Election studio sets

Election studios are specialized television sets made by media networks to analyze the results.

Many election studio sets include a bullpen, an office workspace packed with computers, analysts and experts, all processing the results.

Besides, election studios use the anchor desk being based behind, next to, or above the bullpen.

The names for television's election studio designs include Election Centre, Election Headquarters and Election Central.

Lowell Thomas delivered the televised broadcast of the Republican National Convention, which was being held over 9 months after the Second World War began, via NBC.

Conversely, the televised coverage of the US presidential election, held over a year after World War II started, had radio prominence and was on a local level, as television was in its infancy.

Besides, the studio set designs for the TV coverage of the US presidential election, over one year after WWII started, used theatrical trends being austere, flat and claustrophobic like a cardboard box.

Unusually, Lowell Thomas delivered this telecast of the GOP convention, 9 months after World War II started, from NBC's headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York, not Philadelphia.

The 1948 US presidential election was the first to use television for politics in the post-war era.

Plus, the 1948 US presidential election marked the first divisions in American's main political parties during the Cold War.

Aside from the firsts, the summer 1948 Philadelphia political conventions were the first on TV in the period after the Second World War.

During the summer 1948 Philadelphia political conventions, coaxial cable was the link for television stations in the East Coast, the first to offer gavel-to-gavel coverage live on television.

Nevertheless, the television coverage of the 1948 US presidential election was being presented on a regional level.

Like the past ones, the 1948 US election had radio prominence, as television was in its infancy.

Having lacked air conditioning, the summer 1948 political conventions, all of which were being taken place in Philadelphia, suffered heat exhaustion.

Incidentally, the studio set designs for the televised coverage of the 1948 US presidential election had claustrophobic theatrical trends, just like the previous 2 of them.

The early-1950's US presidential election was the first to provide television coverage on a national, a prominent and a comprehensive level.

For the early-1950's US presidential election, the newly-completed microwave/coaxial system via the American Telephone & Telegraph Company helped solve the 1948 issues.

Nearly 10 months prior to the early-1950's US presidential election, Today (NBC) started its successful tenure from the RCA Exhibition Hall.

The first host for Today (NBC) was Dave Garroway.

During the early years of the era after the Second World War, some television programs emanated from Chicago, where Dave Garroway was a radio disc jockey on WMAQ-AM.

Radio belonged to Dave Garroway since World War II, and his laid-back delivery defined his career.

Television came calling for the radio-friendly Dave Garroway in 1949; his eponymous program called Garroway at Large was a key component of the Chicago School of Television.

For his own Garroway at Large television program, Dave Garroway defied television's early theatrical conventions for a more casual approach, in which the reality of the studio was acknowledged.

Using one camera, Dave Garroway walked around large studios and simple abstract sets as he directly talked to guests and television viewers for his eponymous Garroway at Large program.

Early-morning television was Pat Weaver's innovative, but controversial dream for a few years, and he tapped Dave Garroway from Chicago to make this dream real.

Pat Weaver's successful dream of an early-morning television program was called Today (NBC).

When Today (NBC) began, television was completely absent from the early-morning hours, and critics believed that no one watched TV while getting ready for work.

Just before Today (NBC), Pat Weaver was also trying to find a location for its studio.

Situated in the Rockefeller Centre complex, the RCA Exhibition Hall is based directly across from the iconic and famous headquarters of the Associated Press at 50 Rockefeller Plaza.

Contrasting to the iconic headquarters of the Associated Press, which represented print journalism, the RCA Exhibition Hall represented electronic media's fluid and transparent future.

Likewise, Rockefeller Centre housed 1 Rockefeller Plaza, which was the former base for Time Inc.

The presence of both the Associated Press and Time Inc. transformed Rockefeller Centre's scope from a strictly radio-communications complex into a centre of the radio and print media sectors.

With the RCA Exhibition Hall as Pat Weaver's choice, Today (NBC) was unconventional.

During the early-1950's era, parts of the floor of the RCA Exhibition Hall were being converted into an early studio space for Today (NBC).

Inside the RCA Exhibition Hall, parts of which were converted into the first Today (NBC) studio, was a borderless room evoking the Associated Press bullpen at 50 Rock.

Juxtaposing print journalism's industrial past, via the AP at 50 Rock, with electronic media's transparent future, via the RCA Exhibition Hall, the Today (NBC) bullpen was innovative.

Undoing the past, the blueprint of this unique room in the RCA Exhibition Hall for Today (NBC) under Dave Garroway/Pat Weaver birthed modern broadcast design elements.

Elements of this first Today (NBC) studio under Dave Garroway/Pat Weaver included newsroom-as-set trends, street-side studios, news tickers and clock displays.

This borderless room, located at the RCA Exhibition Hall for Today (NBC) under Dave Garroway, was made in-house by NBC's engineering units and RCA's corporate exhibition teams.

