[Globaltraffic24]

This isn’t really pres related so I’ll avoid us going too far down a rabbit hole, but we’re definitely in a 50/50 situation for a Spring election. I’ve been told the Govt is basically waiting to see what reaction there will be to the March budget. There will be a lot of uncosted giveaways and tax cuts. If it lands like a sack of bricks, expect an Autumn election. If the public laps it up there will be a snap announcement. So basically we’ll know about two months from now.

The broadcasters have to plan for the Spring possibility. Sky is doing it with a big Westminster investment, the BBC is - well let’s just forget about them right now. Ahem. And ITV is slowly rolling out its additional studio newsroom set (it’s increasingly being used in reporter explainers etc in a way viewers wouldn’t necessarily notice)

[WillPS]

Presumably if no election has been called by then, the May local elections will be effectively the rehearsal?

[Milkshake]

Here is Swing Time: Election night TV from BBC2 1997 which includes the Election rehearsals, it also includes are rather interesting bit from the 1992 election where Exit poll was in utter freefall until the VERY last second: 53Min 25second, whole programme is a joy,


www.youtube.com 

[Stuart]

Given the (As of 15th Jan) recent opinion poll, let's look back to the last time that the governing party was wiped out, when the 1997 election was called.

The last time the governing party was wiped out was in 2010. Labour lost almost 100 seats. They also tried running it down to the wire and I think that often backfires for any party.

[Matrix]

Here is Swing Time: Election night TV from BBC2 1997 which includes the Election rehearsals, it also includes are rather interesting bit from the 1992 election where Exit poll was in utter freefall until the VERY last second: 53Min 25second, whole programme is a joy,


www.youtube.com 

How lovely.

I mean, in one sense, the forthcoming election will be of no surprise. Equally, it should not be a surprise to anyone that election rehearsals have been taking place for some time now. We will typically rehearse a range of different 'news events', of which elections feature. It will also probably be of no surprise, and not one to rehash too much, but internally the BBC have needed to screen test a number of colleagues with the departure of Huw. So: seeing Laura, or Fiona, or Sophie, all walking around with different scenarios in different settings has become a bit of a feature of the last few months.

Practically speaking though, rehearsals are a good opportunity not just to think through the technical bits but to think through question strategies, how to manage different results (say if there is a crop of sudden big losses all at once), or even down to what to do if there is a series of technical faults. There is also a lot of coordination work in this stage with Nations and Regions in terms of thinking through and planning local election coverage (or, at the minute, how to rationalise that).

[Stuart]

Practically speaking though, rehearsals are a good opportunity not just to think through the technical bits but to think through question strategies, how to manage different results (say if there is a crop of sudden big losses all at once), or even down to what to do if there is a series of technical faults. There is also a lot of coordination work in this stage with Nations and Regions in terms of thinking through and planning local election coverage (or, at the minute, how to rationalise that).

The days of seeing all the backroom staff spread around a huge studio set are long gone. But of course they all still exist, they're just out of sight. They also need rehearsals and perhaps technical upskilling for the latest tech.

I'm sure on the night, 'if it can go wrong, then it will'. The secret of good preparation is that the viewers don't notice.

[XIII]

A September election would mean Parliament would have to be recalled in mid to late August which seems unlikely.

[Milkshake]

How lovely.

I mean, in one sense, the forthcoming election will be of no surprise. Equally, it should not be a surprise to anyone that election rehearsals have been taking place for some time now. We will typically rehearse a range of different 'news events', of which elections feature. It will also probably be of no surprise, and not one to rehash too much, but internally the BBC have needed to screen test a number of colleagues with the departure of Huw. So: seeing Laura, or Fiona, or Sophie, all walking around with different scenarios in different settings has become a bit of a feature of the last few months.

Practically speaking though, rehearsals are a good opportunity not just to think through the technical bits but to think through question strategies, how to manage different results (say if there is a crop of sudden big losses all at once), or even down to what to do if there is a series of technical faults. There is also a lot of coordination work in this stage with Nations and Regions in terms of thinking through and planning local election coverage (or, at the minute, how to rationalise that).

I take it the BBC wont be changing its pres from 2019? I do like the updated Arthur theme, which seem divided people right down the middle

www.youtube.com 

[thegeek]

From a practical point, I've heard that the BBC's election hub (where they switch the feeds from count centres round the country to the gallery) is in the part of Elstree that's being sold off for housing - so there are some departments who would very much favour an earlier election.

[Steve in Pudsey]

Is a dedicated facility like that still required these days? It feels like quite an analogue way of doing things from when circuits were few and they were piggy backed (eg Cardiff to Bristol to London) rather than how it would be done with everything being IP based.