BBC World seems to have joined the rest of the news channel pack and made their news ticker a permanent addition to their newscast.

Now, BBC World has used the ticker before, but it usually appeared during breaking news events and when they’re sharing coverage with BBC News 24. On the other hand, I’m watching BBC World’s coverage of Yasser Arafat’s death right now and the ticker is absent.

I’m sure I’ll get used to it, but it’s hard for me to get used to that ticker for now. The design is neat, but it’s disconcerting. The fact that the ticker vanishes underneath the BBC World logo before it can move off the screen is off putting to me. It’s also weird that the ticker is actually lifted off of the bottom of the screen instead of being anchored down.

Still, the information that’s presented in the ticker can be useful to the casual viewer.