BBC Election Coverage Continuing the Morning after the night before

Update (Friday, 10.47am): C-SPAN 3 coverage went right through to 10.45am, until BBC1 and BBC Election 2010 online coverage ended. 


Update (Friday, 8am): C-SPAN will resume coverage at 8.30am on C-SPAN 3. In the mean time, watch live here:



Update (Thursday, 8.21pm): C-SPAN moved the coverage over to C-SPAN 1 at 8pm.

The worry is over, at least for those with a good cable package: C-SPAN have just confirmed that they will be broadcasting the BBC Election Night Special on C-SPAN 3:

SIMULCAST OF BBC ELECTION RESULTS

Thursday

The British election is tomorrow, May 6th, and our coverage will include a simulcast of the BBC Election Results starting at 4:55pm ET on C‑SPAN3, comprehensive analysis of the returns from key constituencies, and interviews with leading politicians.

It's good to see that they are beginning coverage at 4.55pm ET, exactly as the BBC coverage begins. I realize that some will be disappointed because they don't have access to C-SPAN 3 on their cable packages, though my guess would be that most people who have BBC America will also have C-SPAN 3, and that should be most of the British expats and Anglophiles over here.   I must admit to being delighted that I will be able to watch the BBC Election coverage live on TV, really delighted.

Update (16.43): Jonathan has now blogged on this too, over at Anglotopia.net, Where to watch the British Election results in the USA on May 6, where he also provides a link to the live election news feed available on the BBC News Channel, which is not locked down to international users, BBC Election 2010, which may be a good source for those who do not have C-SPAN 3 on their cable packages.

C-SPAN show British Party Election Broadcasts

There is no official confirmation yet that C-SPAN will be broadcasting BBC's Election Night tomorrow, but the signs are good.  C-SPAN will release their schedules for tomorrow this evening.  In the mean time, they have added a feature on the British Party Election Broadcasts.  The first of them, the Labour Party one, is of interest to Doctor Who fans because it features Sean Pertwee, son of the third doctor, Jon Pertwee, mentioned at the beginning of the broadcast.  And the voiceover at the end is from tenth doctor, David Tennant.

BBC Election Night to show on C-SPAN?

In my previous post, Where to watch the UK election on Thursday?, I noted that the proper (BBC1) Election Night special would not be airing on BBC America and that the best bet was C-SPAN, who have broadcast all three of the leaders' debates live. With thanks to both David Hendrix and an anonymous commenter, there is some encouraging news in a Huffington Post article by Martin Lewis, UK Election: Conservatives Poised to give Britain a Good Flocking. The piece of interest is the following:

I just heard from a good pal at C-Span that C-Span will be presenting a feed of BBC TV's election night coverage. The reason this is not showing on the C-Span schedule pages yet is because they have not yet determined which of their three channels (C-Span 1, 2 or 3) will be used for the coverage. As soon as I hear more - I will post it here.

Lewis speculates that the coverage will begin with the British coverage, 10pm (5pm ET) and go through the night. As I mentioned previously, C-SPAN only update their schedules a day in advance so it may be a little before we have confirmation, but it is very good news that we may be able to watch the proper BBC election night coverage.

Update (23.32): confirmed by japascot on Twitter.

Where to watch the UK Election on Thursday?

Well, the third of the leaders' debates is now over and there are only a few days left of campaigning before polling day on Thursday.  I'm an election junkie and always look forward to election night.  I'm a stay-up-all-night person and have been since 1987.  (I stayed up a bit in 83, but I was doing my 'O' Levels, so couldn't pull an all-nighter.)  This one is clearly going to be a cracker, the most interesting since 1997, perhaps the closest since 1992.  One of the things that I am looking forward to this time is being five hours behind, which means that all the juicy stuff should start happening long before the middle of the night.  So I've blanked out Thursday evening and night in my diary, I have got the beers in, and soon I will have everything ready for the toasted sandwiches, the traditional food of election night, at least in my house.

But there is a concern.  Where will I be able to watch it?  It is, of course, compulsory to watch Election Night on the BBC, with David Dimbleby and all.  There is simply no competition, and Dimbers is the only choice.  I had imagined that BBC America would be carrying the BBC1 coverage all the way through.  For the American presidential election, they did take the BBC coverage.  As of now, though, their schedule for Thursday just lists all the usual rubbish, Gordon Ramsay and the rest.  I wrote to BBC America about this and received the following reply:

BBC America is committed to providing the most honest, objective and straightforward news coverage from around the world. We are pleased to let you know that on May 6th 2010, the date of the UK General Election, the channel will present a special edition of BBC World News America focusing on all of the twists and turns of the day’s events, from across the party spectrum.

Unfortunately, this does not tell us anything much, unless the "special edition" of BBC World News America is in fact the live broadcast of the election coverage from the UK.

