Philip Stevens looks at how European broadcasters have elected to cover Biden vs Trump.
By Philip Stevens
Published: October 29, 2020
Philip Stevens looks at how European broadcasters have elected to cover Biden vs Trump.
target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin> Philip Stevens looks at how European broadcasters have elected to cover Biden vs Trump.
https://www.tvbeurope.com/live-production/all-eyes-on-the-united-states title=Share via Email class=share-email>
November's US presidential election is bound to attract significant interest from viewers around the world. With so much happening globally at this time, the occupant of the White House for the next four years will be under enormous scrutiny both home and abroad.
However, does Covid-19 mean that coverage by broadcasters will be different from previous US elections? With that in mind what do broadcasters have in place for the 3rd November event?
For its UK audiences, ITN is producing programmes for ITV News, the ITV News website, Channel 4 News and 5News to cover the election period. This will include the special overnight programme to be shown on ITV on election night.
Tom Bradby will lead ITV News coverage from Washington. This programme, called Trump vs Biden, The Results will begin after the regional news at around 10.50pm and end at 6am on 4th November when Good Morning Britain will begin, explains Michael Herrod, ITN's head of foreign news. Our presentation will come from Washington DC, with Tom Bradby as the lead presenter.
Channel 4 News' coverage will be hosted in Washington by Matt Frei, and in London by Jon Snow and Krishnan Gurumurthy. The 5News presentation will be led by political editor Andy Bell and correspondent Julian Druker
Herrod continues, This year's election has been much harder to plan due to the travel restrictions surrounding Covid-19. Nevertheless, we are sending a team similar in size to four years ago now that we have an ability to get to the US. Our plans call for six reporters in the United States, alongside eight ENG crews.
Lucy O'Brien head of field operations at ITN adds, The crews are using a mix of LiveU and Aviwest for their coverage. The special programme for ITV will be using Aviwest HE4000 unit. This unit is being used to bring the cameras back from DC so they can be cut in the gallery in Grays Inn Road. We are using NTT encode/decoders for the return vision paths.
Each separate reporting team will have a camera operator who will shoot and edit, and have LiveU kit for live injects.
O'Brien says that in addition to using its own crews, ITN has the potential for using coverage from US broadcasters, including Associated Press for the 5News programmes.
Robert Moore, ITV News Washington correspondent says that covering a US presidential campaign is one of the great privileges of working for ITV News. You witness the spectacular made-for-TV theatre of American politics, you criss-cross the Mid-West listening to voters, you learn that there isn't one electorate, or two partisan sides, but 150 million voters all with their different issues, concerns and priorities.
ITN's recently appointed chief technology officer, Mo Akhlaq, says that being able to report and have an on the scene' presence has been an extremely important tool in the news broadcaster's arsenal. It is a vital tool allowing the audience to connect with the story or live event. Field teams are well equipped for dealing with hostile environments from war zones, protests and election coverages. Covid has added another challenging dimension, social distance. We have now introduced working practices which help to maintain social distancing and a Covid-safe work space wherever they may be. Working in bubbles, PPE (where needed) and using IP technology to acquire and delivery material in a speedy and safe manner.
BBC's broadcast plans For the BBC, Katty Kay and Andrew Neil will present the overnight BBC US Election 2020 from Washington and London.
Our programmes will be shown on BBC1, BBC World and the News Channel, says programme editor, Sam Woodhouse. Elsewhere, the BBC Persian and Arabic services will have their own progammes.
Katty Kay will be the BBC's presenter in the US. Katty will be broadcasting from our Washington bureau where we will originate a multicamera programme under the control of our bureau director. Andrew will be providing interviews and analysis from our studio in New Broadcasting House.
Alongside the studio production, around 10 ENG crews with reporters will be deployed across the US, including at the parties' headquarters and at key swing states. These will use a mix of LiveU and other mobile equipment, with most of the operators being local hire. Woodhouse says the idea is to have as few people as possible crossing the Atlantic. Every broadcaster will surely have looked at their plans and decided how best to handle the current situation surrounding coronavirus.
He continues, Having said that, I don't believe we have scaled back the operation because of coronavirus. We will still get the sense of how America is thinking by talking to the people in swing states. But the places we talk to people will change. You won't find us talking to Americans in crowded bars because there aren't many crowded bars!
Jon Sopel and Clive Myrie will be with the Trump and Biden campaigns on election night, with BBC reporters including Emily Maitlis and Nick Bryant in the crucial battleground states. We will have the services of a panel of expert political strategists assessing how the night is unfolding, how the campaign was lost and the impact the US electorate's decision will have on the years ahead.
The programme will also include big-screen graphic analysis from Christian Fraser based in Lo
Europe Stories
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
26/11/2025
Book podcasts are booming. On Spotify, you'll find everything from celebrity book clubs to deep dives with bestselling authors. And in markets where audiobo...
26/11/2025
YouView Achieves Greenly Gold Certification for SustainabilityNov 26, 2025
YouView is proud to announce a Gold Certification award from Greenly for our perform...
25/11/2025
Tracy Bonareri Onchoke, an investigative journalist from Kenya is the winner of the Thomson Foundation's Young Journalist Award 2025.
The 26-year-old-sele...
