ITV unveils General Election 2010 coverage
ITV will offer comprehensive coverage of the General Election 2010 with an experienced line up of presenters and correspondents, The First Election Debate in the history of British politics and the fastest results service on election night.
ITV News and regions coverage, GMTV, The First Election Debate and special current affairs programming in the run up to General Election 2010 will focus on getting to the heart of campaign issues, while the ITV News Election Night Special programme will deliver fast, accurate results accompanied by innovative graphics and expert analysis.
Alastair Stewart, who will chair the debate between Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg, will front ITV’s Election Night Special with Julie Etchingham.
In the days immediately leading up to the First Election Debate itself, Mark Austin will present a series of special Tonight reports profiling each of the three main party leaders vying for Number 10. In addition, Tonight’s weekly reports will be devoted to the issues that will define the 2010 vote.
Jonathan Dimbleby will steer a series of weekly discussion programmes providing analysis of the campaign as it progresses.
Michael Jermey, ITV Director of News, Current Affairs and Sport:
“We’ll have engaging election programmes throughout the campaign. ITV1 will be the home of the first election debate between Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg. Voters will get the chance to put their questions directly to the party leaders and see them debate those questions directly face to face. It promises to be a dramatic programme on peak time television.
“We’ll cover the questions that matter to viewers throughout the campaign and then on election night we’ll have Britain’s fastest results service throughout the night.”
The Election Campaign
Over the coming weeks, ITV Network News and the ITV regions will be closely following how the election campaign progresses to provide in-depth analysis and dissect politicians’ promises.
ITV News’ top presenters and correspondents will unpick and explain the key battlegrounds in the run up to polling day. Political Editor Tom Bradby will lead the coverage, putting politicians on the spot by demanding answers to the questions that really matter.
ITV News will dedicate teams to follow each of the major party leaders to focus on their campaigns. Political Correspondent Lucy Manning will follow Gordon Brown on the campaign trail, International Editor Bill Neely will be with David Cameron, and UK Editor Angus Walker will follow Nick Clegg’s team. Correspondent teams will be covering issues specific to nations and regions throughout the campaign.
ITV News will keep viewers up-to-date with the latest swings in the mood of the electorate by working with ComRes to produce regular tracker polls, showing changes to voting intentions at regular intervals and after key events in the campaign.
In the ITV regions, Battleground 2010 reports will see the regional political teams reporting from the key constituencies throughout the campaign and examining the big stories likely to affect the results across the country.
David Mannion, ITV News Editor in Chief:
"ITV News is completely independent and politically neutral. We have assembled the most experienced team of reporters and producers in Britain and we will not flinch from our duty to provide viewers with fair but robust coverage of this historic election through the campaign and onto our results programme on election night."
The First Election Debate
ITV1 will host the First Election Debate between the leaders of the three biggest political parties - Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg - live from the North West of England. Alastair Stewart will chair the historic event – the first time ever that such a televised debate between the main party leaders has been held within the UK.
The First Election Debate will be broadcast live in mid-evening and will include a themed section on domestic affairs, with the rest of the debate open to questions on any election issue. Members of the audience will be able to put questions to the leaders directly, who will also face questions that have been submitted from ITV’s viewers.
The First Election debate will be broadcast on ITV1 from 8.30pm to 10.00pm on Thursday 15th April.
Alastair Stewart, debate moderator:
“The election debates are an unknown quantity and could well influence many viewers’ voting intentions. Having a representative sample of the UK public holding all of the leaders to account on live television by posing questions of their own choice on key policy areas and manifesto pledges is an historic step forward for democracy.”
Election Analysis
A series of special Tonight reports and Jonathan Dimbleby discussion programmes will aim to give viewers a deeper insight and broader perspective on the campaign and its key figures in the weeks leading up to polling day.
Beginning with a post-election debate discussion, ITV’s weekly studio programmes, Campaign 2010 with Jonathan Dimbleby, will involve high profile political guests, commentators, pollsters, and a live audience who will have their say on the major events and issues from the week. This will be the programme people watch for a weekly roundup and a big picture look at what’s been going on and what’s coming up during Campaign 2010.
Jonathan Dimbleby:
“This is going to be a very closely fought election. I am looking forward to getting to the heart of the issues and events of the campaign with those fighting it and, more importantly, the public themselves.”
For Tonight, Mark Austin will present a separate profile of each of the three main Party leaders and the key factors that have shaped their ambitions to lead the country.
And, Tonight’s weekly reports will include an election guide from Tom Bradby, Morland Sanders investigating national debt, and Jonathan Maitland looking at why so many of the electorate choose not to vote.
Ian Squires, ITV Controller of Regions and Current Affairs:
“This is one of the strongest programme line-ups ITV1 has ever had for a general election. Through our Tonight and Campaign 2010 with Jonathan Dimbleby series, we’ll give viewers a real insight into the men who would be Prime Minister and look hard at the battleground issues of this election.”
