Philip Stevens talks to several broadcasters about their plans for election night coverage
Contributor 1 hour ago
Philip Stevens talks to several broadcasters about their plans for election night coverage
target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin> Philip Stevens talks to several broadcasters about their plans for election night coverage
https://www.tvbeurope.com/features/capturing-the-counts title=Share via Email class=share-email>
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
Europe Stories
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
02/07/2026
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones
The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
02/07/2026
A new era in unmixing and spectral editing
The latest version of Steinberg's spectral audio-editing software has just arrived, building on the strength...
02/07/2026
Aims to simplify additive synthesis
Sine Machine is the debut launch from Melatonin, a Vienna-based developer who have spent the past six years creating wha...
02/07/2026
Products to remain fully active & supported
Following the news of Native Instruments joining the inMusic brand line-up, Academy and Emmy Award-winning visua...
02/07/2026
What you missed!
Last weekend, Saturday 27 June 2026, saw the debut of Sound On Sounds new GearExpo UK event, the largest dedicated pro-audio event to take ...
02/07/2026
Thursday 2 July 2026
Tea with Judi Dench returns to Sky Arts with legendary guest, Sir Ian McKellen
Sky today confirms Tea with Judi Dench will return this su...
01/07/2026
New AI Assistant, Multi-channel Audio, ARA2 improvements & more
Tracktion's DAW software has just received its latest major update, gaining a selection ...
01/07/2026
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones
The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
01/07/2026
Exclusive run of limited-edition modelling pedals
Sweetwater and Andertons M...
01/07/2026
** MEDIA ALERT **
BLEACH Comes to Life in Los Angeles with First-of-Its-Kind...
01/07/2026
UKTV has today announced the appointment of Matt Berry to the newly created role of General Manager - Marketing, effective 1 July.
Matt will take on this senio...
01/07/2026
Sky Zero Footprint Fund-backed TV campaign featuring Deborah Meaden challenges consumers to rethink everyday bathroom wasteWednesday 1 July 2026
Fussy asks Bri...
01/07/2026
Constituency-level analysis reveals where girls miss out most on sport - and where targeted action could unlock more than £640 million in economic and health be...
01/07/2026
Wuppertal July 1, 2026
Riedel and SKAARHOJ Expand Collaboration With SimplyLive IntegrationRiedel Communications today announced an expanded collaboration wit...
01/07/2026
Apple today introduced power-packed updates to Apple Creator Studio, a groundbre...
01/07/2026
Nectar360, the Retail Media, Loyalty and Insights business of the Sainsburys Gro...
01/07/2026
9.2 million streams on RT Player between 11 and 28 June
Reach of 2.9 million viewers during Group stages of FIFA World Cup on RT 2
23 million video views acr...
30/06/2026
Could your journalism reach an international stage?
Entries are now open for the Thomson Foundation's Young Journalist Award 2026, one of the most prestigi...
30/06/2026
Brings together saturation & lo-fi effects
Following on from the release of their Voxcraft vocal-processing plug-in, UJAM have announced the launch of Retro...
30/06/2026
New IR reverb engine, Juno-inspired chorus & more
The latest version of Rapid Flow's hardware-emulation synth plug-in expands on its predecessor with a ...
30/06/2026
Excels at heavy-handed VCA compression
For their latest release, Shy Audio have recreated the crunchy' sound of a rackmount compressor that found its w...
30/06/2026
Component scarcity drives cost increases
Shortly after Apple's CEO Tim Cook acknowledged that cost increases would soon be inevitable , the company hav...
30/06/2026
Hitachi and Bank Pekao S.A. have completed the installation of the first Hitachi...
30/06/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
29/06/2026
Four-layer instrument aimed at dark electronic music
Excite Audio's latest software instrument has been designed with dark drum and bass, atmospheric te...
29/06/2026
New AI Assistant, Multi-channel Audio, ARA2 improvements & more
Tracktion's DAW software has just received its latest major update, gaining a selection ...
29/06/2026
Details environmental policies & results
The Focusrite Group have just announced that following a long audit process, they have published their 2026 sustain...
29/06/2026
Arvato Systems Achieves AWS Cloud Operations Competency
The team behind the AWS Cloud Operations Competency (from left to right: Philipp Hellmich, Johanna Bod...
29/06/2026
RT today announced that Ger Gilroy will join the RT Podcasts team to present a daily sports podcast. Launching later this year, the new show will set the spor...
29/06/2026
RT Commercial announced OUTsurance as sponsor of the Oliver Callan show on RT Radio 1 from Wednesday 1 July.
Oliver Callan doubles the fun, delivering two ...
28/06/2026
Half-size model joins Console 1 line-up
Shortly after the release of their new Flow Studio controller, Softube have announced the launch of another new surf...
28/06/2026
New EXO Series DSP control software announced
EVE Audio's EXO Series monitor range has just gained a new software element that provides remote access to...
27/06/2026
Brings together saturation & lo-fi effects
Following on from the release of their Voxcraft vocal-processing plug-in, UJAM have announced the launch of Retro...
26/06/2026
Virtual session musician plug-in gains new percussion options
Celemony's latest update for their virtual session musician platform complements the exist...
26/06/2026
Half-size model joins Console 1 line-up
Shortly after the release of their new Flow Studio controller, Softube have announced the launch of another new surf...
26/06/2026
ELT Group and Rohde & Schwarz sign a cooperation agreement to explore commercial...
26/06/2026
Flicker Productions to produce five-part docu-reality series following women who have fallen for men in prison and have become TikTok sensations, with brands an...
26/06/2026
Catch up on the latest developments across Baselight and Daylight v7, Nara and F...
26/06/2026
26. June 2026 News
DFT is pleased to announce that a second Polar HQ film s...
26/06/2026
A fresh look at how the Irish helped shape the foundations of the United States
...
25/06/2026
Six free workshops across two days
Global music education platform Music Production for Women (MPW), have just announced a brand new and highly anticipated ...
25/06/2026
Popular pedalboard PSU gets an upgrade
The DC7 v2 is a new and improved version of the renowned effects pedal PSU from CIOKS, and is said to be the thinnest...
25/06/2026
Optimised for lush, enveloping sounds
Described as an instantly rewarding reverb , the latest addition to Arturia's range of creative effects plug-ins ...
25/06/2026
27 June 2026, Westminster University Harrow Campus
GearExpo UK is now upon us, with just two days to go until 150 of the worlds top pro-audio brands and ind...
Philip Stevens talks to several broadcasters about their plans for election night coverage
