technical
POV	Point of View	Scripts
POV	Points of View	Progs
PP	Pontop Pike	BBC Transmitter
PPB	Party Political Broadcast	Scripts
PPE	Practical Production Excercise A short programme directed by trainee TV Directors (and usually crewed down). Most were dire, but \The Likely Lads\ was a direct spin-off from a PPE., Click button to clear.	Scripts
PPL	Portland Place TV News studio (in BH)	Studios
PPM	Peak Programme Meter	Technical

PR	Preston	BBC Transmitter
Prac	Practical – a functioning prop or part of the set For example, a prac lamp is a working domestic lamp/light fitting in shot., Click button to clear.	Misc
practical	A functioning prop or part of the set which worked more or less as the real thing For a Pub set, for example, a beer pump connected to a barrel to allow the barman actually to pull a pint on shot., Click button to clear.	Misc
Pres A	Presentation Studio/Suite A	Studios
Pres B	Presentation Studio/Suite B	Studios
Proctor	Camera dolly	Mountings
PROF	Profile (used sometimes)	Scripts
PROMS	Promotions	Progs
prompt cut	A push button on a trailing lead, operated by the FM or AFM, to allow a prompt to be delivered. Used particularly on live television programmes, the Prompt Cut cut studio sound and switched in atmosphere sound which had been pre-recorded onto a specific tape recorder in the sound gallery., Click button to clear.	Technical
PRS	Performing Rights Society	Misc

PSC	Portable Single Camera	Technical
PSM	Programme Services Manager	People
PTA	Powered Transmitter Aerial OB Comms. The early examples were originally fire engine masts., Click button to clear.	Technical
PTB	Peterborough	BBC Transmitter
PTB	Production Talkback	Technical
PTC	Paper Tape Control (TK)	Technical
PTC	Piece to Camera	Scripts
PTC	Programmed Tarif Controller	Technical
Puffin	Vinten in-house name for the portable stirrup-type pump	Technical
PUM	Production Unit Manager Person who controlled the funds and budgets for individual productions., Click button to clear.	People

PUMA	Periscope Upper Mirror Attachment 45 degree, front-silvered mirrors, attached to the camera lenses., Click button to clear.	Technical
PY	Plymouth	Places
PZM	Pressure Zone Microphone	Technical

Q

Q	Cue	Scripts
QT	Quiet	Scripts

R

R	Sound Studio in Lime Grove	Studios
R	Riverside	Studios
R1	Riverside Studio 1 (558 square metres)	Studios
R2	Riverside Studio 2 (418 square metres)	Studios
R3	\The Chancellors\ Public House	Studios
RACE	Rapid Action Cutting Equipment	Technical
Rack	To adjust framing on a film projector eg \Rack up\ or \Rack down\	Technical
Rack	To change focal point on a camera eg \Rack in\ or \Rack out\	Technical
Racks	Studio Engineering and Studio Engineers (lived in the VAR)	People
R&D	Research and Development (Department) Formerly based at Kingswood Warren., Click button to clear.	Places

RAR	Recording Apparatus Room	Places
Raven	Vinten pedestal	Mountings
RBL	Rebroadcast Link	Technical
RBM	Roll Back and Mix To cater for VT suites which could only achieve straight cuts, a means of creating mixes between discontinuous sections of a recording, using the studio sound and vision mixers., Click button to clear.	Technical
RCA	Radio Corporation of America	Technical
RC	Reverse Circuit	Technical
RE1	Roving Eye 1 – OBs Kendal Avenue	Technical
REH	Rehearsal	Scripts
Rel	Relief (i.e. crew relief)	People
Relief	Relief (Mainly cameras)	People

Relief	Relief (Mainly sound)	People
Rem	Remote (for example location or camera)	Scripts
REST I/P	Rest Input As for Miscellaneous Input. Feed to the rest contacts of a SWTB allowing a standing feed (programme sound, for example) to be fed to the output jack, until the SWTB key was operated, Click button to clear.	Technical
RF	Radio Frequency	Technical
RFI	Radio Frequency Interference	Technical
RGB	Red Green Blue	Technical
RHS	Right Hand Side	Scripts
rig	(Studios) Set up and prepare all sound and vision equipmenrt ready for rehearsal Place mics and booms in start position, place cameras on peds and cranes and put in start positions, connect everything to wall points. Also, connect wall points to CCU and amps, these to the vision and sound mixing desks. Also collect from stores mics, zoom lenses, special lenses, mag tape, camera tape, and so on, wrap camera headlight cables, crane monitor cables, autocue or teleprompt cables around the main camera cable – and so on., Click button to clear.	Technical
RIV	Riverside Studios	Studios
RK	Rosemarkie	BBC Transmitter

