Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

24 Hour Party People: The technology behind Sky News' Election Night Live

03/07/2024

UK broadcaster Sky News tells TVBEurope about its election night coverage, which will include augmented reality, BATCAM, LED screens and more

By Jenny Priestley

Published: July 2, 2024 Updated: July 3, 2024

UK broadcaster Sky News tells TVBEurope about its election night coverage, which will include augmented reality, BATCAM, LED screens and more

target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin> UK broadcaster Sky News tells TVBEurope about its election night coverage, which will include augmented reality, BATCAM, LED screens and more

https://www.tvbeurope.com/live-production/24-hour-party-people-the-technology-behind-sky-news-election-night-live title=Share via Email class=share-email>

UK broadcasters always knew the country was likely to go to the polls in 2024, it was just a matter of when. Rumours circulated on social media and in Westminster as to a possible date, but almost everyone was surprised when Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced on 22nd May that voters would go to the polls on 4th July.

Sky News immediately announced its plans for election night and the following morning. Kay Burley will anchor Election Night Live, the overnight results programme, from a 360-degree immersive studio normally used by Sky Sports' Monday Night Football.

The broadcaster has spent months working on its plans for the vote, explains Nick Phipps, editor of Election Night Live. One of the things we've learned from elections is that you don't necessarily know when they're coming, especially after what happened in 2017 when Theresa May surprised the country, he says.

We've had an ongoing election project that has been bubbling away in the background, and we maybe meet once every six weeks. We ramped it up this year because we knew there had to be an election by the end of 2024 or the beginning of 2025.

Sky News had plans in place for multiple eventualities. The team initially planned for a vote on 2nd May as well as later in the year. We were already building towards what we were going to deliver for the autumn when the announcement came, explains Phipps. It was a coincidence that the team was doing a photo shoot with all of the presenters on 22nd May. Beth Rigby and Sam Coates were getting messages and saying they needed to get to Westminster.

Election Night Live presenting team The broadcaster was always going to use the MNF studio even if the election took place during the football season. Most elections take place on a Tuesday or Thursday so it was unlikely to impact Sky Sports' schedule. That studio is brilliant, as you've seen from the way Sky Sports have used it over the last year, states Ben Fisher, head of studio output at Sky News, and director of Election Night Live.

With the tech they've got, the storytelling environments and various screens, it is a perfect space for an election in our view. I worked very closely with Ben Wickham, who is the creative director for Sky Sports, and we've collaborated pretty much from the get-go.

Connecting the studio to the gallery However, there was one big challenge. Sky Sports' galleries are in use almost continuously for remote productions, which means Sky News will be using its own galleries for Election Night Live. We do a lot of work remotely anyway with a lot of long cable runs and a lot of stuff happening over IP, adds Fisher.

This is not too much of a physical rejig really, it's a lot of clever people in the engineering departments and the graphics and data departments and technical supervisors who have figured out various patching and over patching to allow the cameras, the camera chains, the racking, the screen control. We've built an entire graphics area in the newsroom, which will control all of the screens. This has been a really impressive piece of work. It's working really well, and it does mean going forward if we ever want to use the studio again, it is now connected to our gallery.

The workflow will employ differing levels of automation, which Sky News uses more than its sport counterparts. If the election had been in October or November, we may have been able to automate a little bit more. But we're going to use it to drive the screens and the augmented reality, explains Fisher. The studio elements are going to be manual, but the rest of the programme, full frame graphics, all of the straps, the vidiprinter', the furniture, tapes, everything is all going to be through automation. It's quite exciting because we've never done that before in an election.

This will be our first election without a vision mixer, for example, he continues. Before, we'd always have the director, the vision mixer, the DA. Now we're going to have a team of directors essentially. We'll have me as the event director, an OverDrive director running the automation, and a studio director who will be in charge of the cameras and the screens.

In terms of cameras, the broadcast will use a jib, Steadicam and BATCAM, a smaller version of Spidercam, operated by two pilots sitting in a room overlooking the studio, one working the wires, the other pan/tilt. We're hoping for a Steadicam for Ed Conway, adds Fisher. We'll have four pedestal cameras, and everything is manually operated for the election night show.

Covering the counts Cameras will also be out and about across the country capturing the major events of the night. Most of the production in a way happens outside of the building because of the number of cameras that we have out and about, states Phipps. We're going to have stringers at every count in the country. We'll have cameras in about 90 locations, which actually means more constituencies because lots of places count more than one seat. Those will all need to have producers at them and/or correspondent
LINK: https://www.tvbeurope.com/live-production/24-hour-party-people-the-tec...
See more stories from tvb

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

09/10/2026

Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026

September 10 2026, 06:00 (PDT) Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026 New Sports Intelligence helps providers better unders...

