Capturing the counts

Philip Stevens talks to several broadcasters about their plans for election night coverage

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Philip Stevens talks to several broadcasters about their plans for election night coverage

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This election is like none of recent times. The December election is a frantic bid to break parliamentary deadlock. A once in a generation chance. This election was inevitable.

Just a flavour of some of the comments made about the 12th December general election in the UK. And with such an important event taking place, both domestic and international broadcasters have been making comprehensive plans to bring the best coverage of this election - the first winter poll for nearly a century.

I am always making plans, because it is good to continually tinker with the spreadsheet so you always have something in the back pocket for a last-minute call for an election, Tim Burke, the BBC's editor, election OBs, tells TVBEurope. But I started planning specifically for this election during the summer parliamentary recess in August when it became obvious that there was such a fragile state of affairs in parliament.

He says that what makes this election different is the volatility of the voter. They are becoming more clever informing themselves from all sorts of different sources and, they might be more tactical about the way they vote. The whole dynamic has changed and we want to reflect that in the coverage we will provide.

The coverage will include a presence at around 100 seats in England, a selection in Wales and every constituency in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Most of these OBs will be covered by single camera operations, although the big' seats involving the political leaders and those vying to be first to declare will involve multicamera set-ups.

In some of these seats we are pooling with ITN and Sky for the declarations. But we will each have own presenters to provide the personal' touch.

The studio operation, which will be hosted by Huw Edwards, will be centred on Studio A at New Broadcasting House (NBH) in central London. This will combine with the virtual reality studio to enable Jeremy Vine to use his usual analysis of how the night is unfolding as the results come in.

Editorial centre

Our editorial hub will be at Elstree studios, explains Burke. We have the encoders there that will enable us to use WMT (Wireless Multiplex Technology) for downloading from sources such as LiveU units. From Elstree we have 5G connections to NBH.

Burke says that using WMT requires good discipline in its use. It takes a little time to set up and get running. And with battery time limited, you need to plan in advance when and how it is to be used. And that is especially important in a landscape that is changing all the time. Producers on the ground have to be sure they know what is going on all the time.

Burke emphasises the production teams are making the best use of technology wherever it is available. For example, when we did a recce at Carlisle we thought it would be difficult to cable to a truck which would be parked in a position that provided line-of-sight with the satellite. But we discovered the facility had an ethernet connection that would go straight into the back of the camera and then directly to the internet.

Burke will be stationed at Elstree on election night receiving intelligence from the floor of the counts to a set of sub hubs also based at Elstree. Those sub hubs feed into hub control and from there he will decide which feeds will be sent to NBH for inclusion into the main programme which will be directed by Chris Cook.

One of the keys to success for an operation like this is clear communication. With so much voice traffic, it is vital that only essential talk back is used.

The BBC will make use of social media both for BBC Online and for inclusion in the main television broadcast. It is a useful tool in getting an early indication from the political parties as to how well they think they are doing.

He adds: This is a really difficult election to predict, so we are planning many different political scenarios. This is more than just a two-party race and our editorial and production planning is geared up to react to whatever happens.

Order! Order!

Never short of a word of an appropriate moment, former House of Commons Speaker, John Bercow, will be adding his voice to the coverage offered by Sky News.

We're delighted to be welcoming John Bercow to our General Election coverage, says John Ryley, head of Sky News. John will bring his own authority, and no little wit to a night of high drama. Contentious and controversial, the former Speaker will doubtless have his own colourful views on events.

Ryley adds: With the political landscape in more turmoil and more uncertain than ever The Brexit Election on Sky News will bring our viewers all the drama of an election night like no other.

Sky's coverage will be led by Sam Coates, Beth Rigby, John Bercow and Dermot Murnaghan Dermot Murnaghan will be the presenter in the purpose-built studios at the centre of Sky's Osterley headquarters. He will be joined by Sky News political editor Beth Rigby and deputy political editor Sam Coates. Ed Conway will use high-tech graphics to show viewers the unfolding events in a concise presentation.

We will use augmented reality graphics, wire cams and a state-of-the-art videowall will help tell the story of the night in a fresh engaging way, explains Ryley.

He continues: In an election that is increasingly being fought out on social and digital media battlegrounds

LINK:	https://www.tvbeurope.com/features/capturing-the-counts...
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