RL1	Radio Link 1 OB Comms link van., Click button to clear.	Technical
RL2	Radio Link 2 OB Comms link van., Click button to clear.	Technical
RM	Radio Mic	Technical
RMG	Ramsgate	BBC Transmitter
RMP	Rampisham Overseas service – now closed (2015), Click button to clear.	BBC Transmitter
ROF	Right of Frame	Scripts
ROW	Rowridge	BBC Transmitter
RQ	Request	Technical
RR	Redruth Sound and TV studio., Click button to clear.	Studios
RRS	Riverside Music Studio	Studios

RSA	Response Selection Amplifier	Technical
RT	Radio Times	Misc
RT	Reverberation Time	Technical
RTB	Reverse Talkback	Technical
RTB	Radio Talkback	Technical
Ruffler	Unofficial term (used amongst OB crew members) for booking a hotel/b&b room without staying in it in order to claim O/N allowance (Sched A) The person would go to the booked room and \ruffle\ the bedclothes then leave (for home)., Click button to clear.	Misc
Run through	A complete run of a blocked and/or rehearsed programme, or scene, hopefully without stopping This rehearsal is not necessarily in full costume and make up., Click button to clear.	Scripts
RV	Rendezvous	Scripts
RX	Recording	Scripts
RX	Receiver (telephone, radio, television)	Technical

RXR	Receiver	Technical

S

S. Tel. E.	Senior Televison Engineer	People
SA	Sound Assistant (General)	People
SA1	Sound Assistant 1	People
SA2	Sound Assistant 2	People
S B	Simultaneous Broadcast (Programme distribution system)	Technical
SABRE	Self Actuated Broadcast Reporting Equipment A development of a commercial unit for football reporters into BBC Television Sport, replacing COOBEs/SOOBEs., Click button to clear.	Technical
SAG	Studio Allocations Group TC allocate studios!, Click button to clear.	Misc
SAR	Sound Apparatus Room	Places
Scanner	Mobile Control Room Outside Broadcast Control Room. Originally used by Baird for his scanner in a Caravan, then got applied to the caravan itself. When Baird staff moved to the BBC, the name came too., Click button to clear.	Technical
SCAR	Spur Central Apparatus Room TC studio and circuit bookings office, Click button to clear.	Places

SCAR	Sutton Coldfield	BBC Transmitter
SCB	Scarborough	BBC Transmitter
SCD	Sound Control Desk	Technical
SCD	Strictly Come Dancing (later than Tech Ops site main period.), Click button to clear.	Progs
SceneSync	Pan and Tilt of a background camera is driven by that of the foreground camera	Technical
Sched A	Schedule A, the term for the allowance you could claim for staying overnight The payment to keep a person housed, fed and watered for a 24hr period up to a maximum of 28 days at any one location e.g. on attachment., Click button to clear.	Misc
SCR	Sound Control Room	Places
SCU	Single Channel Unit	Technical
SCU	Semi Close Up (Director specific!)	Scripts
SDI	Serial Digital Interface	Technical

SDR	Sound De-Rig (time)	Misc
SECAM	Séquentiel Couleur à Mémoire (Sequential Colour with Memory), Click button to clear.	Technical
Sepmag	Film with sound on a separate magnetic track	Technical
Sen Cam	Senior Cameraman	People
set	One or more ‘flats’ assembled to resemble a room or other space within which the actors perform	Scripts
shot card	List of shots and shot descriptions in numeric order for a specific (studio) camera with space for camera operator notes	Scripts
SF	Sheffield	BBC Transmitter
SF	Soft Focus	Scripts
SF/LS	Sheffield Local Station	Places
SFX	Sound Effects	Scripts

SFX	Special Effects	Scripts
SG	Stagshaw	BBC Transmitter
SGT	Swingate	BBC Transmitter
SHF	Super High Frequency	Technical
S/I	Superimpose	Technical
SI	Standing Instruction	Misc
SIS	Sound in Syncs	Technical
Sis	Sound In Syncs	Technical
SK	Skelton Overseas service, Click button to clear.	BBC Transmitter
SL	Sandale	BBC Transmitter

