Sky News to utilize ‘Monday Night Football’ studio for election coverage

Sky News announced its upcoming coverage of the UK general election will originate from the studio normally home to Sky Sports’ “Monday Night Football” coverage. 

The 360-degree studio, which debuted in August 2023, features an LED floor and walls that will be used to analyze and display election results on July 4, 2024.

Sky News has assembled a team of experienced journalists led by Chief Presenter Kay Burley and Lead Politics Presenter Sophy Ridge. They will be supported by Political Editor Beth Rigby, presenter Sir Trevor Phillips, and Data and Economics Editor Ed Conway, among others.

The studio’s augmented reality capabilities will also be employed to highlight exit polls and the winner of the race for prime minister with a virtual Downing Street.

The studio includes high-resolution LED video walls, immersive AR graphics, and a concealed “fourth wall” for camera positions, creating a 360-degree filming environment.

The technical setup includes Grass Valley cameras, a jib, a wire cam, Mo-Sys Star Trackers, Vizrt graphics playout system and a graphics rendering system from Unreal and Vizrt.

The set was constructed by ScenaPro, with AV provided by White Light and features ROE Ruby 1.9mm and 2.3mm LED tiles, as well as ROE ‘Black Marble’ LED floor tiles.

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In previous elections, Sky News utilized the atrium of Sky Central for coverage, using large-scale AR and a variety of temporary scenery.