Seven News: Election guide

Seven ‘s coverage of the Federal Election will begin at 5:00pm AEST, hosted by Chris Bath with co-hosts Political Editor Mark Riley, Melissa Doyle and Matt White.

They will be joined by National Secretary of the Australian Workers’ Union Paul Howes and former Premier Jeff Kennett plus Christopher Pyne (Liberal Party), Bob Katter (Katter’s Australian Party), Bronwyn Bishop (Liberal Party), former MP Alexander Downer and Senator Don Farrell (ALP).

Coverage will break on the main channel at 6pm AEST for Seven News but will continue on 7TWO in all markets. Whilst coverage returns at 6.30pm AEST in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth, it will remain on 7TWO in Melbourne and Adelaide.

Network News Director Rob Raschke said: “Seven News is committed to providing viewers with the most up-to-date and in-depth political coverage.

“This powerful and dynamic team of political commentators will give viewers unique insight as the election result unfolds on September 7, with Paul Howes and Jeff Kennett two big political players who aren’t afraid to call it as they see it.”

Sharyn Ghidella will be reporting live from Brisbane where Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will be, and political reporter Alex Hart will be in Sydney with Opposition Leader Tony Abbott.

Seven News will cross live throughout the night to up to 30 reporters and politicians in all key battlegrounds around the country.

Seven News has invested in cutting-edge, interactive technology that will form an integral part of election night coverage and maximize viewer interaction.

Viewers can voice their opinion live on election night through the 7News app with the 7News Viewer Vote function. The app sends votes directly to the newsroom for journalists to relay results in real-time.

Election trends on Facebook will also be incorporated into live election coverage in an exclusive collaboration between the social networking site, Seven News and Yahoo!7.

And in an Australian television first, Seven News interactive 2013 Federal Election Map will provide viewers with an unprecedented level of demographic and Twitter analysis to reveal key issues among voters, and contextualise election results in a way not previously possible.

The military-grade mapping technology developed by Esri Australia in partnership with Seven News and Yahoo!7 features a comprehensive collection of critical information about every federal electorate in Australia, as well as real-time coverage of Twitter trends.

Seven News Election Producer Stuart Wallace said: “We have a panel full of experience from both sides of politics including political heavyweights Paul Howes and Senator Don Farrell, both key players throughout Labor’s past six years in office.

“Seven’s election coverage will this year include more live viewer feedback and interaction than ever, with Seven News Viewer Vote technology, Facebook and Twitter providing real-time reaction from the Australian public.

“The Election Map allows us to instantly gather unprecedented information about the big issues in individual electorates – to provide viewers with greater context of political developments as they happen on election night.”

An online version of the map is available for viewers to study their own electorate in finer detail.

Viewers can contribute to Seven News live election coverage through Twitter using the “yourcall7” hastag. To ensure Tweets appear on the 2013 Federal Election Map, viewers must enable location services on their Twitter account and smartphone, and use election-related hashtags such as #yourcall7 or #auspol.