I have also asked C-SPAN if they are planning to carry some coverage direct from the UK since they have been the best of all the channels to this point in covering the election, e.g. they have broadcast all three of the leaders' debates live on C-SPAN 3.  I have not yet heard back from them, and they only update their schedules about twenty-four hours in advance.

I hope it won't have to be a case of plugging the laptop into the telly and streaming over the internet.

More as soon as I have it.

Update (Saturday, 14.23): More from BBC America in response to my wallpost on Facebook:

On May 6 at 7pm et/pt there will be special election coverage on BBC America's program BBC World News America. As the count begins to come in Matt presents a special Election Day program from the BBC’s Television Centre in London with Katty Kay in Washington DC. There will also be online coverage, which we will post about when there are more details.

I am afraid that this is bad news, for several reasons: (1) This confirms that BBC America are not showing the main BBC1 / BBC News feed from England. (2) They are not starting coverage until 7pm.  Coverage should start at 5pm (10pm British time). (3) There is no indication how long the coverage will last for.  The schedule has not changed on the BBC America site, so it looks like the "special election coverage" is not going to be lengthy, unless there are schedule changes to come.

So it looks like we may need to hope for C-SPAN, or go online.

Update (Sunday, 14.20): David Hendrix writes:

In past UK elections (certainly 2001 & 2005), C-Span HAS presented a live stream of BBC's election night coverage. Don't know why their website shows no listings yet for Thursday. As their UK debate coverage has been good I expect them to again carry the BBC feed.

It is no good trying to watch BBC coverage on the BBC website because the BBC iplayer detects if your IP address is outside the UK - and prevents US-based computers from getting the signal

However - the SKY TV website will probably be streaming their TV feed. If you can stand Adam Boulting's smirk...

David is right about the iPlayer. It will only work over here if you've found a good VPN or some other means of accessing it. Nevertheless, I am wondering whether the BBC will stream their election coverage from the website, as they did for the third leaders' debate. But that might be hoping too much. It is good to hear about the Sky possibility, and also to hear about the C-SPAN coverage last time. They have really come up trumps on this campaign so far, the only channel to carry all three leaders' debates live over here. I have emailed them to find out if they are planning to carry the BBC coverage this time too. Well, we should know by Wednesday evening, at the latest, when they update their schedules.

Update (Monday, 22.28): More news: BBC Election Night to show on C-SPAN?

UK Election: the Third and Final Leaders' Debate

In the aftermath of bigotgate, tonight's leaders' debate is looking all the more interesting.  If you are wondering where to find the third and final leaders' debate on US TV, the good news is that once again C-SPAN have stepped up to the plate.  Their 2010 British Election Debate page has this morning been updated to announce that the debate will be aired live on C-SPAN 3, also live on their website.

On the previous two occasions, ITV and Sky also made the debates available online live for international viewers.  It is not clear at this point whether the BBC will retain the usual lock-out to international users, so online viewers will be best off following it either on the C-SPAN stream or on CNN (CNN UK Election blog).   CNN are planning to stream the third debate -- see Live UK Debate Coverage on CNN. Those with CNN International will be able to catch it on that TV channel too.

For following along live on the net, I'd also recommend The Guardian's General Election Live blog.  They have been right on top of all the developments, and it is packed with interesting comment.

The debate is all the more interesting to me since it is located at the University of Birmingham, my former employer, where I spent a happy decade.  It's been nice to see the pictures and news coverage from there.  The debate takes place in the Great Hall, where the graduation ceremonies take place every July.

UK Election: the Second Leaders' Debate: Update

I blogged earlier this week on the coverage in America of the Second Leaders' Debate and since then, I have been keeping an eye out for updates.  As predicted, it seems that C-SPAN 3 will again be airing the debate live.  It's recently appeared on their schedules online.  So the place to go will be C-SPAN Live Stream if you are watching online or to search for C-SPAN 3 if you have a good cable TV package.  For us, it's Channel 120. Unfortunately, it is not listed yet on the TV guide, which makes setting the DVR a little difficult because C-SPAN have two six hour programme wedges that span either side of the 90 minutes of the debate.

Meanwhile, japascot tweets that BBC America have said "On May 6th, the channel will present a special edition of BBC World News America". Well, I hope that that translates as taking the BBC1 coverage from 5pm through to the small hours. At the moment that does not appear on their schedules. I'll be keeping an eye out.

Update (Thursday, 7.40): now covered on C-SPAN's front page along with the news that they will also feature a live programme from Sky that covers the election so far.

Update (Thursday, 13.08): For those who have it, CNN International are also showing the debate live.  I've checked our cable package, and it is not offered by Time Warner Cable in the Carolinas.  But CNN is a good place to go for UK Election coverage.  See their UK Election Blog and follow UKElectionCNN on Twitter.  Also, Connect the World will be running a live blog and the whole debate is being streamed live on CNN.com.