S/N	Signal to Noise Ratio	Technical
SNATM	Saturday Night at the Movies	Progs
SND	Sound	Technical
SNS	Special News Service BH Comms teleprinter news distribution service., Click button to clear.	Technical
SO	Southampton	Places
SO/LS	Southampton Local Station	Places
SODS	Studio Operations Duty Schedule	Misc
SOF	Sound on film	Technical
SOOBE	Self Operated Outside Broadcast Equipment	Technical
SOT	Sound on Tape	Technical

SOTC	Sound on telecine	Technical
SOTK	Sound on telecine (BBC)	Technical
SOTON	Southampton	Places
SOVT	Sound on VT	Technical
SP	Start Point	BBC Transmitter
SPG	Sync Pulse Generator	Technical
SPID	Studio Planning and Installation Department	Misc
SPL	Sound pressure level (a measure of sound pressure)	Technical
SPOTY	Sports Personality of the Year	Progs
squawk box	Any form of simple point-to-point loudspeaker-based intercom	Technical

SRM	Studio Resource Manager	People
SROTY	Sports Review of the Year (preceded SPOTY)	Progs
SRTB	Sound Reverse Talkback Circuit from Sound Floor Staff to Sound Supervisor., Click button to clear.	Technical
SS	Sound Supervisor	People
SSC	Sound sub-carrier	Technical
SSS	Sound Studio Suite (or ‘Spur’ as it was known)	Places
SSS	Soft-Soled Shoe allowance Allowance for purchasing suitable footware for studio floor staff., Click button to clear.	Misc
Stagger through	The second part of camera rehearsal Run through groups or blocks of shots as long as possible until problems with moves or timing or shot angles and so on are revealed and corrected. In mid 1960s, for example, blocking and stagger were done consecutively on a scene or set., Click button to clear.	Scripts
STB	Sound Talkback Circuit from Sound Supervisor to Sound Floor Staff, Click button to clear.	Technical
STC	Standard Telephones and Cables Ltd	Technical

STD	Studio	Places
STD	Subscriber Trunk Dialling	Technical
STG	Sound Assistant Tape and Grams	People
STG1	Elstree Stage 1 (879 square metres) Purpose built for \Eastenders\, Click button to clear.	Studios
SG1	Elstree Stage 1 (879 square metres) Purpose built for \Eastenders\, Click button to clear.	Studios
stagger	First studio rehearsal where cameras are positioned and shots set up for each scene as set out in the script Nowadays termed \blocking\ from theatrical usage – blocking is the precise movement and staging of actors on a stage in order to facilitate the performance., Click button to clear.	Scripts
STK/LS	Stoke on Trent Local Station	Places
STR	Sound Test Room OBs Kendal Avenue, Click button to clear.	Technical
Strawberry Filter	Director’s verbal instruction to camera crew not to turn over This instruction is used to save film and/or expense when not wishing to offend on site interviewee/s, thus conducting an unrecorded i/v., Click button to clear.	Scripts
Super	Superimpose	Scripts

SW	Swindon	BBC Transmitter
Swan	Panning Head (PH) (Vinten)	Mountings
SWC	Switching Centre (Generic) Comms Departments (Originally Vision only), Click button to clear.	Places
swinger	Person who manoeuvred the manually operated jib arm of a camera crane The swinger on a crane such as the Mole crane noved the jib arm to effect a crane up or down, or a swing from side to side, of the camera platform. To replicate a \crab\ movement, the swinger and tracker had to work in sync – as the arm moved wide, the tracker had to track in., Click button to clear.	People
SWL	Swains Lane OB Comms receiving station., Click button to clear.	Technical
SWOP	Switched TalkBack (OBs) OB terminology for what studios would normally call SWTB, but in OBs case, the source to the switch was not pre-determined., Click button to clear.	Technical
SWTB	Switched Talkback The means for studio galleries to talk on a comms circuit to a specific source. Production staff, Technical Manager/Resource Manager and Sound gallery all had access to SWTB., Click button to clear.	Technical
SX	Swansea	Places
Sync	Synchronous – two signals are in step	Technical
Sync	The act of getting two signals in step	Technical