ITV News Election Night Special
Thursday 6th May, 10pm - 6am on ITV1
An expert team will be on hand on ITV1 throughout the night to produce fast and accurate results alongside insightful analysis to guide viewers through every Election Night development.
While Alastair Stewart anchors the programme from 10pm until 6am, Julie Etchingham will join him in a bespoke virtual studio to drive the technology that will provide viewers with the truest picture of the election unfolding.
ITV News will push the boundaries of Election Night graphics to tell the story of the night. An all-new version of the swingometer, a 3D House of Commons, and a unique DNA fingerprint of Britain will all help to make rapidly changing information easy to understand.
Tom Bradby will join Alastair and Julie in the studio alongside exclusive guests including party heavyweights Ann Widdecombe, John Reid and Paddy Ashdown, as well as Professor Colin Rallings – the UK’s most respected election analyst – to add insight and commentary.
The team in the studio will link throughout the night to Mary Nightingale who will be hosting the ITV Election Night Party overlooking Parliament. Mary will be getting reaction from a-list party guests from the spheres of politics, business, arts and media, as well as members of the public that have come to prominence throughout the campaign.
Across the country, ITV News will work with the regions and STV to have reporters and live cameras at 30 count centres to cover around 100 declarations. Target teams will also be with the leaders in their local constituencies for the duration of the night.
Ian Rumsey, Head of Output at ITV News:
“We’ve got the right team in place and the graphics know-how to deliver the most comprehensive and informative commentary on Election Night. Following ITV’s coverage on the night will mean you get the fastest, most accurate results in an engaging format that makes sense of all of the night’s twists and turns.”
GMTV
GMTV’s coverage will be clear, comprehensive, relevant and engaging. The programme will aim to carry both the first and the last interviews given by the party leaders at the beginning and end of the campaign trail, with John Stapleton individually grilling the three main party leaders in the days after the election is called. Meanwhile, on the road firsthand features from the various battle buses will come from Westminster Correspondent Sue Jameson with the Conservatives, Richard Gaisford with the Liberal Democrats and Cordelia Kretzschmar with Labour.
A ‘GMTV Floating Voting Panel’ will track the mood of undecided voters, with their changing opinions reflected on air and online through a graphic chart. On-location analysis of the televised debates with the party leaders will include body language experts and phonetic specialists who will give viewers an extra insight into the real story the politicians are telling that day.
The highly popular gm.tv website will feature state of the art software allowing users to instantly produce a “poll of that day’s polls” as well as a range of other innovative and interactive devices.
For the election itself, an impressive combination of both leading GMTV and ITV News correspondents will be at all of the key counts across the nations and regions. ITV’s regional viewers on that day will have access to significantly longer local bulletins giving a chance for the 16-strong network of ITV Regional satellite trucks to be serving not just ITV and GMTV News but also their own newsrooms closer to home.
Experienced journalists John Stapleton and Lorraine Kelly will be on the sofa on Day Two of the election to tell the breaking story of the result. In the heart of Westminster Ben Shepherd will be cross examining GMTV’s panel of floating voters, Kate Garraway will be waiting for the arrival of Britain’s next Prime Minister at the gates of Buckingham Palace, Mary Nightingale will give the lowdown on reaction from the ITV Election Night Party, Emma Crosby will be live from the City of London, and Andrew Castle will canvass the views of commuters as they awake to a new Government. James Mates and Julie Etchingham from ITV News will also be on hand to give the reaction from Downing Street and show the latest results and their context on hi-tech virtual studio graphics.
itv.com/news
Throughout the campaign, ITV News will upload the latest video and analysis to a dedicated page at www.itv.com/news. Tom Bradby and Alastair Stewart will write regular blogs and the teams following the three main party leaders will be blogging and providing extra video for the site.
ITV News’ web team will be monitoring and reporting on the impact of social media during the campaign and will develop a special tool that helps undecided voters work out which of the main parties best fits their agenda.
While the ITV News Election Night Special will be streamed live at www.itv.com, some of Britain’s best-known political bloggers will be in the ITV Newsroom to give their unique take on events. ITV News’ own social media team will also be Tweeting through the night.
Following the success of the recent ITV News' Ballot Box Budget activity on ITV.com, an election special section of the site will also feature real comment and reaction on the night through to the early hours. As well as analysis from ITV News reporters around the UK, members of the public will be able to give their views on the election night developments, take part in polls and respond to the opinions of special guests. Reactions from ITV News correspondents will also be fed into the live coverage to add to the real time coverage.
For more information on ITV News and picture requests contact dan.faulks@itn.co.uk
For more information on Tonight or Campaign 2010 with Jonathan Dimbleby contact grant.cunningham@itv.com
For more information on The First Election Debate please contact james.macleod@itv.com
ENDS.
