Rivals ABS-CBN, GMA gear up for Monday’s election

MANILA, Philippines - The rivalry between multimedia giant ABS-CBN Corp. and publicly-listed GMA Network Inc. are expected to heat up with the kick off of the coverage of the mid-term elections scheduled on Monday.

ABS-CBN is set to provide 360-degree news coverage through “Halalan 2013” on different media platforms and deliver public service on-ground on Monday when millions of Filipinos troop to polling precincts to cast their votes and choose their next batch of leaders.

Ging Reyes, head of the ABS-CBN Integrated News and Current Affairs said in a statement that it has become a tradition for the company to devote all of its resources to important coverage such as elections

“Technology has become more sophisticated through the years and we have utilized different tools in support of the coverage itself, but what hasn’t changed is our commitment to cover this political exercise and present all aspects of the polls as completely as possible,” she said.

Viewers could rely on ABS-CBN to give them real-time updates, up-to-date news stories, vote count, and in-depth analyses of reports from over 30 live points in the country.

ABS-CBN would utilize augmented reality to help viewers understand reports better and an interactive map that will monitor the latest results and candidate information in key areas.

Aside from giving groundbreaking news coverage, ABS-CBN will also put up “Bayan Mo, iPatrol Mo” stations all over the country where voters can ask information about their precincts and other poll-related concerns. The BMPM team will then link them to the authorized government agencies and groups.

For its part, GMA is spending P91 million for its election coverage that is expected to kick off with “Eleksyon 2013” that is set to run a full 28 hours from 4:30 a.m. on Monday until Tuesday. 

GMA’s news teams would be reporting from a total of 47 strategically selected live remote points throughout Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao including the GMA originating regional stations Cebu, Davao, Dagupan, Ilocos, Naga, Iloilo, Cagayan de Oro and satellite stations Bacolod and General Santos.

 The voting public was introduced to state of the art election-related news delivery when GMA utilized touchscreen, virtual screen, and immersive 3D graphics and the hologram effect, all powered by Vizrt, for its coverage of the 2010 Presidential elections – a first in Philippine television.

This interface creates a more dynamic presentation of information, context packages, and real time immersive graphics, enabling camera movements such as panning, tilting, zooming, and even allowing anchors to walk around the graphics. CNN used the same tracking system during their 2012 US Presidential election coverage.