Responding to the bullpen being located inside the RCA Exhibition Hall for Today (NBC) under Dave Garroway, CBS Television built its Election Headquarters for its early-1950's election coverage.

In similar fashion to what Today (NBC) innovated the use of a bullpen as a usual studio feature for the television news scene, CBS did the same as a usual studio feature for televised elections.

Besides, this national television coverage of the early-1950's US presidential election was also the first driven by computers, notably the UNIVAC I.

Standing for the Universal Automatic Computer I, the UNIVAC I was innovative in that it was the first general-purpose electronic digital computer for business applications produced in the US.

CBS Television, for its early-1950's US presidential election coverage, used the UNIVAC I, accurately predicting that the GOP presidential nominee would win by a landslide.

Walter Cronkite delivered the nationally-televised coverage of the early-1950's US presidential election campaign through CBS.

At the time of this US presidential election in the early-1950's period, Walter Cronkite was also the first newscaster for a CBS station in the nation's capital, which was WTOP-TV (now WUSA).

The word anchor is utilized in the sports world to describe the final and most crucial segment in a relay competition, getting the baton from the starting point to the finish line.

Sig Mickelson popularized the anchor word to coordinate TV news in the same start-to-finish road.

Incidentally, the real UNIVAC I was based at the Remington Rand factory in Philadelphia, whereas the mock-up terminal with blinking Christmas lights was at CBS News in New York.

Both Don Hewitt and Sig Mickelson masterminded CBS Television Election Headquarters, which was located at Grand Central Terminal, for its election coverage in the early-1950's.

NBC pioneered the format of using the newsroom as a regular studio feature (either as a backdrop or a centrepiece), with CBS putting this for elections.

Just prior to Dave Garroway, Don Hewitt and Sig Mickelson, television news/election studio sets have typically comprised three separate formulas:

• News anchors sitting at one desk in a studio with a claustrophobic feel behind blank walls

• Journalists working in a newsroom/bullpen being filled with teletype machines and noises

• Technical staff operating in a dark and windowless control room, featuring monitor banks

However, Dave Garroway's innovations, including Garroway at Large and Today (NBC), tore down the walls, mixing the main stage (news desk) with the backstage workspace (bullpen/control room).

Plus, both Don Hewitt and Sig Mickelson adapted Dave Garroway's approach for election results.

The image orthicon, used specifically for the RCA TK-10/30, made the Chicago School work.

Just before the image orthicon, the Iconoscope dominated television studio cameras.

Poor light sensitivity is a con in the Iconoscope that required blinding and hot studio lights that forced actors to stand rigid and sweat heavy under stage makeup.

However, the image orthicon had a pro, which is unprecedented light sensitivity that even allowed TV studio cameras to capture images by candlelight.

In addition, a 4-lens turret, specifically for the RCA TK-10/30, also added to the Chicago School.

Early studio cameras coming from New York-centric television were massive and heavy.

Conversely, a 4-lens turret allowed cameras to switch between wide/medium shots and close-ups.

Likewise, early (and heavy) studio cameras from New York-centric TV required huge crank-operated pedestals taking multi-crew members to slowly steer across a flat studio floor.

Fluid-balanced friction heads and lighter post-war metals were on camera mounts, as well as dollies.

By the mid-1950's period, the Chicago School of Television had started to fade, as television network production had become a centralized duopoly between New York and Los Angeles.

The East Coast (New York) uses network corporate headquarters, prestige live dramas and hard news operations, drawing heavily from print journalism's industrial legacy.

As for the West Coast (Los Angeles), it has the television industry's entertainment, variety and filmed sectors, capitalizing on.Hollywood's infrastructure and cinematic pool.

Still, the DNA of the Chicago School impacted television as a whole.

The casual delivery and open-plan studio sets rooted in the Chicago School paved the way for national morning/late-night programs and 24-hour news channels.

Ever since its debut on April 29, 1974, NBC's NewsCentre philosophy (emphasized by Fred Harpman's cinematic and high-tech design) has split North America's television news scene into two camps.

For one camp, local television outlets in the United States that retrofitted studio spaces with faux-wood panels, extra monitors and a chroma key backdrop represented the old guard.

Local CBS television stations, many featuring the newsroom/bullpen as a regular studio backdrop, also represented the old guard (w/wo chroma key).

Conversely, advanced and forward-thinking television stations used the NewsCentre model under Fred Harpman, Lee Hanna, Earl Ubell and Jim Kitchell (for NBC), representing the new guard.

This NewsCentre model (for NBC) evoked the NASA-like nerve centres of Hollywood.

Upon its June 1, 1980 launch, CNN used its BCTV-inspired hybrid newsroom-control room studio set design, which serves as the DNA for 24-hour television news.

