Why leading Broadcasters are using Disguise Chronos to supercharge their election coverage in real-time
Broadcast
The US election period is such a crucial time for broadcasters, it sets the stage for the entire democratic process. Broadcasters need to engage viewers and compete for viewers. This campaign period and election night are one of the most critical and time-pressured events for broadcasters to get right. TV stations need to juggle providing up-to-date, accurate information along with insightful analysis and engaging visuals.
Disguise, known for pioneering visual experiences, is trusted by the world's leading broadcasters for its cutting-edge election night technology capabilities. That’s why five broadcasters have chosen Disguise’s software Chronos to elevate US election night coverage. Scripps, News 12, Televisia, TV Globo, and Newsday will all use Chronos to reach viewers across the US, Mexico, and Brazil. A powerful storytelling and visualisation tool, Chronos delivers real-time election results on an interactive, intuitive map.
Here’s how – and why – broadcasters are choosing Chronos to deliver engaging, visually-impressive, accurate election night coverage in real-time.
- A trusted, simple deployment for powerful, bespoke results
Chronos easily integrates into production workflows, meaning that broadcasters benefit from ultra-fast, reliable access to the platform through any internet browser. The software can be installed both on premises or accessed via the cloud.
As well as being straightforward to deploy, Chronos’ design interface can be made bespoke for each broadcaster. TV Globo, one of the largest television networks in South America, previously used Chronos as their storytelling tool for US 2020 election coverage. This year, they will reprise this process, setting up Chronos in its New York and Sao Paulo studios.
TV Globo, Scripps, Televisa, and Newsday have all previously used Chronos to great success. Televisia, one of Mexico’s largest broadcasters, implemented Chronos as part of the 2024 Mexican election coverage, Mexico’s largest election on record.
- Intuitive interactable real-time maps for live analysis
A real-time, interactive live map is crucial for translating complex data on electoral results into visually-engaging content and insights. Viewers want to understand and digest information at speed, and broadcasters must keep pace with changing circumstances.
With Chronos, news anchors can directly interact with the map on set with a tablet or touchscreen. The map updates in real time, synching with the AP election data feed. This means broadcasters can analyse and present data as it happens, commenting on trends from a country to county level.
Broadcast talent can use the interactive map to go into each state and show polling numbers, the proportion of votes, and the percentage hold of each candidate. What’s more, presenters can trigger augmented reality (AR) graphics through Chronos in the studio – such as race boards, winner boards, and poll closing data. This enables a more immersive viewing experience, while empowering broadcasters to find the most up-to-date stories and angles.
- Accessible data at a micro level
US-based broadcasters Scripps and News 12 have opted to use a centralised Chronos server for the US 2024 election that will serve multiple local stations simultaneously. This means that regional stations can use Chronos to delve into the granularities of their county or district.
The ability to report on hyper-targeted, local news helps broadcast talent to create more stories, analysis, and relevant information for viewers at home. Presenters can also compare current results to historic data – commenting on voting trends across all levels.
- An easily adaptable tool for different audiences
Chronos has the ability to visualise overarching trends in US politics, as well as district-level microtrends. For example, broadcasters can use Chronos to show the balance of power across the Senate and the House – both individually or simultaneously on screen.
Meanwhile, outside of the US, broadcasters are able to use Chronos’ features in different languages to translate election coverage to a worldwide audience. For example, Televisa will use Chronos in Spanish, while TVGlobo will use the Portuguese variant for broadcasting in Brazil.
This means Chronos is easy-to-understand for viewers across different cultures, and has the ability to be made even more relevant to specific audiences. For example, Televisia has opted to use special data in Chronos to show where the "Latin Vote" has more of an impact.
- Combining Chronos with other tools for elite election coverage
Disguise, who are at the forefront of election night broadcast technology, have many other interactive tools to help amp up the visuals of election night coverage.
As well as Chronos, Newsday will be displaying election data on ticket crawls across the screen. This is thanks to another Disguise technology, Ipsum. Ipsum pulls in data from external sources directly with Unreal engine – making it a perfect tool for automated real-time tickers and information bars.
Disguise also has the ability to create virtual production studios for election coverage—such as creating a digital twin on Washington DC’s National Mall and Capitol Building for MSNBC.
Elevate your election night coverage
As viewers increasingly seek visually compelling experiences, broadcasters must prioritise this evolution in their election coverage to keep audiences engaged and captivated. Discover Disguise’s modular, end-to-end platform and suite of Broadcast products, including Chronos and Ipsum, that will help you level up your election coverage.