UK General Election 2015 Coverage

[rkolsen 1684]

On 7 May the UK will hold their general elections where they will determine who will lead the country for the next five years. In the UK people do not necessarily vote for a prime minster rather they vote for a party where the parties leader will be the prime minister. Because there are many different parties it is usually difficult for a single party to get a majority of members so the different parties form a coalition to form a government. For example after the 2010 election the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats formed Her Majesty's Government, the Labour Party formed Her Majesty's Opposition while fringe parties like the UKIP (think of them as the UK's tea party) and others make up the rest.

 

Since this a TV Forum, I think it would be wise to talk about coverage.

 

BBC World's Coverage will be start at 4:55 PM or 21:55 BST. According to previous guidance the BBC cannot cover the election until 22:00 BST. According to past guidance the BBC cannot cover the election campaign until polls close at 22:00 PM. They can only broadcast factual information and it is a criminal offense to broadcast anything about the way people have been voting. I am not sure whether if BBC World will simulcast the BBC News/BBC One programming or if they will do their own. If I recall correctly during the Scottish Independence Referendum World took News Channel but had regular cut ins. In the past they have streamed domestic coverage on their website.

 

As for the BBC's studio it's the same as it has been in the past but with some tweaks.

 

https://twitter.com/edsbrown/status/593887419637886977

 

Here's part of their virtual set:

 

https://twitter.com/chrisckmedia/status/593150067592318976

[rkolsen 1684]

It appears they will be project information on their headquarters in New Broadcasting house in central London even though their coverage is based out of Elstree:

 

https://twitter.com/karlrileytv/status/591897204723425281

 

Although it's not an ice rink they do have a giant map in their courtyard:

 

https://twitter.com/akwasisarpong/status/595597026068398080

 

Sky News will provide coverage starting at 21:00 BST or 4:00 PM ET. You can watch the results on their website and on Apple TV and Roku. They seem to be going the most high tech with 250 IP streams coming into their studios showing the key election count centers. Even though we aren't in the UK I find it's worth noting on Sky Arts 1 they will be airing a lives behind the scenes feed showing viewers what's goes into the production of election night. I heard they installed 25 cameras through out the building to show viewers everything aspect of election night coverage.

 

Here's a promotion of their coverage:

 

[yt]6sxTv4sSLEc[/yt]

 

ITV News will go on the air at 21:55 BST or 4:55 ET. They plan on going through out the night then they will toss the reins over to Good Morning Britain which will continue to cover the election and at 9:25 BST ITV News will be back covering the election. From a few articles and the images included it looks like they will continue to use their green screen set with a few tweaks.

 

[yt]lnsk_O1-2FM[/yt]

 

Jointly the BBC, ITV, and Sky News commissioned exit polls which will be rolled out at 22:00 BST right as their coverage begins.

[rkolsen 1684]

Here's a picture of the Beebs ticker:

 

https://twitter.com/chrisckmedia/status/594598447573000193

 

Also the BBC is using a drone somewhere.

 

Here are a few more pics from our friends at DigitalSpy.co.uk. Most appear to be have taken from Twitter but unfortunately they didn't include the links.

 

 

 

 

[Big Country News 435]

FOX News Channel simulcasted Sky News in the hour before FOX & Friends First.

[Weeters 1916]

Speaking of Sky, they will be using 150 LiveU Bonded Cellular systems (and really cheap consumer cameras) to cover the election, using VizRT to display them all on a giant screen in the studio like they did with the Scotland referendum a few months ago.

 

[rkolsen 1684]

Speaking of Sky, they will be using 150 LiveU Bonded Cellular systems (and really cheap consumer cameras) to cover the election, using VizRT to display them all on a giant screen in the studio like they did with the Scotland referendum a few months ago.

 

I forgot to mention their partnership with LiveU. I am trying to figure out where I got the 250 IP streams from though. I've read before hand they were transitioning to IP by using consumer fiber internet drops at multiple locations where they frequently broadcast from. Their equipment is installed in what appear to be regular telecom cabinets (at least I think this is a normal cabinet):

 

https://twitter.com/skynewstech/status/586158741655007232

 

Edit: I think I now know where I got 250 from. This article says they will have live declarations from 270 declarations. But in addition to those 150 live units they will use about 40 satellite links.