SYPHER	SYnchronous Post dub with Helical scan and Eight track Recorder (see Tech Ops page about SYPHER), Click button to clear.	Technical

T

T&D	Travel and Duty Expenses	Misc
T&G	Tape and Grams (Person or his equipment)	People
T/I	Track In	Scripts
T/L	Tie Line Sound or Vision circuit, typically to another area or equipment bay or a circuit between two points not allocated for a specific purpose., Click button to clear.	Technical
T/O	Track out	Scripts
TA	Technical Assistant	People
TAC	Tacolneston	BBC Transmitter
Tail Out	Reel of tape spooled fully in the forward direction, so the free end was the end of the tape Used in the BBC – the commercial studios used \Wound Forward\., Click button to clear.	Technical
TAR	Television Apparatus Room General Term, Click button to clear.	Technical
TARIF	Technical Apparatus for the Rectification of Indifferent Film (Also known as \Terry’s Apparatus for the Rectification of Indifferent Film\. TARIF was also used to add colour correction facility to one of the early analogue standards converters to correct the poor colour pictures from the States and get rid of the 10% lift, Click button to clear.	Technical

TB	Talkback Communication from Director to others working on the production., Click button to clear.	Technical
TBA	To Be Arranged	Script
TBC	Time Base Corrector	Technical
TBC	To Be Confirmed	Scripts
TBU	Telephone Balance Unit A device which allowed the broadcasting of telephone calls. Programmes like \Saturday Superstore\ made great use of a trolley with multiple TBUs, but the separation between incoming and outgoing sound left a lot to be desired, making it potentially problematic when feeding phone calls to speakers on the studio floor. Current digital devices allow almost complete separation, allowing calls to be fed to PA with much less difficulty., Click button to clear.	Technical
TC	Television Centre Known as TC from the time of its opening – and in the names of the studios – and used by technical and engineering staff. Over years, TVC has become the more generally used abbreviation., Click button to clear.	Studios
TC	Timecode	Technical
TC1	Studio 1 Television Centre (995 square metres)	Studios
TC2	Studio 2 Television Centre (223 square metres)	Studios
TC3	Studio 3 Television Centre (594 square metres)	Studios

TC4	Studio 4 Television Centre (585 square metres) Mainly Drama., Click button to clear.	Studios
TC5	Studio 5 Television Centre (223 square metres) Mainly Light Entertainment., Click button to clear.	Studios
TC6	Studio 6 Television Centre (598 square metres)	Studios
TC7	Studio 7 Television Centre (223 square metres)	Studios
TC8	Studio 8 Television Centre (602 square metres)	Studios
TC9	Studio 9 Television Centre (84 square metres) Built in 1955 as a foyer area of the restaurant block, then it became a store area, finally converted to a studio in 1996 for Children’s BBC, Click button to clear.	Studios
TC10	Studio 10 Television Centre (111 square metres) Built as N1 in 1969., Click button to clear.	Studios
TC11	Studio 11 Television Centre (186 square metres) Built as N2 in 1969., Click button to clear.	Studios
TC12	Studio 12 Television Centre (56 square metres) Originally built as a music store, it was converted into a studio in 2004 for CBBC programmes, Click button to clear.	Studios
Teal	Camera pedestal (ped) (Vinten)	Mountings

Tech Coord	Person responsible for the technical effort in a studio	People
Tech Coord	Circuit used to pass technical details or queries to sources and destinations	Technical
Tech Run	Run through of a complete production for the benefit of Technical Staff	Scripts
Tech Ops	Technical Operations	Misc
Tern	Camera pedestal (ped) (Vinten)	Mountings
TFS	Television Film Studios (i.e. Ealing)	Studios
TILT	PAN Down or Up (around a horizontal axis at current camera mount position)	Scripts
TF	Tatsfield (Receiving site)	BBC Transmitter
TJ	Telejector	Technical
TK	TeleCine (BBC usage – commercial usage is TC)	Technical

TK	The TeleCine Machine and the TK Operator	Script
TM1	Technical Manager 1 (Lighting)	People
TM2	Technical Manager 2	People
TMIS	Television Management Information System Part of the early use of computers in TV Presentation., Click button to clear.	Technical
TMS	Television Music Studio, Lime Grove (previously Studio H)	Studios
TMS	Television Music Studio, TVC The state of the art TMS at TVC was accredited as one of the finest examples of its time., Click button to clear.	Studios
TO	Technical Operator	People
TOD	Time Of Day timecode	Technical
TODS	Technical Operations Duty Schedule	Misc
TOIL	Time off in Lieu The first 8 hours of overtime amassed in any 13-week period to be taken as time off (1960s)., Click button to clear.	Misc

