LEAWOOD, Kan.-As the 2020 Presidential and Congressional campaigns enter the homestretch, the impact of COVID-19 on TV news organizations continues to be felt with news managers ripping up plans on how best to deploy news crews, technology and workflows, and starting over as the virus injects a wildcard into their coverage equation, even as the possibility of not knowing the winner of the Trump-Biden race Nov. 3 looms.
Those were among the major takeaways during an Election Tech in the COVID-19 Era panel during the News Technology Summit sponsored by TVTechnology and B+C magazines. (Full disclosure. I moderated the panel.)
PLAN, PLAN, PLAN
Weve planned about five times at this point, and I think that were pros at planning for the upcoming election, and in saying that, I can say that we'll probably plan it end-to-end once more before it actually happens, said Tony Brown, chief of staff at Newsy, during the panel discussions.
Brown was joined on the panel by Susie Banikarim, executive vice president and global head of newsgathering at Vice News; Patrick McCreery, president, local media group, at Meredith Corp.; and Jorge Dighero, senior solutions architect at Vizrt.
[Y]ou know, everything from remote production to remote sources and contribution on the night of [the election] to what were looking at as a multinight and multiday event, where it used to be just one night, it is ultimately affecting the plans, he said.
COVID-19 is making it difficult for Meredith stations to firm up election night planning because the major political parties aren't sure what they are going to do, said McCreery.
In years past, you'd have a planning meeting three months out and know where you're going to be and where your crews are going to be, he said. However, McCreery predicted that there will be a lot of last-minute decisions made about whether or not to hold election night rallies and parties.
I think in a lot of situations, were looking at the use of pool [cameras] within our various cities, put a pool camera at certain places and share the video and minimize [COVID-19] exposure that way, he said, adding that this view here [referencing the Zoom meeting used for the panel] will be used heavily on election night.
COVID-19 is affecting coverage from the campaign trail, too, said Banikarim. Likening the situation to an incredible jigsaw puzzle, she explains that the virus has made it far more difficult to assign news crews because an entirely new set of factors beyond the newsworthiness of a campaign story have come into play.
[If a crew goes into the field,] how long do they have to quarantine? How will you quarantine them? Do they have people at home? Do they need to be put some place else? she asked, illustrating the new challenges.
MAINTAINING WORKFLOWSThe COVID-19 pandemic has prompted many broadcasters to reduce to a bare minimum the number of staff working in newsrooms, production control rooms and even on the news set in an effort to keep employees safe and healthy. Doing so, however, has created serious workflow challenges, said Dighero.
Jorge Dighero (Image credit: Future) What this proves is that software is the absolute key, the absolute answer here because software can be deployed on-prem and remotely accessed, he said. However, problems with computers on premise in newsrooms locked down during the outbreak underscore the importance of cloud computing to maintaining news workflows.
All of our customers [have] been focused solely on how we can do a complete transition to the cloud, said Dighero.
While they won't scrap their newsroom technology and workflows anytime soon, broadcasters are looking to a cloud-based future achieved incrementally to protect them from future circumstances that might limit newsroom access, he added, noting that cloud pricing and connectivity will only continue to improve with time.
PLUS: 2020 Campaign: A News Cycle Unlike Any Other
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, all three broadcasters on the panel said their news organizations have taken steps to reduce staff working at their facilities to promote safety. However, election night-or an extended number of days while results are tallied-will see a return to a more normal workflow.
To be live, the way we would need to be for that full week, we are going to start to put some people back in the building, said Banikarim. We're going to fire up a live control room. ... [T]he risk of being live in a fully remote way feels too great, right?
Newsy, too, went fully remote when the pandemic hit. We have not done a show out of the studio or physically out of a control room since March, said Brown. But because of the logistics involved in election night, Newsy news personnel will return.
Office space vacated by non-news personnel during the pandemic will help. What we've ended up doing is actually just spreading pieces of the control room around our larger floor, he said. Directors and producers will have their own socially distanced pods and connect to one another via intercom rather than sitting at the same desk and risk exposing one another to the virus.
Control room automation also has helped to reduce the number of people who need to be involved in producing election coverage, Brown added.
At the height of the pandemic, Meredith got down to about 20% of its employees working from its facilities, said McCreery. That figure has grown steadily, and today about half of the station group's workforce on any given shift is working from their stations.
We do have producers and directors in the control rooms, you know, said McCreery. However, Meredith has erected Plexiglas dividers and taken other safety measures to reduce the likelihood of transmission.
I think the reality of this pandemic now is not about what happens if you get a positive; it
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
07/08/2025
July 8 2025, 22:30 (PDT) Tata Motors & Dolby Bring Dolby Atmos to Harrier.ev, R...
15/07/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
15/07/2025
L3Harris put its CORVUS-RAVEN counter-small UAS capability into the hands of soldiers at VANAHEIM, showcasing its ability to provide passive signal detect, enha...
15/07/2025
Netflix Viewing Up 13.5% vs. May, Represents 42% of Monthly Gain for Streaming
...
15/07/2025
SAN FRANCISCO and BENGALARU, India Sangeeta Chakraborty has been named chief revenue officer at Amagi, a cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) technology pro...
15/07/2025
As part of its mandate, the Advanced Television Systems Committee the U.S. organization tasked with developing advanced broadcast TV standards promotes ATSC 3.0...
15/07/2025
QuickLink, the leading global provider of multi-camera video productions and remote contributions, announces the launch of two innovative control panels Studi...
15/07/2025
Chris Kontopanos has joined leading high-quality microphone solutions manufacturer, DPA Microphones, as the company's new Regional Sales Manager for the Mid...
