National Tally Room chopped from election broadcasts
There will be no National Tally Room for this year's federal election, bringing to an end an era in political broadcasting.
- Published by David Knox
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The Australian Electoral Commission has announced that it will not operate a National Tally Room for this year’s federal election, bringing to an end an era in political broadcasting.
Networks would traditionally host their electoral coverage from a National Tally Room in Canberra, but the expense of staging it has outweighed its use.
Electoral Commissioner Ed Killesteyn said that the National Tally Room now played no role in the actual delivery of election results but essentially provided a visual backdrop for the media to conduct their election broadcasts. In reality the results are delivered online by the AEC to the media and the wider community through the AEC’s website.
“A number of television broadcasters have traditionally anchored their election night broadcasts from the NTR. I have confirmation that none of the television networks intend to host their 2013 election coverage from the NTR. Notably this includes the ABC,” Killesteyn said.
“The NTR would cost around $1.2m to stage again and this is an amount that has become very hard to justify at this or future elections.
“The networks’ decision diminishes the NTR’s perceived role as a focal point of the election, and has caused me to consider carefully its residual purpose.
“I acknowledge there is a good deal of history attached to the NTR as a Canberra institution. However, I have decided that a $1.2m outlay purely based on an historical legacy is not a sufficiently strong reason to continue operating the NTR. I also note that for the past few state elections, local tally rooms have progressively disappeared with costs and the advent of online results being key factors.”
The AEC will provide updated online election results constant on its website on election night.
Most networks are expected to host broadcasts from their own studios -once a date has been confirmed.
15 Responses
@Secret Squirrel – thanks for the heads up on the other networks, but you are a bit late with it. The diminishing quality and increasing stupidity of commercial networks sent me fleeing to the safety of ABC and SBS years ago – and thank God for them. I now understand why my grandfather only ever watched ABC when I was a kid.
@Craig – You don’t live in suburban Wollongong where we have to rely on wireless Internet? Would the AEC accept “sorry we couldn’t vote ’cause it was raining and our Internet connection wouldn’t work”? It took us 7 years to get a phone connected ’cause the copper cables in our street are so bad. Listening, Malcolm Turnbull?
@MonashMan – Most reporters would be back at home base (Sydney or Melb) and politicians back in their electorates, however, old politicians and retiring politicians would be available to front the cameras (please, no Mark Latham or Graham Richardson).
Gonna miss the old Tally Room and all the wonderful chaos that went with it but I will be sticking with Mr Antony Green on the ABC !!
@TVTALK – if it becomes unbearable on Nine, you could always do something radical like see if your TV can receive any other network.
@ MonashMan
I would have thought most polies would have been scattered across the country in their electorates working the booths, especially the ones with small margins.
But remember to vote early and vote often, because unfortunately no matter how hard we try and regardless who we vote for, we always end up getting a Politician.
Aww, I was really looking forward to going to the Tally Room this year. The atmosphere is always great and it really brings a sense of occasion. I am very disappointed that all the networks will be broadcasting from Sydney. It’s an election, surely it makes more sense to broadcast from the capital than from Sydney?
By now we should be able to all vote online and get the results right after 6pm!
This is stupid, why would you move your election coverage from Canberra, the capital, to Sydney, Sydney has nothing to do with the Election and then you’d also have to fly up the politicians, political reporters etc. it makes sense to have everything in one place, and that place is Canberra, National Tally Room or not.
I hope that all the commercial networks have told Liberal/Nationals Parties Coalition Victory Function Centre of their decisions or they may have in fact already received their invites, thus explaining their confirmation notice given to the AEC,. because no doubt following almost 3 years of such unbiased reporting ??, promotion and destruction agenda’s, and coupled with the expense of setting up an Election Results Rally Room, especially if they require and have to pay Telstra extra $$ to receive the broadband speeds that the NBN already supplies.
They could save so much if they all set up an Election tally room, in the in the same victory function centre as the coalition, after all if Mr Abbott and Co win, it would be as much as a victory for those who got the government they wanted elected, as it would be for Mr. Abbott and Co., and if they don’t win, they could all quickly start planning for getting Mr Turnbull elected next time, even if it does mean they have to use the half/quarter speed broadband that he thinks is OK for anybody who can not pay extra for the ‘fibre to the home’ speeds.
I’ll never forget a few years ago, Roy & HG sent a blimp through the tally room, it went through 7 & 9’s areas. It was funny. They did the best coverage, they should do it every year. It definitely was not boring.
Does 9 have anyone with any credibility at such events, apart from Laurie Oaks? Karl thingy? Really? Seriously???
The ABC is way ahead at election time, I wonder anyone else bothers. What’ll they do when Antony Green pulls the plug – although I reckon he’ll keep going until his dying breath.
ABC did a fantastic job setting up within their Ultimo HQ foyer last time. They even invited people to mill around, giving it a tally room feel.
So there will be no atmosphere, no interviews with wandering polies. What are the odds Nine will have Tom Waterhouse? ABC with Antony Green thanks.
So instead of real politics, we will be subjected to more of the Nine style – turn the whole election into a game show, as Nine did with the 2010 election, with Boofhead Stefanovic as the ringmaster of fun and games.
TV is on a very slippery slope to the lowest point of inanity. Anyone else think we there yet?
No!!!!!!!!!!! I love the election night broadcasts from the National Tally Room! A big, fat boo from me.