 

They also have pails of SIM cards:

 

https://twitter.com/skynewstech/status/382947007729381376

[bixpchiphead 105]

And as in 2010, the BBC's Election Night broadcast (and into Friday) will be streamed live and available to folks outside of the UK (even w/o a VPN).

 

It will be the last BBC Election Night anchored by the legendary presenter DIMBLEBOT, David Dimbleby.

[rkolsen 1684]

Fox News is carrying Sky News as a "Special Sky News Broadcast Covering Today's U.K. General Elections" during the 4AM hour. But I am wondering if the producers at Fox News know that media in the UK cannot air any election coverage that may sway the vote until polls close. So all Sky showed was today is Election Day, how they plan to cover the election and images of the big six party leaders voting. So basically Fox News is simulcasting a regular news bulletin.

 

That being said the BBC just said today is polling day they use paper ballots in 650 constituencies and the constituencies race to be the first ones in.

[d247 43]

C-Span will be simulcasting ITV's Election Night broadcast today from 4:55p Eastern.

[rkolsen 1684]

I wish CSPAN didn't shrink their HD feed. From the looks of it ITV's coverage is 4:3'safe.

[Weeters 1916]

I wish the US networks would look at the UK network's election graphics and take some notes. They're so streamlined and clean.

[rkolsen 1684]

I wish the US networks would look at the UK network's election graphics and take some notes. They're so streamlined and clean.

 

They were quite excellent. I did think BBC' presentation was over the top such as the augmented reality candidates next to the news desk and the stacked house of cards. I did find their use showing the 3D parliament pretty nifty. I also liked how they used New Broadcasting House as a screen to display results kind of like how NBC uses 30 Rock. They even had a map in their piazza akin to the ice rink. A director mentioned one of their Viz engines was reserved for a drone but I'm not sure where they used it.

 

ITV news went low key, polished look where it seemed like they were more focused on giving facts rather than all data available. I mentioned this in the shout box that I liked their virtual set where they know their audience knows it's fake so they don't try too hard to make it look real rather they make it look clean.

 

I watched Sky the least but liked their presentation.

 

https://twitter.com/rkolsen/status/596419995938234368

 

I learned a lot about UK politics (had a rudimentary knowledge beforehand) and am itching to learn more.

 

Move over triangles and parallelograms hexagons seem to be the new it shape this year (in the UK atleast).

 

https://twitter.com/newsdesigners/status/596582859768471552

 

Overall if I had to give the US equivalent of the three networks I would say the BBC's presentation is like NBC's; ITV's to CBS and Sky's to CNN.

[GoldenShine9 1513]

BBC''s presentation blew anything the US networks do away.

[Samantha 2895]

I watched the BBC for about six hours on the day and Sky News for 20 minutes when the feed went down.

 

The presentation was excellent and I really loved the use of color. It was very easy to figure out what was going on (at least for me; I'm a political junkie so I was generally not lost, though I did have to look up some of the names of the power player MPs).

 

I didn't like Sky as much, but one touch I did like is that they colored the part of the L3s that gave interviewees' names based on their political affiliation. The graphics actually used space very well (a little better than the BBC which kept most of their text elements 4:3 safe). The designers that gave Sky their look need to be brought across the pond to redesign Fox News Channel which graphically has been in sore need of a rethink for a very long time.

 

I did not get the chance to see ITV.

[Action Newsroom 1281]

 

I didn't like Sky as much, but one touch I did like is that they colored the part of the L3s that gave interviewees' names based on their political affiliation. The graphics actually used space very well (a little better than the BBC which kept most of their text elements 4:3 safe). The designers that gave Sky their look need to be brought across the pond to redesign Fox News Channel which graphically has been in sore need of a rethink for a very long time.

 

I definitely agree.

On Sky's graphics, they're smaller, but this works to it's advantage as they can fit more into the L3 (just the way they do it just blows my mind). Also, it's more simple, but very effective in doing what it does. Plus, even though there are only three, four colors used, they know how to make them work and the gradient work is nice.

Fox News definitely does need to hire whomever designed this, because no one likes or cares for what they have now.

[EthanR 3]

I watched ITV & Sky most of the night and through-out this morning too. Thought there coverage above average, while Sky's blew the fish out of the water. Outstanding. ITV focused more on in depth interview with politicians; while Sky, as they usually do, let the pictures do the talking. ITV also declared results before Sky and the BBC. ITV News presenter Alastair Stewart pointed out this morning that it was because they had trusted insiders at the counts.

