ITV News Election 2015

Guys,

Some modifications were made to the main presentation desk over the weekend, ahead of next week's election night programme. They basically allow the monitors being used by the two election pundits in the studio, to fit into a small recess so they don't appear in-vision or block Tom's eyeline.

The studio set is pretty much the same as the one used for network bulletins, with some minor changes to the backdrop. Not a major departure from the norm, and a bit of a wasted opportunity (in my opinion).

The on-screen graphics look great though ...

TM.

Don't get me wrong, the set's fine.

I just think Election Night calls for something a bit special and I'm not convinced by what I've seen so far. It seems to lack any sense of occasion (which I'm sure the BBC set will excel at).

There's a final dress rehearsal next week though, so that could still change I guess ...

I suppose ITV know whatever they do, whether they spend 10p or £1m on a set, very few will watch, the coverage will be dismissed out of hand for a pre decided reason and the BBC coverage will be hailed the best regardless of any errors or misfired items (interviewing Brucie on a boat etc), so I'm not surprised they are a bit reluctant to go all out.

Yes, this is the same for Channel 4 and 5 too though.

Although. The ITV Debate was the most popular!

I agree, and it's a shame if ITV isn't quite rising to the occasion - especially given that creating a new VR set would presumably cost a lot less than designing and building a real one.

ITV has really gone to town in the past, constructing huge sets in the ITN atrium in 1997 and 2001, or recreating the atrium in the 'theatre of news' in 2005.

The real sets in the atrium in 1997 and 2001 were pretty impressive. The 2010 election was the very first time I preferred ITV's coverage to the BBC's. It's a shame they're not building on this by making a bit more of an effort.

However this time round, personally I don't see Tom Bradby being my preferred choice over a final Election outing from the Dimblebot.

2010 worked well enough in the smaller studio though - it is the content that is key at all and the only thing putting me off this year is it being Tom Bradby rather than Alastair on election night itself. The set will work regardless and it's worth remembering the 2005 set was just the main news set reworked too as they tried to fit an oversized square desk and a background which is all about straight lines into a circular space with a curved backdrop. The ambition was great but looking back on it I think it looked pretty awful.

Don't get me wrong, I think the set looks good, it's just not huge or "wow".

Agreed.

I just think that given it is VR, it should have been reasonably easy to construct a more impressive studio environment or at least studio backdrop to reflect the importance of the occasion as well as the scale of ITN's efforts. But then I always was a big fan of the panoramic London skyline that preceded the carpark era.

As Brekkie says though, it's really the content that counts ...

Yikes. Tom Bradby in place of Alastair Stewart was always going to put me off ITV's election night coverage this year - and now it looks like we don't even have the consolation of grand presentation!

First glimpse of the ITV News Election Studio:

Somewhat underwhelmed by that. Looks like a Friday special.