ITV to show election debate live online

ITV.com is to host a live stream of this week’s first Election Debate between party leaders Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg, which will air on ITV1 tomorrow.

From tomorrow viewers will be able to watch the debate at itv.com/electiondebate and interact with political experts and ITV News correspondents.

An audience reaction tool called The Worm will be displayed on the video, monitoring reaction during the debate from a focus group put together by ITV News.

The Worm registers approval, disapproval or neutral feelings from the panel in real time and creates a live ’worm graph’ on-screen.
ITV News and ITV.com will host an online chat about the debates giving commentary and posting key quotes from the leaders.

Correspondents Bill Neely, Lucy Manning and Angus Walker will be giving instant reaction direct from the debate location.

Following the debate and for the rest of the evening, users will be able to continue the discussion with ITV News correspondents and experts and ask questions on election issues. There will also be online polls gauging reaction to the debate.

The broadcaster will use a Facebook Live tool so users can log into their Facebook accounts and share their reactions on ITV.com and on their friends’ news feeds.

Twitter tools, built by Tweetminster, will be available to track reaction to the leaders’ performance. A sentiment tool tracking 5,000 key Twitter users will be used as a visual representation of what people are tweeting about each leader throughout the debate.

An election debate word cloud will also highlight the frequency with which party leaders use a selection of key election words.

Ben McOwen Wilson, director of online and interactive at ITV, said, “This is a truly historic occasion and we’re excited to be the only site able to offer not only a live stream of the debate but the opportunity for users to share their views and opinions both on ITV.com and across social networks. This is a great example of ITV feeding the increasing appetite of users to engage with big events on TV and online simultaneously.”

After the live stream, the debate will be available in full on the ITV Player and the ITV1 YouTube channel in the UK and internationally.

This story first appeared on www.nma.co.uk