07/10/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Media Operations from Ingest to Distribution

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...

25/09/2026

Digital Anarchy Releases Newest Version of its Real-Time Skin Retouching Tool for Video

Digital Anarchy Releases Newest Version of its Real-Time Skin Retouching Tool fo...

25/09/2026

Blackmagic Design Used on More Than 50 Summer Films in 2026

Blackmagic Design Used on More Than 50 Summer Films in 2026 Brie Clayton September 25, 2026 0 Comments Hero image: Disclosure Day Blackmagic Design p...

25/09/2026

How I Automated Social Media Resizing in After Effects - Free Script

How I Automated Social Media Resizing in After Effects - Free Script Graham Quince September 25, 2026 0 Comments If your text keeps getting cut off on...

25/09/2026

IBC2026 celebrates collaborative breakthroughs as it anno...

IBC has unveiled the winners of the prestigious IBC2026 Innovation Awards at an event held at the RAI Amsterdam on Sunday 13 September, honouring collaborative ...

25/09/2026

IBC2026 brings global media industry together to turn inn...

IBC2026 brought the global media, entertainment and technology community together for four days of business, innovation and collaboration at the RAI Amsterdam. ...

25/09/2026

Lightware Helps Integrators Overcome MacBook Neo USB Topo...

Lightware testing has revealed that each USB-C port on Apple's new MacBook Neo consumes three of the seven USB tiers available under the USB specification, ...

25/09/2026

Lightware Expands Education Support With New Products and...

Lightware is supporting educational institutions in building modern learning environments by combining professional training with education-focused AV technolog...

25/09/2026

Study: Only 10% of Young Adults Watched Local TV News Last Week

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

25/09/2026

Optimum, A+E Global Media Sign New Distribution Agreement

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

25/09/2026

MPA, Unions Back 'Motion Picture, Television, and Entertainment Revitalization Act

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

25/09/2026

NAB Show New York Announces More Speakers and Programming Highlights

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

25/09/2026

Comcast NBCU, NBCUniversal Local Award $2.5 Million to Nonprofits

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

25/09/2026

Orange Belgium Strengthens Its Consumer and B2B TV Servic...

Long-Standing Customer Renews Multiyear Contract for VO's Secure Video Player, Content Security, and Device Monitoring Solutions Viaccess-Orca (VO), a glob...

25/09/2026

Automate Video Progress Bars in After Effects - No Keyframes!

Automate Video Progress Bars in After Effects - No Keyframes! Graham Quince September 24, 2026 0 Comments Learn how to create an automated video playb...

25/09/2026

Last chance to apply to be part of this year's Late Late Toy Show

Want to be part of this year's Late Late Toy Show? Final call for applications in search for this year's stars The most wonderful night of the year is...

24/09/2026

Broadcast Management Group Assists Virginia Public Media With Move to New HQ in Richmond

Broadcast Management Group (BMG) is supporting Virginia Public Media (VPM), the ...

24/09/2026

Two Red Digital Cinema Cameras Receive GhostFrame Pro Certification

RED Digital Cinema's RED V-RAPTOR [X] and RED V-RAPTOR XL [X] cameras with the Phantom Track feature are the first cameras to receive GhostFrame Pro Certifi...

24/09/2026

FOX Sports Adds 4K Live Stream on Tubi to List of Available Options for Cowboys-Eagles on Thanksgiving Day

Bringing together the full family of networks, FOX Sports is also adding Tubi, F...

24/09/2026

Virginia Techs Lane Stadium Invests in Gameday Experience with New Daktronics LED Display, Audio Solutions

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) has unveiled...

24/09/2026

SVG AI Innovation Lab Blog Tracks How AI Is Reshaping Live Sports Production

The blog collects SVG's reporting on AI across U.S. and European sports broadcasting Since SVG launched the AI Innovation Lab in April to advance the devel...

24/09/2026

SVG TranSPORT Keynote Conversation: How FOX Built a Transcontinental Transmission Backbone for the FIFA World Cup

SVG's annual TranSPORT conference, which will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 20 in...

24/09/2026

FloSports is Using AI To Build a New Generation of Live Production Tools to Bolster the Streamer's Internal Operations

The self-built Master Control Room has cut streaming operations incident-respo...

24/09/2026

Ortana Links AudioShake, ScorePlay for Live and Archive Audio Cleanup

Ortana Media Group, the software systems integrator behind the Cubix workflow platform, has connected AudioShake's audio separation models to ScorePlay thro...

24/09/2026

AudioShake Debuts Multi-Speaker 2.0 for Separating Overlapping Voices

AudioShake has released Multi-Speaker 2.0, the company's newest Multi-Speaker model, which removes 75% more noise and offers 32% better separation of overla...

