It's Super Tuesday in the US, and there's lots of special coverage tonight.
ABC, CBS and NBC are all live from 8-11pm ET (1-4am UK). As usual, the cable news channels are starting their coverage earlier - CNN is starting at 4pm ET (9pm UK) and MSNBC and Fox are on from 6pm ET (11pm UK).
NBC is using the studio previously used for Megyn Kelly Today as its Election HQ.
The versatility of that set just continues to amaze me. You’d hardly think, watching that, that it was originally designed for a morning talk show. The fact it’s acted as a temporary studio for so many different shows since Megan Kelly came off the air is a testament to it in itself, let alone how it’s now being used as an ‘election centre’.
ABC NEWS finally has completed their new set. Apparently the set uses elements from their previous election set from the last cycle. From what I can understand this set will become the new network news set for ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT. I would imagine of course the election theme branding will go away. So it will be interesting to see how its used for the regular broadcast. The Newscaststudio has more details on how they jammed the 2 story set into the old space. Its a interesting read.
"from the press release"
Quote:
After its Super Tuesday primetime debut, ABC will begin the process of transitioning “ABC World News Tonight,” “World News Now,” “America This Morning,” “Nightline,” “GMA Weekend” and the NYC editions of “This Week” into the space.
“This project is unique in that it was purpose-built for Super Tuesday but also for all our other shows,” explained Toback.
The network is planning to make these decisions deliberately, allowing each show to block out shots within the space and ultimately determine the look and feel of their show.
Its flagship “World News Tonight” is expected to retain a look similar to what it’s been using for years — a large video wall for topical graphics behind anchor David Muir.
All 3 of the streams I posted above are carrying the network coverage. All looking quite nice.
Unusually for NBC, the main backdrop is a view of Rockefeller Plaza pointing away from 30 Rock towards 5th Avenue. Different, but I like it.
MSNBC is still using 30 Rock as the backdrop. Their set looks better than ever now they've got the curved video wall opposite the anchor desk.
I definitely prefer ABC's new set to the massive one they used for the midterms. I think the dark, generic cityscape backdrops let it down, though.
It's the first election night for CBS's new Washington studio and I prefer it to the CBS This Morning studio, although the desk feels a bit like it's shoved in a corner with Norah O'Donnell perched on the end. Good to see them making use of the old Evening News studio in New York for the decision desk as well - and nice use of AR on the Washington Monument.
I agree about the ABC News set. it still is a bit busy. The smaller version is much better that the previous incarnation. It will be interesting to see how its going to be used by ABC for their regular broadcasts.
NBC is using the old Megan Kelly set, which is also used for Hoda & Jenna and other programming. So that disaster of a show turned out a set that continues to be useful to the network news division and sports.
But i have to say.... All of the sets the video walls are superb. CNN's looks fantastic, probably the best of all of them. NBC' never missed a beat. NBC never settles for garbage, production wise. And CBS's looks fantastic. (as Mark mentioned, the video wall behind the anchor desk suffered a bit from being shoved in the corner, so it was slightly "pixelized", but the others look flawless) And the lighting looks amazing. So it makes me wonder why the video walls looks so terrible and washed out on SkyNews.
One complaint that I have with ABC is the audio. Its VEEERRRRYYYY noisy. Its extremely annoying and distracting. And their busy set doenst help. Its almost like EVERY single mic is open and it picks up everything. NBC and CBS CNN have it figured out and ABC always has had that worst audio. So it find it hard to watch.
CNN's coverage of Super Tuesday is absolutely brilliant. The video walls on it looks excellent. I should have stuck with it from the beginning when I was thinking of what to see tonight in terms of the quality. I did look at BBC News coverage on the news channel from midnight. But in my view it is really is a very poor effort so far in terms of a TV presentation point of view. They are not gaining much viewers at all if they only do the 1st half hour of coverage devoted to Super Tuesday and doing the back half hour with separate BBC News programmes taking people away from their coverage. That type of strategy from the BBC is a big fail IMO.
The American networks are the only reliable way of getting coverage on Super Tuesday tonight. They are the ones who actually invest their time & resources into a big story like this for American citizens living in their own country & beyond. Their quality of coverage is second to none. Nobody else can compare when looking at coverage like this from other channels outside of the United States.
A decent night of coverage, which bodes well for November.
ABC and NBC both did 6 hours straight - 8-11pm ET, followed immediately by 8-11pm PT.
CBS signed off at 9pm PT, which meant the local affiliates on the west coast had to do their own coverage for the rest of the evening if they wanted it.
Fox TV Stations are producing a coronavirus special every weekday from 1-3 p.m. on all of their Facebook live streams and webstreams. It's all things coronavirus from all of the Fox-owned stations, including live shots from around the country. It's being produced and anchored by KTVU in San Francisco. You can see the recording of today's stream here:
The CNN Democratic Debate is going ahead tonight but instead of being held in Arizona, it has been moved to Washington DC. It is being held without an audience inside the CNN studio, a much smaller and more intimate venue. That said, I don't think the quality of the debate is suffering at all.
Before the event, the candidates did an elbow bump instead of shaking hands (they are 77 and 78 years old, after all).
