Engaging Elections
Posted on Jul 9, 2024 by FEED Staff
Brainstorm shares with FEED the cutting-edge ways to boost your election night viewership
Sponsored editorial
Covering elections is more than simply displaying raw data from official sources. It is about engaging audiences with a set-up that not only presents the results in an attractive and comprehensive format, but also generates entertaining content to maintain attention for hours.
Regardless of whether viewers are interested in election coverage, presenting a slew of unconnected numbers can make the data look boring and unappealing. The coverage needs to display attention-grabbing imagery, real or virtual backgrounds, remote connections and augmented reality to present the information in a way that best engages audiences.
It’s important to consider that elections are events during which broadcasters don’t necessarily count on assigned teams, especially in the cases of smaller regional or local TV stations. Likewise, the complexity of the data and the need to show the results immediately makes many existing graphic solutions inadequate for such a task. Equally, the time between elections is long enough for technology, design trends, looks and audience preferences to change.
Brainstorm started more than 30 years ago as a graphics provider of election data, and since then it has been covering elections worldwide both as an equipment supplier and a service provider for its clients such as RTVE, NHK, CNBC, BBC, RTL and many others. This experience, ranging from data source management to innovative live graphics operations, has been transferred to Brainstorm’s most advanced graphics systems and affordable template-based solutions.
Brainstorm’s systems, such as InfinitySet or Aston, are perfect for creating complex, bespoke and data-driven election graphics.
With an unparalleled ability to link real-time 3D and augmented reality graphics with any kind of external data sources, such solutions allow broadcasters to provide their audiences with extensive graphics coverage that is both comprehensible and visually engaging. Any in-depth analysis can be understood by viewers when coupled with striking animations, data comparisons or contextualised augmented reality graphics appearing in real time.
Brainstorm provides broadcasters with a range of possibilities to display election data, which can automatically be updated by linking them to external sources, allowing for live and automatic updates. But such data must be displayed in context – and in an attractive manner – which is where virtual technology comes in. No matter if the show is conducted on a real stage, virtual set or combination of the two – including LED volumes – Brainstorm can provide real-time graphics along with any other virtual content required, such as background scenes and virtual playlists. This can be displayed easily on either real or virtual screens.
On the other hand, smaller or local broadcasters may find a better solution by using template-based applications, such as AstonElections, which provide customisable election coverage using a dedicated but affordable and easy-to-use solution.
AstonElections can display election graphics with just three simple steps: establishing the official data source, customisation and playout. Once the elections are over, AstonElections remains useful as a specialised and easy-to-use graphics solution. It’s capable of generating all kinds of statistical graphics based on external data or even by employing its computer-generated capabilities including tickers and title templates.
This feature was first published in the Summer 2024 issue of FEED.
