Comprehensive Multi-Platform Coverage

Election Night Programme TX: 2230 – 0600

From Monday 5^th November Sky News will be presenting round the clock from across the United States, broadcasting the most ambitious and comprehensive multi-platform US election coverage in the organisation’s history. With presenters in Las Vegas, Chicago, Ohio, Boston, and Washington, plus correspondents across key swing states, coverage will kick off with Kay Burley in Las Vegas for Sunrise (6am-9am), and go right through until 11pm on Wednesday 7^th November. Already in New York anchoring the coverage of the impact of Superstorm Sandy, Andrew Wilson will head off to present Sky News’ day time output from key swing state, Ohio.*

As the nation decides America’s future, Sky’s Jeremy Thompson will anchor the election night coverage from the place where the current President’s political journey began – Chicago – presenting from Trump Tower in the heart of the Windy City. Dominic Waghorn, US Correspondent, will be there reporting live with the Obama team with Jon Christopher Bua, US Political Analyst, on hand to provide analysis. Jeff Randall will also be there to present Jeff Randall Live on the days before and after election day.

Sky News will also hear from the centre of the opposing campaign with Greg Milam reporting live from Boston with the Romney camp. Seven specially produced feature pieces along themes such as ‘Is Mitt Too Rich To Be President?’ and ‘Where Did It Go Wrong For Obama?’ will be aired in the run up to the big day.  

As well as presenting Boulton and Co, Sky’s Political Editor, Adam Boulton, will provide analysis and commentary from the capital. Sky News will also have members of its team in the key swing states where the race for President will be decided by millions of Americans. Our teams will report from Florida (Amanda Walker), Iowa (Michelle Clifford), Ohio (Tim Marshall), Virginia (Ian Woods) and Colorado (Sophy Ridge) as the polls start to close across the country.

Ahead of the main event, Dermot Murnaghan will be presenting MURNAGHAN live from Boston on Sunday 4^th November with ‘What difference would it make to the world if it was President Romney’ being the main topic up for discussion. Dermot will continue on in Boston for the election night coverage.

As Sky News customers will expect, the channel will offer full multi-platform coverage with a wealth of material available exclusively on its iPad app. Capturing the mood of America, ’50 States: 50 Voices’ is an interactive map made up of videos written and filmed by real people across the US giving us the story of their state and the issues affecting them.

There will also be:

·         Interactive Timeline – video and image galleries of all the key events from Romney and Obama’s campaigns going back to start of the year.

·         Interactive Election History Infographic – an ‘explorable’ console of results of all the previous US elections involving the Republican and Democrat parties, showing who controlled the Senate and House after each.

·         US Election Briefing – an interactive map of the US where users can tap on each state to receive a wealth of information about its economy, demographics and voting history.

·         On The Night Election Console – real-time updating results data, visualised via a map or list of states. It allows users to watch any of the iPad’s live streams or the main Sky News channel while following the latest results.

·         Extra analysis from our team of correspondents across America as the campaign trail makes its way across the country.

’50 States: 50 Voices’ will also form the basis of a US election programme presented by Martin Stanford on Monday 5th November at 8.30pm. The show will incorporate a Google + Hangout hosted by Adam Boulton taking place at the same time online and via Sky News for iPad, making Sky News the first UK broadcaster to use the platform  live on air.

As well as access to live streaming, blogs and analysis, skynews.com visitors will be able to view the newly launched (pilot) US Homepage and/or dedicated US section allowing users to view all US related content in one place.

In a race that is forecast to be close, much of the story of the election comes down to data – and Sky News will provide viewers with state of the art graphics to analyse in greater detail and depth than ever before.

In our results centre, Martin Stanford will have complete control over the narrative as the states are called for Obama or Romney – but long before the polls officially close, exit polling data from Edison will provide a rich stream of information about how the election is unfolding, which key demographics have voted for each candidate – and in the key swing states – the percentage of the vote for the two men who want to be President.

Viewers will get instant information with an on-screen vidiprinter breaking news and fact straps providing constant updates of the latest results. Additionally, for the first time the side-panels – a feature providing richer detail for viewers of Sky News HD – will be broadcast on the channel’s SD feed, meaning no one misses out.

The election will play out online as much as it will on television, and to combine the two, Sky News will track the twitter accounts of 400 key figures across the US, giving Martin Stanford the ability to filter their comments to reveal how different groups are reacting to the unfolding news.

This technology will be made available on the Sky News for iPad, Sky News for iPhone and online at skynews.com – giving election junkies full access to the polling data, the social media feed and, crucially, the results centre – so they can do their own real-time analysis and make their own predictions of the election outcome.

Chris Birkett, Executive Editor and Deputy Head of Sky News, said: “With the race for the White House neck and neck, we’ll be on hand to make sure every aspect of the election is covered across all our platforms. We’ll be offering viewers insight from our team of experts as well as from the real people of America and will utilise the latest in technology to present in the most engaging formats.”

*With the UK and Europe poised to view the outcome of the presidential race, there has been a large appetite for continuous updates on the devastation caused in the US by Superstorm Sandy over the last few days. Sky News has seen its highest audience since the riots across England last summer reaching 4.6 million individuals on Tuesday 30th October (117% higher than the weekday average). SkyNews.com also received 1.3m web visits – doubling recent daily visits to the web site.

Breakdown of Deployment Coverage:

Presenters:

·         Chicago – Jeremy Thompson & Jeff Randall

·         Ohio - Andrew Wilson

·         Boston – Dermot Murnaghan

·         Las Vegas – Kay Burley

·         Washington – Adam Boulton

Correspondents:

·         Tim Marshall (Foreign Affairs Editor)      - Ohio

·         Michelle Clifford (Senior News Correspondent) – Iowa

·         Amanda Walker (Moscow Correspondent) – Florida

·         Sophy Ridge (Political Correspondent) – Colorado

·         Ian Woods (News Correspondent) – Virginia

·         Greg Milam (US Correspondent)  -  Boston

·         Dominic Waghorn (US Correspondent)  - Chicago

·         Jon Christopher Bua (US Political Analyst) Chicago

·         Martin Stanford  - Results centre (Sky News Centre)

·         MURNAGHAN live from Boston on Sun 4^th Nov – 10am-12pm (BST)

·         Boulton & Co Live from Washington - Mon 5^th Nov & Weds 7^th Nov  - 1pm – 2pm (BST)

·         ’50 States: 50 Voices’ presented by Martin Stanford  - Mon 5^th Nov – 8.30pm-9pm (BST)

·         Jeff Randall Live - Mon 5^th Nov, Tues 6^th Nov, Weds 7^th Nov  - 7pm-8pm (BST)