TVNZ Reveals US Election Night Coverage
October 21, 2020 
8 Comments
Having topped the ratings with its NZ election night coverage, TVNZ 1 will devote three-and-a-half hours to live reportage of the US election on November 4.
Result and analysis will screen from 4.00-8.30, aside from an hour-long break for 1 News at Six.
“2020 has been an unprecedented year in politics, and outside of our own general election our viewers are invested in knowing who will be the next president of the United States,” Graeme Muir, TVNZ’s Acting Head of News and Current Affairs, says.
“Will it be four more years of disruption or are we about to see a new era with Joe Biden?”
Simon Dallow will front the studio coverage, with analysis from Sunday reporter (and ex-U.S correspondent) Rebecca Wright, while U.S. correspondent Anna Burns-Francis and Q+A’s Jack Tame will cross live from Trump HQ and Biden HQ.
TVNZ’s Political Editor Jessica Mutch-McKay and Europe correspondent Daniel Faitaua will also dissect what the results will mean for here and abroad.
TVNZ also will carry coverage on TVNZ OnDemand and on the 1News website, and will complement it with two Q+A specials broadcast from Washington D.C.: A pre-election show on November 1 will consider Donald Trump’s reelection prospects and the issues dividing American voters; a post-election show on November 8 will digest the results and consider the implications for NZ and the world.
Meanwhile, TVNZ reports 1.4 million people aged 5+ tuned into TVNZ 1 to see the election results unfold:
An average audience of530,600 viewers (AP 5+) was recorded on the night, too, demonstrating New Zealanders’ high engagement with politics this year and their keenness to stick with the 1 News team right up until midnight.
1 News Vote 20 Election Night Special was New Zealand’s highest reaching and highest rating TV programme on Saturday evening in both key commercial demographics and total audience.
Additionally, TVNZ OnDemand recorded 117,400 live streams for the special broadcast, with another 41,000 streams coming from the 1 News website.
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October 21, 2020 at 7:24 pm
TV1 did a good job with their election coverage. A good host in John Campbell, Hilary for comic relief. Nice studio and picture and sound quality that eclipsed TV3, Maori TV and RNZ’s awful video.
Couldn’t agree less, thx1138. I reckon Three’s coverage was superior, with better graphics and a brighter set — TVNZ 1’s looked cramped and dull. Also preferred Three’s presenters (save for Patrick Gower’s infantile lunacy). They were, for the most part, analytical and amusing whereas I thought Campbell typically too loquacious and Hilary typically too loose. Their smug sledging of ANZ was the low of the night: whatever you thought of the party’s philosophy and policies, it earned 1% of the vote and deserved more nuanced debate than liberal journos laughing themselves silly over ANZ’s Facebook ban (which, call me old fashioned, seems to fly in the face of what journalism should stand up for: free speech).
Well said, Philip! Patrick Gower’s click-bait whatever it was aside, I thought NewsHub’s coverage was far superior to that of TVNZ 1. John Campbell is a fantastic host but of what I saw of their coverage it was a little staid. MediaWorks really went all out with better graphics, multiple rotating panelists and overall presentation.
Thanks, Julian. You summed it up even better!
I’m going to disagree with everyone. I tried to watch both TVNZ and TV3 – both were equally nauseating to the point where I watched something else and relied on the Electoral Commissions website updates for tallies.
And I’d consider myself a political animal so was eagerly looking forward to the coverage. Sorry, it was abysmal all round.
Given the landslide, Mike, that probably was the best strategy.
TVNZ’s strategy these days seems to be “do what will appeal the far left on Twitter”. And by those standards, TVNZ were bloody brilliant on election night!
Very droll, Kevin. I thought the same myself re TVNZ with Muir’s comment that the US faced “four more years of disruption or are we about to see a new era with Joe Biden”.