Specifically, this hybrid layout used by BCTV/CNN is a bustling, print-style bullpen operating inside a massive, high-tech monitor matrix.

Modern 21st-century news sets do not leave the CBS, NBC and BCTV/CNN philosophies behind; they instead use digital technology to merge and evolve them into flexible ecosystems.

In 1993, Steve Friedman came up with an idea, which was to revive the glass fishbowl concept under Dave Garroway for Today (NBC), but in the modern age, starting in next year's summer.

Housing the 1990's revival of the glass fishbowl concept under Dave Garroway for Today (NBC) is a former bank (and a space by Eastern Airlines).

Studio 1A for Today (NBC) is based inside 10 Rockefeller Plaza.

The US branch of the British auction house Christie's leased a space formerly being leased by the RCA Exhibition Hall, the first Today (NBC) studio, in 1997, which opened its doors 2 years later.

Just 18 months after its move to Studio 1A, Today (NBC) also notched its first ratings victory over its fierce rival Good Morning America.

Incidentally, with Studio 1A for Today (NBC), street-level studios based in downtown cores has been commonplace for nationally-televised US presidential elections.

For instance, Times Square is the main venue for ABC's first presidential election coverage in the 21st century (and since 2008).

CBS News used MTV's Times Square location, noted for its Total Request Live (TRL) program, for its 2020 US presidential election coverage.

Meanwhile, CNN used the NASDAQ MarketSite for the first post-9/11 US election.

In television's early years, the studio and the newsroom were separate.

News anchors delivered the day's stories from an isolated and enclosed studio, while journalists in the bullpen physically sprinted across a high catwalk to deliver scripts to them.

This frantic setup was impossible to maintain for a longer, fast-paced newscast.

For television newscasts extending beyond the quarter-hour time limit, however, news anchors sat in a bullpen, surrounded by busy journalists, plus the teletype and its clattering sound.

Silent computers replaced the teletype and its clattering sound in the newsroom.

The 1960 US presidential election was the first to feature debates, although in monochrome.

Subsequently, the mid-1960's US election was held exactly a year after the JFK assassination.

Besides, the first US election in this post-JFK era was also the first in which residents in the US capital have a say in voting to choose the president.

Likewise, the second US presidential election being held in post-JFK era was the first to provide major election coverage on network television in colour.

Plus, the 1972 US election was the first in which the voting age was 18.

For America's bicentennial election, presidential debates have their revival, but in full colour and as a permanent fixture, plus the introduction of the vice-presidential answer and the red/blue map.

Presidential debates were on hiatus between 1960 and the US bicentennial election campaign, due to communication laws/choices by frontrunners to stop Richard Nixon's 1960 debate.

However, the FCC revised laws to revive presidential debates, but also innovate the VP one.

In addition, the bicentennial debates also had the vice-presidential debate, absent in the next cycle.

Vice-presidential debates have been permanent since the 1984 US presidential election.

The League of Women Voters sponsored the bicentennial, 1980 and 1984 US presidential debates.

Starting with the US debates being held in the late-1980's era, the Commission on Presidential Debates replaced the League of Women Voters as their sponsor.

With the CPD replacing the LWV for the sponsorship of the US election debates in the late-1980's, Jim Lehrer (of the News Hour on PBS) began moderating them.

From the late-1980's to the early-2010's, Jim Lehrer was known as the Dean of Moderators.

Praised for his low-key and non-intrusive approach that focused on the US presidential candidates, Jim Lehrer moderated 12 US debates (eleven of which were presidential, and 1 for VP in 1996).

Mirroring British tradition for the bicentennial US election, NBC assigned the red colour to the liberal Democrats, blue to the conservative Republicans.

CBS also used NBC's British-style election trend for the 1980 election, as did CNN.

ABC, under Roone Arledge, inverted the British-style election trend being used by its rivals NBC and CBS for the 1980 election, assigning the red to the Republicans, blue to the Democrats.

Back to CBS, its 1984 US presidential election coverage matched ABC's "Red for GOP" mantra.

Plus, in the 1984 US election, CNN matched the British-style election trend that NBC utilized, a trend being used in the late-1980's election.

1996 is when NBC used the "Red for Republicans" mantra, used by both CBS and ABC.

This red for Republicans/blue for Democrats map became officially solidified at the outset of the 21st century.

J. Fred Muggs, being Dave Garroway's sidekick, interrupted the American television coverage of Her Majesty the Queen's 1953 coronation.

People across the pond were so insulted by J. Fred Muggs interrupting the TV coverage of the British Queen's 1953 coronation in the United States that they need commercial competition.

Due to J. Fred Muggs stopping the American television coverage of the 1953 coronation of the British Queen, the movement for American-style commercial television in Britain was accelerated.

Eventually, the Television Act 1954 led to Independent Television (ITV).

What made ITV unique is that it was a privately-financed television service being regulated by a public authority to preserve public decency.

