During a general election, each media outlet wants its own spot beside the iconic Gothic towers of Westminster Palace. College Green, formally known as Abingdon Green, becomes a scrum of cables and trucks as the green space is filled with camera crews from across the world.
Neil Baverstock, the Yeoman Usher in Black Rod’s office, is responsible for the small patch of grass that becomes the focus for so many media outlets. From his office that overlooks the site, it’s easy to keep an eye on the broadcasters.
SThe demand for the green is unprecedented,T he says. SAs an institution we can't show bias to any one broadcaster. We prioritise the major UK broadcasters because that’s the public audience but we try to incorporate the needs of international broadcasters at the same time."
Baverstock has been planning the General Election period in great detail for months. News outlets come up with a plan between themselves and it then goes back to him. A system that, he claims, has gone like the clockwork in Big Ben.
SI’m impressed by the degree of cooperation between the broadcasters. They all know each other, they’re very used to working with each other and they look to come to agreements with each other- they know they’ve actually got to chip along.T
The biggest headache for Baverstock is the sheer number of outside broadcast (OB) trucks for the event.
SGetting the satellite links from the green is quite difficult simply because there’s a large building to the south shielding the signals,T he says.
This isn’t an issue for BBC, ITN and Sky as all three have access to broadcast boxes that sit on the green with direct access to the BT tower.
One broadcaster feeling the pressure on election night is Sky News. Its plans for Abingdon Green are centred for the day following the ballot itself, Son the night is actually the dead zone,T according to their director of operations Jackie Faulkner. Sky plans to be at the green from 5am until midnight on results day.
SThere’s always that feeling of ‘no it’s not going to happen’ and then it always does - it’s a nightmare but you get there.T
Faulkner, who has worked at Sky since 1990, is used to the stress of broadasting the big vote. In 2010 Sky News launched its HD service at the start of their election programme. SAt five to nine we had no pictures for any of our locations and John Ryley (Head of Sky News) said to me ‘is this going to work?’ I normally say ‘yes of course’ but for once I said ‘I don’t know.’
"With literally about a minute to go they all came up in HD.T
In terms of this year's new features for Sky's election Faulkner said "We're going for a new look, but nothing as major as that."
Now with less than one month to go till the big day, Abingdon Green will become busier and busier. But whatever drama goes on behind closed doors, Neil Baverstock will be helping to keep the peace on the grass outside Westminster Palace.
By Alastair Ballantyne