[Transmission]

I'm confused. Apparently this episode can't be aired in the UK until after the election, but is this because of a general impartiality rule? I know there are strict rules on polling day itself but I didn't think something like this was flat out not allowed in the run up to an election.

There are those particular rules for polling day (no opinion polls, no discussion of policies) but the Ofcom rules for the election period start as soon as parliament is dissolved. No candidates presenting programmes, reports on constituencies must include a list of all candidates and - most likely the one relevant in this case - all parties must be given due weight in coverage.

I think HIGNFY do still make sure to do a bit about Labour after a bit about the Tories, even if one isn't as biting as the other, and when mentioning Farage the other week they listed all the other candidates in Clacton (and then a gag listing all the other pubs). Whereas this wouldn't have been made with any of this in mind. I'm sure there's a bit of Sky being cautious as well.

[James2001]

As a completely random aside, this was the set used by the BBC for the election in 1987. I think it was in N2, as that was slightly larger than N1 once they'd knocked through into the store room which had a lower ceiling.

Interesting that they went to a small set in one of the regular news studios rather than the big sets in (I assume) TC1 that they'd used at previous elections. 87 looks like much of the same, though they're back in a big dramatic set in 1992.

[Keith]

Wish they’d come up with something different to be honest, I’m getting tired of these debates.

On a general note it's the first time I've been as aware of the local hustings. This is probably because a lot of them have been put online in full for the first time, be that YouTube for non-BBC ones and iPlayer for BBC local radio ones.

I've personally found the local hustings more interesting than the national leaders debates. In terms of presentation as expected it's basic, but at the same time suffices as the candidates can be seen and heard.

They're not playing to a TV/radio audience, and where there is an audience its mostly local people who will be voting for them. There seems to be generally less of "who can shout the loudest", which in my opinion spoils the televised national debates. In general they don't have the same level of media training as those appearing in national debates. This can be amusing when you get a candidate who tries to repeat one of their party/leader's lines, and when asked a mildly challenging question regarding it they're unable to answer it or deflect/spin the question as national leaders would. (I'll resist giving an example, as that would certainly be off-topic.)

In terms of the national debates I found the Question Time special to be the most interesting. Possibly because the candidates were having to respond directly to members of the public in the room, and the format prevented it being a shouting contest. I've not yet watched any of the Panorama interviews, but it sounds like they've been interesting. It's arguably shown that if you give the candidate/party a platform where they've not got rivals in the room to 'shout at' their views and policies can be properly scrutinised, and sometimes led to headlines which they probably weren't intending.

[JMT1985]

Interesting that they went to a small set in one of the regular news studios rather than the big sets in (I assume) TC1 that they'd used at previous elections. 87 looks like much of the same, though they're back in a big dramatic set in 1992.

The 1983 election, the BBC didn't use a large studio set for the night, compared to the 1979 election, the studio was less grander. Same for 1987, both down to budget problems at the BBC and so they decided not to waste a large amount of money on a massive election set.

Come 1992, they reverted back to the massive set in Studio TC1, and this was also down to the fact that TC1 had undergone extensive refurbishment and renovation, with the studio closed between 1988 and 1991, and a vast improvement was made to the studio, enabling the election to really make use of it for the 1992 election night.

The last time TC1 was used for a general election was in 2010 - with BBC Elstree Studio D used for 2015 and 2017. Since 2019 it looks like we will never again see the massive studio for election night, as Studio B at Broadcasting House will almost certainly be used again for election night - just not worth spending a fortune on a huge studio production for just two days content.

[Stooky Bill]

I'm confused. Apparently this episode can't be aired in the UK until after the election, but is this because of a general impartiality rule? I know there are strict rules on polling day itself but I didn't think something like this was flat out not allowed in the run up to an election.

It's not that complicated. The programme is made in the US for HBO which isn't under the rules on broadcasting during UK election periods. But Sky are bound by those rules so it can't be shown.