 

On a presentation level, Sky came out on top, with ITV in second, followed by the BBC's which seemed to be a cluttered mess. Would have been better not having any on screen. But then the graphics matched the coverage which was also below par. From the bits I saw Dimbleby was constantly interrupting guests and talking over anyone he posible could. Plus the fact they seemed to spend more airtime with Sophie Raworth on the map than anything else let the coverage down. Not to mention them not showing some MAJOR count declarations.

 

The best coverage of all though has to go to Sky Art's Newsroom Live, a behind the scenes look to the Sky News Decision Time operation.

[skbl17 188]

Regardless of the result, I have to tip my hat to Sky News and ITV News; they had the best coverage, from declarations (ITV) to presentation (Sky - but Kay Burley was too much). Of course, much like five years ago, Sky News

. As for the BBC...to be honest, the only part of it I actually liked was Jeremy Vine's virtual world. Everything else was bollocks; there were frequent technical problems, too much dull conversation, behind on declarations, and I didn't see anyone eat their hats!

 

Didn't get the chance to see Channel 4 (Paxman's "Alternative Election Night") or Sky Arts 1.

 

So for me, I would rank the coverage I saw (from best to worst) like this: Sky (without Kay Burley) > ITV > Sky (whenever Kay Burley was on) > BBC.

[rkolsen 1684]

If Sky streamed the Sky Arts 1 broadcast I think I would have watched that the most but they didn't.

 

The one gripe I noticed with all three broadcasts was that they seemed to leave their exit polling data up on screen much longer than it should of been. There were several times when I looked up and wondered how the hell the Tories got so many seats in a short about of time.

 

The more I look back at the BBC's coverage I think they were the most gimmicky and would have preferred if it was anchored by their flagship anchor Huw Edwards. When he took over the coverage seemed to improve.

[johnnya2k6 171]

Being able to watch them on YouTube, I thought Sky had the best coverage as well. And, when it came to declarations from the "battleground" seats, they had an advantage over BBC and ITV: listing all the candidates on stage including the lesser-known parties! There were even a couple of them from the Monster Raving Loony Party and another from the Elmo party dressed as -- you guessed it -- ELMO!!!

 

Some un-televised results were live on Periscope, and given the five- to eight-hour time difference between Britain and the U.S., I caught those too. By the way...Sky's Kay Burley (reporting from David Cameron's seat in Witney) really put that app to good use, taking us behind the scenes during the vote count, which is still being done the old-fashioned way while we in the States do touchscreens or optical scans (i.e., filling out ovals): by hand!!!

 

I was surprised C-SPAN went to ITV (after all, the head of NBC News came from ITN), as for many British elections they've carried BBC's coverage. Speaking of which...I caught portions of it, and was not impressed this time; no wonder why it was David Dimbleby's last election, anchoring every one since 1979.

 

Maybe what we've seen is just a little preview of what's to come when Canada goes to the polls themselves on October 15. And given the CBC's problems, C-SPAN may simulcast CTV's coverage this time.

[rkolsen 1684]

Here's an interesting factoid:

 

https://twitter.com/skynewstech/status/596685146205593601

 

Wow I didn't mean to start a general thread.

[NEOMatrix 1299]

I think that the networks here in the US should take note of how election coverage is done, especially Fox News since they're owned by the same people that own Sky.

[nickp 337]

Sad to see David Dimbleby host last election

[djlynch 56]

I was not very impressed with the BBC's studio design. They obviously tried to recreate their previous set from Television Centre inside a much smaller studio at Elstree and it looked very cramped. Sophie Raworth's touch screen seemed really badly designed, too. I'm already not a fan of touch screens when all they're used for is calling up static graphics, but the layout also made her walk in front of the data right after she called up a new graphic, which was really awkward. At that point, you might as well let the booth control things.

[skbl17 188]

 

I think that the networks here in the US should take note of how election coverage is done, especially Fox News since they're owned by the same people that own Sky.

 

I really think FNC needs to learn a lot from Sky, not just election coverage. How to create good, consistent graphics for one.

[Journalist 894]

 

I was not very impressed with the BBC's studio design. They obviously tried to recreate their previous set from Television Centre inside a much smaller studio at Elstree and it looked very cramped.

 

It was very awkward to first see it but after watching a few hours of it, it isn't that bad of a change. Fine in by books.