From elections to major sports events: how orchestration helps newsrooms stay ahead during live events

Election night, 9:47pm. The losing candidate concedes on X. By 9:48, the story flips. The problem? Your graphics team is still manually formatting the previous update. The moment has already moved on, and you're stuck playing catch-up.

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This is the surge problem. Everyday newsroom infrastructure is optimized for steady news cycles, not spikes. During peak coverage of major events - elections, major sports events, debates, global summits - the demands multiply exponentially: simultaneous live feeds, nonstop graphics updates, massive audience demand and constant publishing across broadcast, digital and social platforms.

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The data backs this up. Social video consumption jumped from 52% to 65% between 2020 and 2025, meaning newsrooms must now optimize for platforms that require significantly more resources than they did just five years ago. Meanwhile, research shows that 45% of news operations struggle with legacy systems that force users to switch between multiple platforms just to complete basic tasks. And of course, this problem intensifies dramatically during peak events.

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The typical bottlenecks are predictable: manual data entry for election graphics, content duplication across platforms, delayed approvals slowing time-to-air and disconnected analytics tools fragmenting decision-making. But the human cost matters more. Peak pressure means higher risk of mistakes, stress, burnout and missed opportunities when it’s speed that counts.

Reducing friction across live event workflows    

You don't need to work harder or hire more staff. You need better coordination. Orchestration connects your tools into a single, automated workflow so teams can focus on content, not workarounds.

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Three principles make this work. First, centralised visibility: one dashboard for ingest, edit, publish and analytics, so teams can see the full picture without switching contexts. Second, automating repetitive tasks with workflows that move content from tool to tool without manual handoffs. Third, built-in compliance: pre-set checks and audit trails embedded from the start, so quality control doesn't drag you down.

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Critically, orchestration doesn't replace your existing tools or require a technical overhaul. Platforms like qibb sit between MAMs, graphics systems, social platforms and publishing tools to manage flow and reduce manual steps. It's not adding complexity but rather removing it by connecting what you already have.

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This means you can scale output in line with demand, not your staff numbers.

Orchestration in action: turning pressure into performance

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Graphics and data integration

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When broadcasters face high-pressure live events like election coverage, a familiar challenge emerges: fast, accurate data visualisation in hybrid SDI and cloud environments. A typical setup might combine cloud-based graphics platforms such as Singular Live with automated data delivery through JSON feeds and HTML5 graphics.

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The lesson? Graphics systems excel at displaying data in real-time, but orchestration ensures that data reaches those systems instantly, without manual handoffs. With qibb managing the pipeline, the flow becomes automatic: fetch the data source, transform it based on the graphics template and make it instantly available to publish. This closes the time-to-air gap dramatically.

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Fan and social engagement

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The same principle applies to social engagement workflows. Just as sports organisations automate the flow from fan social posts to stadium screens, newsrooms can automate social content from breaking moments straight to broadcast graphics.

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Real-time audience input and data streams can be ingested, validated and displayed automatically. Orchestration handles the entire pipeline without requiring editorial teams to manually copy, paste and reformat content across platforms.

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Digital publishing and clip production

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Consider this workflow: content is ingested and an edit story is auto-created in CuttingRoom. Once edited, it exports back to Mimir. qibb then uploads the clip to Slack for validation. If approved, qibb publishes to social. If changes are needed, qibb notifies the editor via Slack with the requested modifications.

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This matters on high-pressure nights when publishing first can make or break your digital reach. Orchestration ensures clips are automatically routed to the right teams and platforms (broadcast, digital, social), without duplicate work or manual bottlenecks.

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Real-time audience analytics

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Producers routinely juggle ratings, streaming metrics and engagement stats from multiple sources, often making decisions based on incomplete information under intense pressure. When qibb consolidates this data into a single pane of glass, editors can act instantly on performance trends rather than relying on guesswork.

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Staying ahead when it counts

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Major events don't have to break workflows if orchestration is built in. The best time to build resilient workflows is before you need them. The benefits are tangible: handle spikes in coverage without extra hires, reduce time-to-air for critical content and ensure consistency and compliance even under intense pressure.

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Election night, 9:47pm. The concession appears on X. A minute later, the story shifts. This time, your graphics update instantly. Your clips are already published. Your team isn't scrambling; they're ahead of the moment, not chasing it.

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With the right orchestration layer, newsrooms can turn their most demanding nights into seamless experiences, scaling coverage with precision, speed and confidence.