No commercials depicting British royalty were used and aired on ITV.

The first British television channel to break the BBC monopoly since 1936 (except WWII), ITV aired dynamic programs sourced from and modelled after the United States.

Providing the news for Independent Television (ITV) is Independent Television News (ITN).

Sir Robin Day is one of the individuals who pioneered Britain's television news scene being used in an American-style formula via ITN through his ties to American culture.

Moving across the pond in the early-1950's, Sir Robin Day embarked on a tour to the United States.

A few years later, in 1953, Sir Robin Day worked for the British Information Services in Washington.

Known for his polka-dot bow ties and his horn-rimmed glasses, Sir Robin Day is also regarded as the Grand Inquisitor.

For the television coverage of the second British general election under the Queen, it was also the first general election being presented on a completely national basis.

Plus, for the second British general election under the Queen, some changes to televised election night coverage were being made.

Besides the new American-style and ad-supported ITV network ending the BBC's long monopoly, the Swingometer became national and an informal presentation by Cliff Michelmore was used.

During the second British general election under the Queen, ITN used the DEUCE computer, while the BBC used the Elliott one, renamed Ella.

Utilizing both the DEUCE and Ella computers, the second British general election being held under the Queen also marked the first computer-driven general election coverage on British television.

Like the early-1950's American presidential election, the studio set designs for this nationally-televised coverage of the second British general election under the Queen were more dynamic.

To put it another way, the studio set designs for this nationally-televised coverage of the second British general election under the Queen were influenced by Dave Garroway and the UNIVAC I.

Whereas BBC Television's coverage of the first British general election under the Queen did not use a bullpen as a centrepiece, its coverage of the second one made usage.

ITN, in contrast, used an isolated and enclosed election studio without the bullpen as a feature for the second British general election under the Queen.

Since the third British general election under the Queen, ITN has used the bullpen as a centrepiece.

Using the innovations from the United States, the second British general election being held under the Queen (and subsequent ones) define the UK's televised election coverage.

Canada, which is a historically friendly neighbour to the United States, doubling as a Commonwealth member like the United Kingdom, has similarly-televised election coverage.

The 1953 Canadian federal election had radio prominence, as television was in its infancy.

But the 1957 Canadian federal election was the first to offer television coverage on a prominent and a comprehensive level.

Using the innovations, which came from its historically friendly neighbours to the south, the televised coverage of the 1957 Canadian federal election forever changed Canada's political landscape.

Since the 38th Canadian federal election, which was taken place under Queen Elizabeth II, the official brand for the CBC's nationally-televised election coverage has been Canada Votes.

The Barbara Frum Atrium has housed CBC Television's federal election coverage since 1993.

Housing the Barbara Frum Atrium is the Canadian Broadcasting Centre, based at Front Street West in downtown Toronto.

Unofficially dubbed Election Night in Canada, which is a playful nod to Hockey Night in Canada, the CBC's televised election coverage is the main vehicle for live national results.

Down under, the National Tally Room housed Australia's federal elections from 1972 to 2010.

Likewise, the National Tally Room was the unified studio location for Australian television's federal elections from 1972 to 2010.

Within the National Tally Room for Australian television's federal elections is the bullpen.

The Budawang Pavillon, which is located at Exhibition Park in Canberra (EPIC), served as the main venue for the National Tally Room from 1980 to 2010, except 1996.

For the 1972, 1974, 1975 and 1977 elections, Belconnen High School was the primary venue for the National Tally Room, based in its assembly hall.

During the 1960's, Albert Hall housed Australia's National Tally Room.

Unusually, Belconnen High School is a school that housed televised election coverage

New Zealand, a core Anglophone nation similar to the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, has similarly-televised election coverage.

The 1960 New Zealand general election had radio prominence, as television was in its infancy, plus the fourth and fifth ones under Queen Elizabeth II, the latter in 1966.

But the 1969 New Zealand general election was the first to provide television coverage on a national, a comprehensive and a mature level.

For the 1975 New Zealand general election, it was the first to offer televised coverage in colour and on another channel.

Studio 41, which was based on the 3rd floor of Grand Central, was the main venue for CBS Television Election Headquarters in its presidential election coverage during the 1950's and in 1960.

Walter Cronkite served as the anchor for 8 of the nationally-televised presidential elections on the CBS Television Network until 1980.

For his endurance in the nationally-televised US presidential election marathons on CBS (coupled with other defining events), Walter Cronkite was known as "the most trusted man in America."

Richard Dimbleby served as the anchor for 5 of the BBC's televised general elections.

1997, 2001 and 2005 are respectively noted years when Richard Dimbleby's sons David Dimbleby and Jonathan Dimbleby anchored general elections on both the BBC and ITV.

Incidentally, Walter Cronkite was to the US what Richard Dimbleby was to the UK.