TOLS	Tolsford Comms Relay on Eurovision link., Click button to clear.	Technical
TOM	Technical Operations Manager (replaced by TM2)	People
TOM	Technical Operations Manager (BH Control Room)	People
TONE	Sound line-up signal	Technical
TORSA	Technical Operation Revised Scheduling Agreement	Misc
TOTP	Top of the Pops	Progs
TPC	Topical Production Centre Lime Grove after News and Current Affairs took over., Click button to clear.	Studios
TRACK	Camera (on mount) moves forwards or backwards to enlarge or decrease picture size of primary subject A Track changes the relationship between foreground and background objects., Click button to clear.	Scripts
Transatlantic	Hired-in Camera crane for extra high shots	Mountings
Trav	Travel day as part of a working schedule	Misc

TRR	Television Rehearsal Rooms (North Acton, London)	Places
TRS	tip, ring, sleeve connection commonly used in respect of quarter inch (6.35) and 3.5mm jacks The \tip\ transfers audio into the left-hand earplug of a stereo headphone set, and the \ring\ the right. The \sleeve\ is the ground or \shield\. , Click button to clear.	Technical
turret	A rotating plate at the front of a film or television camera with mounts for various fixed focal length lenses The EMI 203 (\green\ EMI) had a four-lens mechanical turret with a blanking plate which could be removed. The Pye Mk V had an offset 4-lens motorised turret (which never seemed to move fast enough), Click button to clear.	Technical
turn over	An instruction to a film crew (both the camera and sound operators) to start rolling Also used with elctronic/digital camera crews., Click button to clear.	Scripts
TV	Trap Valve In use at BH in the early 1960s (BH had little to do with Telelvision)., Click button to clear.	Technical
TV	Television (receiver/set) The physical hardware (and software) needed to receive and display a television signsl., Click button to clear.	Technical
TV	Television Everything to do with television., Click button to clear.	Technical
TVC	Television Centre This usage has been favoured in Social Media and by non-technical people in the main. It is now becoming the favoured abbreviation., Click button to clear.	Studios
TVT	Television Theatre (186 square metres) Formerly the Shepherd’s Bush Empire theatre – and now once again the Shepherd’s Bush Empire., Click button to clear.	Studios
TW	Tomorrow’s World	Progs

TW3	That Was The Week That Was , Click button to clear.	Progs
tweak	To make an adjustment to a control	Technical
tweaker	Screwdriver	Technical
TWO-WIRE	Single bi-directional communication circuit Basically a phone line., Click button to clear.	Technical
TWW	Two Way Working Link up between two areas such that each can hear the other but not themselves., Click button to clear.	Technical
TX	Transmission	Scripts
TX	Transmission (also used for recording if recorded as if live (1960s)	Scripts
TXMN	Transmission	Technical
TXR	Transmitter	Technical

U

UGH	Un-Guarded Hour The label on a sleeved kellog key in the Bristol Main Control Room (and probably in other regional control rooms too). As the last man (or one woman) left the control room each night (midnight-ish, usually) he operated the key to give control of Bristol’s local transmitters to London BH Control Room., Click button to clear.	Technical
U/S	Upstage	Scripts
U/S	UnServiceable	Technical
UKI 1	Serial number of first BBC uplink OB Comms, Click button to clear.	Technical

V

V…	Very. Sometimes added to shot abbreviations Examples – VLS Very Long Shot, VWS Very Wide Shot, VLA Very Low Angle, and so on., Click button to clear.	Scripts
VAR	Vision Apparatus Room	Places
VC	Vision Control	Technical
VCR	Video Cassette Recorder	Technical
VERA	Video Electronic Recording Apparatus The BBC 405 line linear video recorder running at 16.7 feet/second., Click button to clear.	Technical
VFX	Video Effects (example Inlay, Overlay)	Technical
VFX	Visual Effects The Design group who make model dinosaurs, explosions, etc., Click button to clear.	People
VH	Villiers House	Places
VHF	Very High Frequency	Technical
VHS	Video Home System	Technical

