BBC Newsround presenter lifts lid on why they hold Nintendo Switch controllers on air

BBC Newsround hosts are sometimes seen holding Nintendo Switch controllers whereas presenting the kids’s information programme, and there is a good cause for it

There’s a really legitimate cause why the presenters of BBC’s Newsround are all the time seen clutching Nintendo Switch controllers. The each day information programme is crafted to ship information and present affairs to youngsters in a fashion that’s each enlightening and interesting for younger viewers. It broadcasts on CBBC through the week, and on Saturdays, it additionally airs on BBC Two.

However, for those who’ve ever tuned into the information programme, you might need noticed one peculiar element – the presenters are incessantly seen holding Nintendo Switch controllers often called Joy-Cons of their arms. They’re not gearing up for a recreation of Mario Kart, although, as one presenter just lately revealed why they utilise the controllers in a social media put up.

Emma-Louise Amanshia, who has been a presenter on Newsround since 2024, uploaded a video on TikTok wherein she clarified what the Joy-Cons are used for, as they serve a vital perform for all of the present’s hosts.

She defined that their main position is to advance the script on the autocue that they use to ship the information to the nation’s children.

Instead of the script progressing at a hard and fast velocity because it does on another dwell broadcasts, the Newsround presenters can scroll by means of the script at their very own tempo, utilizing the Joy-Cons to take action.

Emma-Louise defined: “Sometimes people ask why we hold a Nintendo Switch controller on Newsround, which is such a fair question because it is weird. Basically, we use this to control the words. I’ll be sat here on the sofa and there’s a script in front of me, and this is what I use to go up and down.”

The buttons beneath the joystick allow her to carry out different capabilities, akin to return to the beginning of the script, and she or he praised “someone smart” for basically remodeling the Joy-Con right into a distant management.

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Commenters on the video questioned why the script wanted to be managed with Nintendo Switch controllers relatively than an everyday distant.

Whilst Emma-Louise did not handle this query, different commenters steered it was in all probability as a result of Joy-Cons are fairly compact to hold, so they’re much less distracting, and they’re additionally one thing that’s instantly recognisable to many youngsters.

One particular person remarked: “The size and shape make it convenient to hold, and they’re a lot cheaper than industrial equivalents designed for professional use. Plus, it’s a kids’ show, so it’s something the audience will recognise.”

Other commenters offered additional particulars, informing perplexed viewers that it would not be too difficult to programme the Nintendo Switch controller to perform as a distant for the autocue. They identified that this could possibly be completed with any controller, not only one for the Switch, as they might be linked to the autocue software program by way of Bluetooth.

There had been additionally quite a few feedback from people who weren’t Newsround viewers and had stumbled upon Emma-Louise’s video naturally. They had been shocked to find that the kids’s information programme was nonetheless airing, as they used to look at it when they had been youngsters, some 20 years in the past.

When is Newsround on TV?

Newsround is aired on CBBC as soon as a day at round 7:45am. The programme contains an eight-minute information bulletin on weekdays and a six-minute bulletin on weekends.

In addition to the CBBC broadcast, Newsround can be proven on BBC Two on a Saturday morning, and all of the bulletins can be found for twenty-four hours on BBC iPlayer and the Newsround part of the CBBC web site for those who miss the morning broadcast.

There are at the moment seven Newsround presenters: Ricky Boleto, Jenny Lawrence, De’Graft Mensah, Shanequa Paris, Nina Blissett, Otis Holmes, and Emma-Louise Amanshia. The programme has served as a launchpad for presenters to ultimately transition into mainstream information programming and different presenting roles, with former presenters together with Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Jake Humphrey, and Helen Skelton.

Newsround has been a cornerstone of BBC programming since 1972, when it was often called John Craven’s Newsround. It was the primary programme of its type focused at youngsters aged between 5 and 15, and it has remained a vital useful resource for delivering information and present affairs to children in an accessible format.