15/07/2025
Magnifi by VideoVerse, a global leader in AI-powered video automation, has launched a major platform upgrade built to simplify live and archival video editing f...
15/07/2025
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will preview its latest innovations at IBC2025, Stand 7.B21. This year's showcase highlights how...
15/07/2025
IBC2025 is set to transform the onsite experience for its global attendees with the launch of a pioneering new feature: full integration of Amsterdam's GVB ...
15/07/2025
Music, sport and technology collided in spectacular fashion as ASB GlassFloor powered the debut of Beats N Buckets, Germany's first Basketball meets Hip-Ho...
15/07/2025
The Collectv, the Emmy award-winning broadcast solutions and workflows consultancy - and winner of Broadcast Tech's Team of the Year is delighted to announc...
15/07/2025
SipRadius, the expert in secure, low latency media transport, will showcase how broadcasters and media companies can take control of fragmented IP workflows at ...
15/07/2025
Appear, the global leader in live production technology, today announced its strategic partnership with beIN ASIA PACIFIC, a leading multi-platform sports media...
15/07/2025
Company marks 15 years of innovation at the show
Broadpeak, a leader in streaming and monetization at scale, will return to IBC (Hall 1, Stand F83. RAI, Amster...
15/07/2025
New software solutions extend trusted timing measurement across broadcast, venue, and professional AV applications
Hitomi Broadcast, the market leader in audi...
15/07/2025
SHENZHEN, China Telycam has added control options for its portfolio of pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras with a new plug-in for Elgato's Stream Deck family of con...
15/07/2025
MELVILLE, N.Y. Chyron said its Chyron LIVE cloud-native live production solution has successfully completed the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Foundational Technical...
15/07/2025
PHILADELPHIA The Xumo streaming platform joint venture between Comcast and Charter has announced the nationwide launch of a new line of Xumo TVs from Westinghou...
15/07/2025
LONGMONT, Colo. DPA Microphones said Chris Kontopanos has joined the microphone solutions provider as its new regional sales manager, Mid-Atlantic....
15/07/2025
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION IN OR INTO OR TO ANY PERSON LOCATED OR RESIDENT IN THE UNIT...
15/07/2025
News Corp Authorizes New $1 Billion Stock Repurchase Program and Intends to Acce...
15/07/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Announces the Start of Production of Los secretos de l...
15/07/2025
Harmonic's Hybrid, AI-Powered and Live Sports Streaming Innovations are Key ...
15/07/2025
The well-known and well-loved 4099 has been completely revamped. It features amazing CORE+ technology, which eliminates distortion and extends dynamic range, a ...
15/07/2025
Comscore Partners with HyphaMetrics to Launch Advanced Person-Level Audience Mea...
15/07/2025
Peak audiences of over half a million tune into both Kerry v Tyrone and Donegal ...
15/07/2025
PROTON Announces Production Facility Expansion Ahead of IBC2025 posted: 15/07/2025
Proton Announces Production Facility Expansion Ahead of IBC2025
Alongs...
15/07/2025
Submissions for NVIDIA's Plug and Play: Project G-Assist Plug-In Hackathon a...
14/07/2025
The Royal Moroccan Air Force hosted a C-130 award ceremony with L3Harris Technologies President of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Jason Lambert a...
14/07/2025
UK launch set for September, following on from recent US and Germany releases
London - UK, July 14, 2025 - Nielsen, a global leader in audience measurement, da...
14/07/2025
SHENZHEN, China Telycam has added control options for its portfolio of pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras with a new plug-in for Elgato's Stream Deck family of con...
14/07/2025
The awards are open to IBC2025 show exhibitors and offer a valuable platform for companies to raise awareness for the new products and solutions they will be la...
14/07/2025
Clear-Com is excited to announce a significant expansion of the award-winning Arcadia Central Station with new software updates. Together, these releases dram...
14/07/2025
Grass Valley and Daktronics today announced a strategic technology partnership that unites Grass Valley's live production expertise with Daktronics' lea...
14/07/2025
Cloud playout solutions provider, Veset, and swXtch.io, provider of cloud-based multicast and reliable networking solutions, are partnering to deliver multicast...
14/07/2025
Tintri , a DDN subsidiary and leader in AI-powered data management solutions, today announces a game-changing and award-winning refresh to its global Partner P...
14/07/2025
HighField AI, the broadcast industry's first agentic and multimodal AI platform for automating graphics production, is now commercially available. Developed...
14/07/2025
Encompass Digital Media has today announced that it has been delivering a complex global services project for DAZN, the world s leading sports entertainment pla...
14/07/2025
MASV (massive.io), the fastest, most reliable large file transfer platform trusted by over 10,000 global organizations, announced today it will showcase its nex...
14/07/2025
Calrec is introducing a series of usability, customisation and system enhancements across the entire range of Argo consoles at IBC 2025, on Stand 8.C47. Look ou...
14/07/2025
Fincons Group, IT business consultancy and systems integrator company with more than 40 years of experience in the market, is proud to announce a new engagement...
14/07/2025
Intinor returns to IBC to present the latest updates to its Direkt series. A key development on show is Intinor Direkt Management (IDM), a web-based interface f...
14/07/2025
Back to All News
Trailer Out Now! Netflix and YRF Entertainment's Mandala ...
14/07/2025
Back to All News
25 Former Athletes Seek Redemption in Final Draft,' Japan...
LEAWOOD, Kan.-As the 2020 Presidential and Congressional campaigns enter the homestretch, the impact of COVID-19 on TV news organizations continues to be felt with news managers ripping up plans on how best to deploy news crews, technology and workflows, and starting over as the virus injects a wildcard into their coverage equation, even as the possibility of not knowing the winner of the Trump-Biden race Nov. 3 looms.