25/11/2025
The best playlists, podcasts, and audiobooks bring a little extra magic to your daily routine. With new features and offerings, Spotify Premium delivers even mo...
25/11/2025
Comprehensive new research confirms what we already knew: Australian music fans love the quality, quantity, and access they have to new and local music on strea...
25/11/2025
Applicable Products
Objectives The purpose of this application note is to give a brief background on 5G (NR) wireless communication an explain the reason a SN...
25/11/2025
25 Nov 2025
VEON's QazCode and MeetKai Sign Agreement to Power National LLM...
25/11/2025
UKTV has acquired a high-profile slate of US dramas from Paramount Global Conten...
25/11/2025
A symphony of genius, rivalry and vengeance, boldly reimagined from Peter Shaffe...
25/11/2025
Article courtesy of Cinematography World
Read the article
FilmLight has finalised the prestigious 2025 FilmLight Colour Awards jury and welcomed award-winning...
25/11/2025
Article courtesy of Prensario
Read the article
La serie fue dirigida por Juli n de Tavira, Rodrigo Santos, y David Leche Ruiz, con direcci n de fotograf a a...
25/11/2025
Article courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter
Read the article
The awards, celebr...
25/11/2025
Article courtesy of Televisual
Read the article
Already live in Los Angeles and rolling out in New York and London, Nara gives producers, colourists, conform ...
25/11/2025
Article courtesy of Digital Media World
Read the article
ARTONE post-house in Tokyo is the first facility in Japan to integrate Baselight M, choosing its prec...
25/11/2025
Article courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter
Read the article
Once hidden in post-production suites, the artists who make movies and TV shows look the way they ...
25/11/2025
Article courtesy of Deadline
Read the article
The Brutalist' & Bad Bunny's Nuevayol' Music Video Among 2025 FilmLight Colour Award Winners - Cam...
24/11/2025
Robyn made her long-awaited return to the stage this week, as Spotify and Acne Studios brought friends and top fans together for an unforgettable evening at the...
24/11/2025
After more than two years of redevelopment, FC Barcelona returned to its spiritual home on November 22, hosting Athletic Club in the first La Liga match at the ...
24/11/2025
24 Nov 2025
Kyivstar Launches Starlink Direct to Cell Satellite Connectivity in Ukraine Today's Launch Makes Ukraine the First Country in Europe Where Star...
24/11/2025
Ahead of the new ninth series of Dancing with the Stars, kicking off in January 2026, RT and Shinawil have announced the arrival of three new faces to the hit ...
21/11/2025
Fans have been counting down the days until the final theatrical chapter of Wicked is revealed. To celebrate the highly anticipated release of Wicked: For Good ...
21/11/2025
Last week, Spotify turned up the volume in Seoul with the return of Spotify Hous...
21/11/2025
Wiesbaden, November 21, 2025. The SGL Carbon site in Meitingen has reason to celebrate as one of its trainees received a special award. Elias Stemmer was honore...
21/11/2025
Sky Media's £2m award-winning sustainability initiative crowns its first charity as this year's standout changemakerFriday 21 November 2025
GoodGym nam...
21/11/2025
As COP30 draws to a close, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), ...
20/11/2025
Your playlists are personal. They're the soundtracks to your road trips, your quiet mornings, and your biggest celebrations; collections of memories and dis...
20/11/2025
Spotify, uzun s redir zerine al t T rk m zik k lt r n n ikon haline gelmi ...
20/11/2025
For the first time, Spotify has teamed up with The Hollywood Reporter to cohost ...
20/11/2025
This year's ARIA Awards marked a turning point for Australian music, and Spotify was right at the heart of it. For the first time in the awards' nearly ...
20/11/2025
15 March 2012
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Cinegy and Vericom are pleased to announce the recent deployment of Cinegy Archive for production and as...
20/11/2025
6 September 2012
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
FIC Turkey supplies media content to Pay TV under Fox TV Channel brands in Turkey.
At the start of s...
20/11/2025
25 June 2014
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Last month VIVA finalized its Cinegy installation in order to produce and broadcast the World Cup Brazil ...
20/11/2025
1 October 2014
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
With 5 locations spread out around Baden-W rttemberg, Schw bisch Media required a scalable end to end s...
20/11/2025
27 April 2015
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Cinegy, which develops and produces media asset management products that are used in flagship production...
20/11/2025
12 August 2015
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany, 26 October 2015 - Cinegy, which develops and produces software technology for digital ...
20/11/2025
5 November 2015
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany 3 November 2015 - Cinegy, which develops and produces software technology for digital ...
20/11/2025
12 February 2016
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany 9 February 2016 - Cinegy, which develops and produces software technology for digital...
20/11/2025
22 June 2016
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany 21 June 2016 - Cinegy today announced that ABS BROADCAST, one of the largest independentl...
20/11/2025
10 January 2017
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Find us on page 12 of the Program Guide 2016
Tags
NewBay Media Awards , Program Guide 2016 , broadc...
20/11/2025
15 March 2017
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany 15 March 2017 - Cinegy today announced that Thailand's Next Step direct-to-home Free...
20/11/2025
12 December 2017
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany 13 December 2017 - Cinegy today announced that it is making its Cinegy Air Cloud Pack...
Philip Stevens looks at how European broadcasters have elected to cover Biden vs Trump.
