Caps from Insiders this morning:
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Agree. However, I wish Nine would lose the ‘booted’ novelty things they always use. Wally was ridiculous.
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Have to agree with this. I thought Nine’s coverage was okay but not as great as others here believe it was - graphics were too bulky, watching the panel was like watching a Senate estimates hearing (they provided ‘generic’ insights and it lacked ‘X Factor’) and gimmicks like ‘Wally’ detract from the coverage.
As for the others:
- ABC: I expressed my thoughts about their coverage last night
- Seven: Didn’t get a chance to watch it so can’t comment
- Sky: Focused too much on what the results meant for the federal government. Their use of the business set was a good decision - it looked really nice compared to their previous election sets
Why didn’t they get the real Wally Lewis to come in and kick these pollies out 
?
Last time Seven had a real woodchipper (known as the ‘shredder’), so I was thinking why they didn’t put the politicians’ names onto big footballs and have Wally kick it somewhere.
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I found the ABC coverage to be the most disappointing. Antony Green is usually the only commentator worth listening to across all networks, but last night he fumbled though the night with sub-standard tech (even for ABC). All the graphics he produced were seen through a plasma TV smaller than in my lounge where normally these would be shown directly on screen. I’ve not seen him so flustered or uncertain.
I’d rate Nine as good. They looked pretty but should have used their studio better. The Mega Wall was barely used and when it was, didn’t offer much. The presenters were still clustered around a desk with pop up graphics filling 1/3 of the screen that often had no relation to what was being discussed. Nine needed an expert standing far to the left of the panel and bringing up the graphics on the Mega Wall for the panel to discuss. James Ashby was the worst panelist across all coverage and dominated much of Nine’s discussion for the first 45 minutes while poor Chris Uhlmann was stuck on the panel with no resources and little to contribute. Give the boot the boot.
Seven, while looking a mess, had a better approach with a dedicated analysis section. The knowledge across their panel and the interaction between panelists seemed overall the best of the night. Mark Riley and Michael Usher also played their part well.
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Antony remarked that he didn’t have a touch-screen this time, hence he was faffing about with a mouse.
I was watching all four election programs via livestreaming, had the soundup on ABC most of the time, occasionally on SKY later in the night.
Thought the ABC wasted too much time on social media trends and poorly utilised local talent like Chris O’Brien (They also simulcasted TV coverage on radio as opposed to dedicated coverage like they have done in the past).
Sky suffered without PVO and I was disappointed that there were no current politicans. Newman being a panellist made things extra awkward when discussing the 2015 era.
Nine had the best graphics (if a bit big and unweildy) and the nicest set.
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That’s not a technical issue - Antony’s graphics being mostly shown on a TV next to him has been done for numerous election night coverages in the past:
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I could feel the panel all cringing when it came to that graphic kicking the ball with the quadriplegic MP on it (Rob Pyne).
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the ABC radio coverage was pathetic. it was a direct feed of the TV audio which discussed graphs. WHICH WE COULD NOT BLOODY SEE.
Ten’s coverage consisted of 8 updates across the night including the speeches of the 2 leaders. Video shows 2 updates and part of one speech to show presentation style. Looking back at the updates, the contents presented a very accurate summary of counting to that point and to the few watching Ten would have been all that was needed.
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