[XIII]

If it goes as expected the main events to cover should be done in time for the first Euro 2024 Quarter Final kicking off at 5pm. It might affect their pick decisions as having both matches the same day, which happens quite often, isn't ideal for squeezing in news coverage, but then a short bulletin between them or the late news off the back of the evening match could reach a pretty big audience.

I would imagine BBC1 and ITV1 will schedule election coverage through to 4pm then adjust the schedules accordingly.

I suspect sport takes priority over news, I suspect BBC One will probably go back to Wimbledon from 1.30pm onwards.

[GMc]

Maybe, just maybe, could this be the year that they use something other than a slight variation of their usual virtual studio?

They always have really good coverage, but have had a set that looks very similar to their regular news output for the last 3 elections - even though their VR set-up has so much scope for creativity.

I think it would be good to see them use the Good Morning Britain studio for overnight coverage. That would give them loads of space and a good amount of presentation areas. It's not going to happen though, is it?

[Independent]

Will world news take the election night coverage?

BBC World News simulcasted previous election specials. They used to have separate news updates for UK and World audiences.

[Stooky Bill]

Yes, by 5pm the election coverage will all be over, whoever is PM will be in Number 10 picking their cabinet. The evening news programmes will be a summary of the day rather than breaking news coverage, a lot of people would have seen it all already/be bored of it by 10pm

[South]

Yes, by 5pm the election coverage will all be over, whoever is PM will be in Number 10 picking their cabinet. The evening news programmes will be a summary of the day rather than breaking news coverage, a lot of people would have seen it all already/be bored of it by 10pm

It's not always a done deal by 5pm the next day, if parliament is hung, which is possible the result may not be known for several days after. In 2010 it was not fully confirmed until the following Monday that the conservatives had struck a deal with the Lib Dems.

That aside I am very aware rolling coverage will likely be drawing to its conclusion, however typically after an election the main evening bulletins attract a significant audience for a sum up of the previous 24 hours and who is in cabinet etc.

[AaronTV]

I think it would be good to see them use the Good Morning Britain studio for overnight coverage. That would give them loads of space and a good amount of presentation areas. It's not going to happen though, is it?

This has often been mentioned in the past but I’m not really sure it’s the case - the GMB studio isn’t really any more flexible than the extended virtual set they’ve used for previous elections.

The studio desk isn’t set up with monitors so you would need some kind of new desk, whilst the sofa area is too light really for an election program, so you would need an alternative soft area.

Some pretty significant adaptations to make it work would be needed overall, with the added logistical challenges of having your newsroom in a completely different place to your studio, whilst producing an incredibly complex and fast-paced program.

Given that TC3 is used until 1pm or so each day, it would also make rehearsals a headache, so I just don’t personally see it as a practical option that improves on what they already do.

[DTV]

BBC World News simulcasted previous election specials. They used to have separate news updates for UK and World audiences.

Yes, I believe they have taken every BBC general election night special since 1992, except for 2001 when Nik Gowing presented a separate programme for BBC World (presumably because the relative dullness of that election meant they didn't want to commit to too much blocking up their schedule).

More interesting is will they do anything for the Euros? Again something where they used to take the BBC UK coverage (at least since 2009, I think they had their own in 2004 and maybe earlier), even though that didn't really give the non-UK contests the level of coverage they deserved. But it's probably the most high-profile Euro-election, now von der Leyen is somewhat a household name (at least compared to her predecessors). Obviously it wouldn't be anything big, but it's presumably worthy of something on a par with the German election.

[Stooky Bill]

It's not always a done deal by 5pm the next day, if parliament is hung, which is possible the result may not be known for several days after. In 2010 it was not fully confirmed until the following Monday that the conservatives had struck a deal with the Lib Dems.

That aside I am very aware rolling coverage will likely be drawing to its conclusion, however typically after an election the main evening bulletins attract a significant audience for a sum up of the previous 24 hours and who is in cabinet etc.

A hung parliament is of course rare and even if that happens the chances are that Friday evening will still be fairly low key news wise... politics has to rest at some point!

Yes as I say the Friday night bulletins are wraps of the days events, but that makes their scheduling even less important. That is as long as they stick to the schedules and overrunning football or tennis doesn't move them

[UTVLifer]

ITV will probably do the same thing again with the virtual studio, which is alright as it works fine and they only have to make minimal physical changes to the studio so it’s convenient

I wonder if they’ll bother with an Election Newsroom in the ITN atrium again like they did in 2019

[Bluecortina]

This has often been mentioned in the past but I’m not really sure it’s the case - the GMB studio isn’t really any more flexible than the extended virtual set they’ve used for previous elections.

The studio desk isn’t set up with monitors so you would need some kind of new desk, whilst the sofa area is too light really for an election program, so you would need an alternative soft area.

Some pretty significant adaptations to make it work would be needed overall, with the added logistical challenges of having your newsroom in a completely different place to your studio, whilst producing an incredibly complex and fast-paced program.

Given that TC3 is used until 1pm or so each day, it would also make rehearsals a headache, so I just don’t personally see it as a practical option that improves on what they already do.

I wouldn't think TV Centre had anything like the technical capacity to cover a national election these days. What's in front of the cameras is one thing, the technical sophistication, facilities and staff required behind the scenes is a whole different kettle of fish. ITN are ideally set up for this kind of coverage and of course that's where ITV's coverage will be coming from.