Programmes like HIGNFY and The News Quiz are written to be balanced according to the rules

I've not seen the full episode (unfortunately the YouTube uploads that normally appear briefly the day after have been missing this series) but he's directly tells the Conservatives to 'f*** off into the sun you c***s, ****pigs and wierdos'. They're not going to be balancing that out with episodes about other parties and neither do they have to, but Sky can't show that

[TIGHazard]

It's not that complicated. The programme is made in the US for HBO which isn't under the rules on broadcasting during UK election periods. But Sky are bound by those rules so it can't be shown.

Programmes like HIGNFY and The News Quiz are written to be balanced according to the rules

I've not seen the full episode (unfortunately the YouTube uploads that normally appear briefly the day after have been missing this series) but he's directly tells the Conservatives to 'f*** off into the sun you c***s, ****pigs and wierdos'. They're not going to be balancing that out with episodes about other parties and neither do they have to, but Sky can't show that

I watched the entire programme yesterday (it is on YouTube, just blocked in this country due to the Sky deal)

The entire segment starts with Sunak calling the election and the rain. He then covers the Lib Dems, Labour, Reform and the Conservatives in order. He makes a bunch of jokes about Davey's stunts, basically calls Starmer the most boring person alive and says no-one can name any of his policies but he's gonna win anyway. Then he goes into Reform & Farage's history, and does the same with the Conservatives.

I suspect the problem is due weight of the attacks (They are certainly more stacked in a certain direction than the other) and the fact he states that's basically impossible for Starmer to lose at this point.

[Larry the Loafer]

It's not that complicated. The programme is made in the US for HBO which isn't under the rules on broadcasting during UK election periods. But Sky are bound by those rules so it can't be shown.

Programmes like HIGNFY and The News Quiz are written to be balanced according to the rules

I understood why it was okay for HBO to show and not Sky, but I was trying to remember what the actual rule was that kept Sky from showing it. It slipped my mind there usually has to be a balanced discussion of all parties involved, and assuming John Oliver doesn't have a similarly passionate rant about Labour, I then realised why Ofcom might have an issue with it.

[Stooky Bill]

I watched the entire programme yesterday (it is on YouTube, just blocked in this country due to the Sky deal)

The entire segment starts with Sunak calling the election and the rain. He then covers the Lib Dems, Labour, Reform and the Conservatives in order. He makes a bunch of jokes about Davey's stunts, basically calls Starmer the most boring person alive and says no-one can name any of his policies but he's gonna win anyway. Then he goes into Reform & Farage's history, and does the same with the Conservatives.

I suspect the problem is due weight of the attacks (They are certainly more stacked in a certain direction than the other) and the fact he states that's basically impossible for Starmer to lose at this point.

Sounds like a good summary of the campaign, but yes as you say even though they've covered all the big parties, it's not been done according to the rules here. Saying Starmer is boring but calling the Conservatives '****pigs' isn't balanced and is very difficult to make it so. Not that Sky could or would be able to edit it to make it compliant, especially when it can be shown in a fortnights time with no problems

[TheGregmeister]

I'd have thought since John Oliver doesn't live in the UK anymore, is officially a U.S. Citizen and his show is made primarily for a US audience, that sweary rant at the Tories was rather pointless. He'd be better off directing all that potty mouthed vitriol at the big orange numpty who's very likely to be elected President again in later this year!

Anyway, that's beside the point of this thread (and possibly not entirely appropriate) so I'll leave it at that.

[Spencer]

I'd have thought since John Oliver doesn't live in the UK anymore, is officially a U.S. Citizen and his show is made primarily for a US audience, that sweary rant at the Tories was rather pointless. He'd be better off directing all that potty mouthed vitriol at the big orange numpty who's very likely to be elected President again in later this year!

Anyway, that's beside the point of this thread (and possibly not entirely appropriate) so I'll leave it at that.

I wonder too how much the primary audience of the programme in America cares about the UK election. It’d be a bit like Adam Hills launching a big rant about Australian politics on The Last Leg. We’d probably all just shrug here.