24/09/2026

Op-Ed: Planning Media Day When the Calendar Isn't Certain - How MLB Clubs Can Prepare for 2027 Now

By Jon Morgan, Founder and Executive Producer, Ryval Studios For Major League B...

24/09/2026

Spectrum SportsNet Reveals Los Angeles Lakers Broadcast, Programming Schedule for the 2026-27 Season

Spectrum SportsNet has revealed its comprehensive programming and live game broa...

24/09/2026

Charlotte Hornets Ink Broadcast Deals With Gray Media, Sinclair to Bring Games to More Fans Across the Carolinas

The Charlotte Hornets has unveiled new broadcast partnerships with Gray Media an...

24/09/2026

Detroit Pistons Name DAZN as Exclusive DTC Streaming Platform

DAZN will be the exclusive direct-to-consumer streaming partner for the Detroit Pistons beginning with the 2026-27 season. Subscriptions are available at DAZN.c...

24/09/2026

Minnesota Wild Games Become Available to Spectrum Customers

The National Hockey League (NHL) has made an agreement with Spectrum that will allow Spectrum TV customers in the Minnesota Wild local broadcast territory to wa...

24/09/2026

Carolina Hurricanes, Spectrum Sign Multi-Year Agreement for Hurricanes Hockey Network Distribution

The Carolina Hurricanes has reached a multi-year distribution agreement to provi...

24/09/2026

Regional Games of the St. Louis Blues To Be Exclusively Broadcasted on Blue Note+

The St. Louis Blues has introduced Blue Note as the name of the new, exclusive ...

24/09/2026

Columbus Blue Jackets Games Head to Spectrum TV

Blue Jackets Hockey Network, the television home for Blue Jackets hockey, is coming to Spectrum TV under a new carriage agreement between the National Hockey Le...

24/09/2026

Waves introduce Tracks Live 2.0

The next generation of multitrack recording for live sound The latest version of Waves' dedicated live multitrack recording software delivers an array ...

24/09/2026

Polyend introduce the Loop

An idea machine for musicians Described as an idea machine for musicians , the latest addition to Polyend's growing collection of guitar pedals combin...

24/09/2026

Synchro Arts unveil VocAlign 7

Alignment tool gains multitrack layout Synchro Arts have just launched the latest version of their renowned time-alignment plug-in, and it's said to be ...

24/09/2026

Expressive E update the Osmose

Synth gains DAW Control & Ctrl-e integration Expressive E have just released a major firmware update that brings some interesting new features to the Osmose...

24/09/2026

Rohde & Schwarz expands its system amplifier portfolio with the R&SSAM200 for applications up to 53 GHz

Rohde & Schwarz expands its system amplifier portfolio with the R&S SAM200 for a...

24/09/2026

Hitachi Launches Startup Challenge, Calling on Innovators Worldwide to Shape the Future of Mobility and Manufacturing Solutions

September 24, 2026 The Hitachi Startup Challenge FY26 invites innovative startu...

24/09/2026

NHK Technologies, Inc. Chooses Calrec for Sports Production

Download Now! To receive a short case study showcasing NHK Technologies, Inc. (NT) s audio setup, please enter the following details: -- First Name* Fir...

24/09/2026

Manifold Technologies Appoints Ryhaan Williams as CCO for North America

Manifold Technologies Appoints Ryhaan Williams as CCO for North America Brie Clayton September 24, 2026 0 Comments Brings three decades of broadcast e...

24/09/2026

UNIFACHA Expands Educational Program with DaVinci Resolve Studio

UNIFACHA Expands Educational Program with DaVinci Resolve Studio Brie Clayton September 24, 2026 0 Comments Brazilian university empowers next generat...

24/09/2026

NABA To Convene Cyber University 2.0 To Address Cybersecurity Strategies

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

24/09/2026

Big Blue Marble Makes the Origin of Austrian Parliament V...

Viewers watching videos from the Austrian Parliament online will soon find it easier to verify the authenticity of the content. Big Blue Marble, an internationa...

24/09/2026

nsign and Sony collaborate to simplify digital signage de...

nsign, the digital signage SaaS platform built around its Simplify Complexity principle, is now officially certified for BRAVIA Professional Displays from Son...

24/09/2026

Viaplay Selects Encompass Altitude Scheduling to Transfor...

Encompass Digital Media today announced the successful migration of multiple Viaplay free-to-air channels, including TV3, TV6, TV8 and TV10, to its Altitude Sch...

24/09/2026

Standalone Streaming Services Continue to Decline in the U.S.

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

24/09/2026

Hollyland Unveils LARK M3 Wireless Audio System

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...