Pixel Power supported two of the UK’s leading independent broadcasters, STV in Scotland and UTV in Northern Ireland, to bring the results of the UK general election to the screen. The Creative Services team at Pixel Power delivered both graphics templates and bespoke interfaces to their data systems to ensure the latest results from individual constituencies were on the screen as quickly as possible.
Both broadcasters are already experienced users of the Pixel Power Clarity graphics systems, and each chose to add another machine to their arsenal for 3D graphics presentation of the results as they were announced. With the 2015 UK general election promoted as too close to call, broadcasters were expecting big audiences through the night, and getting the results on screen as quickly as possible became vital.
“We enjoyed great support from Pixel Power Creative Services last year for the referendum campaign and results, so it was natural for us to go back to them for the general election,” said Sam Dornan, channel operations manager at STV. “Clarity was linked into STV’s database to ensure we got the declarations and constituency results on screen as fast as possible. Pixel Power also designed 3D graphics to show the state of the parties and predictions – they were attention-grabbing, clear and in-line with our channel branding and overall programme graphics themes.”
Trevor McCormick Creative Director at UTV added “One of the attractive things about Clarity for a programme like this is the ability to use the Pixel Power Control ToolBox. That allows you to quickly build interfaces to other systems which are rock solid. The team from Pixel Power developed and provided the interfaces to the other systems we had on election night, as well as designing the results graphics for us. Our own graphics designers had been busy creating the rest of the graphics for what was an enormous night for us, so it was great to tap into extra expertise for this project.”
James Gilbert, CEO of Pixel Power, picked up this last point. “Creating live graphics driven by real-time data systems is a specialised skill,” he said. “For projects like a UK general election, which come around every five years, broadcasters want to use equipment and systems they trust but cannot increase in-house resources for a one-off event. We can provide the additional resource, developing both the interfaces and the 3D graphics sequences themselves, allowing the broadcaster’s team to ensure consistency of look and feel across the whole presentation.”
The UK general election took place on Thursday 7 May 2015. The election results and analysis were broadcast from STV when the polls closed at 22.00 and continued through the night and into the following morning while UTV provided a live programme from 9.25am on Friday 8th May with analysis and review programmes continuing throughout the weekend until May 10th.