VISA	Venue Intercommunication and Signalling Apparatus A 1984 in-house system devised for BBC Sport to communicate with multiple venues during Olympics, World Cup, Commonwealth Games, etc. The original VISA provided production TB, 32 SWTBs (24 of them conferenced) plus returns, and handled clean feed switching on feedback and coord circuits to 12 venues. It was the predecessor to the 1992 commercial system by Drake, VISA 2, which catered for 20 venues, 20 other conferenced SWTBs and monitoring inputs, and a local intercom system, all under computer control. This was the model on which the last ever TC5 sport comms system was based., Click button to clear.	Technical
VITS	Vertical Interval Test Signal	Technical
VLAD	Vinten Low Angle Dolly	Mountings
VLS	Very Long shot	Scripts
VM	Vision Mixer	People
VO	Voice Over	Scripts
VO	Vision Operator The person who, in black and white days, controlled camera exposure, aperture, gain and black level, to try to match the various studio camera outputs, Click button to clear.	People
Voc	Vocalist	People
Vox	Vocalists	People
Vox Pop	Unrehearsed and or spontaneous comments from members of the public, often in the street \Vox Populi, Vox Dei\ – \The Voice of the People is the Voice of God\ – (and this being television, (unscrupulous) reporters would never rehearse the answers with the protagonists)., Click button to clear.	Scripts

VR	Virtual Reality	Scripts
VS	Vision Supervisor	People
VSN	Vision	Technical
VT	Video Tape	Technical
VT	Video Tape, the VT Machine and the VT Operator	Script
VT Clock	VideoTape Clock Ident and countdown clock used for VT playback.	Technical
VTR	Video Tape Recording	Technical
VU	Volume Units (Sound)	Technical

W

W/A	Wide Angle	Scripts
WA	Washford	BBC Transmitter
wall box	Means of connecting audio cables to the SCR. The wall boxes also provide power outlets, connectors for prompt cut and other facitlities , Click button to clear.	Technical
WB	White Balance	technical
WH	Whitehaven	BBC Transmitter
winder	Teaspoon	Technical
WIS	Weekly Information Sheet	Misc
WL
WMR	Windmill Road Film Library	Places
WN	Wood Norton	Places

WOF	Wofferton Overseas service – now closed (2015), Click button to clear.	BBC Transmitter
WOODS	Work On Off-duty DayS Extra payments for Management Grades who didn’t get normal overtime., Click button to clear.	Misc
Wound Forward	Reel of tape spooled fully in the forward direction, so the free end was the end of the tape Used in commercial studios – the BBC used \Tail Out\., Click button to clear.	Technical
WRH	Winter Hill	BBC Transmitter
WRT	Wrotham	BBC Transmitter
WS	Wide Shot , Click button to clear.	Scripts
WST	Westergalen	BBC Transmitter
WT	Wild track	Scripts
WV	Wenvoe	BBC Transmitter
WX	Wrexham	BBC Transmitter

X

X	Cross eg XL crosses left	Scripts
XF	Cross fade	Scripts
XLR	General audio/power connector Originally \Cannon XL\ series + R (rubber), Click button to clear.	Technical

Y

Y	Luminance signal	Technical
Y/TOW	BT Tower GPO (Stations with Radio equipment pre-fixed \Y\), Click button to clear.	Technical
Y/ZAR	London BH GPO (Stations with Radio equipment pre-fixed \Y\), Click button to clear.	Technical
Y-cord	A sound cable that provides a second feed of a circuit	Technical

Z

Z/I	Zoom In	Scripts
Z/O	Zoom Out	Scripts
Zero Level	The reference level for signals on a sound circuit	Technical
ZOOM	Enlarge or decrease picture size by changing the focal length of the lens A Zoom does not change the relationship between foreground and background objects., Click button to clear.	Scripts

Number of entries: 905

Contributors

Mike Giles,	Roger Bunce,	Alasdair Lawrance,	Albert Barber,
John Howell,	John Howell (Hibou),	Neil Dormand,	Tony Grant,
Jeff Booth,	Bill Jenkin,	Phillip Tyler,	Peter Neill,
Barry Bonner,	Peter Hider,	John Wardle,	Rex Palmer,
Huw Williams,	Peter Cook,	Robin Sutherland,	Vernon Dyer,
Ian Hillson,	Alec Bray,