UK Election: the Second Leaders' Debate

Well, who would have thought that the first of the Leaders' Debates would have been such an event, and that it would have made such an impact on the campaign? With the big surge for the Lib Dems following on from Nick Clegg's performance in the debate last week, all the more attention is focused on the second of the debates this Thursday at 8pm (British Summer Time).

Last week, I was delighted to hear from C-SPAN here on the Resident Alien blog that they were to be broadcasting the first of the leaders' debates live.  I followed the debate first online, via their live stream, and then when I got home on DVR from the C-SPAN 3 channel.  If you missed it, it is still available on ITV's Youtube Channel, and it is not locked down for international users.  But what of the second leaders' debate in the US?

There is no news yet from C-SPAN about whether they will be broadcasting it live, but we'll be keeping an eye out on their 2010 British Election page for updates and will report here as soon as there is any news.  C-SPAN are promising to show the recorded version next Sunday at 9pm ET.

The broadcasters for this second debate are Sky News and it looks like it will be possible to access their coverage live on the net via Sky News online, though it is not certain yet whether they will lock it down to international users.  Some details are available at Where to Watch the Sky News Leaders Debate, though this is aimed mainly at UK-based British users.

UK Election: Leaders' Debates' USA Coverage Update

I blogged yesterday on British Election Coverage in the USA: the leaders' debates and I am happy to add now an update from Jeremy at C-SPAN, who offered this comment in my post:

I wanted to let you know that the first of these British debates, between Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Conservative Leader David Cameron and Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg, will be shown LIVE on C-SPAN3.

Here’s the link to our webpage on the 2010 British Elections, along with a link to our LIVE stream of C-SPAN3. Be sure to check the website in the coming weeks for information on further coverage of the debates.

I'd like to thank Jeremy for letting me know this good news, and I am delighted to hear that the first of the debates is going out live.  Let's hope that the other two will go out live too.  Since I am at work, I am setting the DVR at home for this one, and will be trying to catch some of the livestream while at work.  Down our way, C-SPAN 3 is Channel 120.  You can watch it live online here: C-SPAN Live Stream, or after the event here: C-SPAN 3. The event is also covered on the front of C-SPAN's homepage.

British Election Coverage in the USA: the leaders' debates

I asked some questions last week about British General Election Coverage in America. After digging around a bit, I have a bit more now on the question of how expats will be able to access the first ever televised leaders' debates. As I predicted, C-SPAN are planning to air all three debates, but the bad news is that they are not airing them live, nor even on the same day. They have announced the following schedule:

Sunday April 18 on C-SPAN at 9 pm ET
Sunday April 25 on C-SPAN at 9 pm ET
Sunday May 2 on C-SPAN at 9 pm ET

So if you want to catch them live, it looks like it is going to be the internet or nothing. As it happens, I'll be at work and in meetings so I probably will only catch some of it online anyway. It's not yet completely clear to me whether international viewers will be able to watch the live stream of this one, but it looks like it is a possibility:

ITV: The First Election Debate, Thursday 15 April, 8.30pm

My guess is that the live stream will be available to international viewers, unlike content in the ITV Player. It is certainly the case that it will be available to international viewers after the event, via ITV1's Youtube Channel, since this is mentioned in their press release.

Meanwhile, on the podcasting front, the Guardian Election Daily Podcast and Radio 4's Vote Now Show are already daily essentials. What with all the Doctor Who podcasts to listen to at the moment, there are hardly enough travelling and houseworking hours in the day to keep up.

Update (Thursday): the first debate is to go out live on C-SPAN 3 -- details here.

British General Election Coverage in America?

With the General Election called this week for 6 May, I have begun to wonder what kind of coverage there will be for British expats in America.  It's my first British election since moving to America so I have no direct experience.  Of course we will continue to consume most of the election news via the internet, with the BBC Election 2010 and the Guardian Election 2010 websites the two places I will be visiting most often, all the more so this time with The Guardian promising a daily election podcast beginning next week.

But what about TV coverage here?  Election day itself will almost certainly be covered live on BBC America, though they don't have anything on their schedules yet.  Usually they will take the BBC1 feed on important occasions like this.  One of the interesting elements here is going to be the timeshift.  Since 1987, I have always been an all-nighter when it comes to General Elections, but here in North Carolina, I should be tuning in for David Dimbleby at around 5pm instead of 10.  In fact by 10pm here, we should have a good idea already about how things are shaping up.

There is one uncertainty at the moment and that is whether any of the American channels will take the leader debates, happening this year for the third time.  I've taken a look at the BBC America schedule for the first, next Thursday, but there is no sign of it there.  The best bet might be C-SPAN, which takes Prime Ministers' Questions live every Wednesday morning at 7am our time.  And this week, after the last of the PMQs for this parliament, they broadcast the previous evening's election special edition of Newsnight.  In fact, C-SPAN might be a good bet for live election coverage on May 6th too.

More notes and comments here when I have more.  And if you know more, please feel free to comment.