Television broadcasters, along with Stuff, which is sometimes a bit like television but at other times is just outsourced TV3, have urged the Electoral Commission to release election results in a more exciting order, saying the current approach gives undue priority to counting votes rather than maintaining suspense.
Network executives say results should be arranged according to their dramatic significance, with electorates unlikely to change the overall outcome announced first and the most important results withheld until the end of the evening.
“We understand that the Commission is trying to tell people what happened,” said one television executive, who did not wish to be named because he chooses not to have one. “But there are other considerations. There’s a reason television programmes don’t generally tell you everything that’s going to happen at the beginning.”
The broadcasters have proposed a range of changes, including delaying the announcement of a close electorate until after an advertising break, gradually eliminating parties from contention, and allowing one party to appear to regain the lead shortly before the final result.
One proposal would require the Electoral Commission to hold back a small number of votes in order to ensure the election remains too close to call until approximately 10.45pm.
The executive pointed to the success of The Traitors, which he said demonstrated the value of withholding information from viewers.
“The Traitors is really good at this. Like, really good. They’ll get right to the point where you’re about to find something out, and then they’ll just end the episode. And you’re sitting there going, oh my god, I need to know what happens. It’s brilliant.
“And sometimes they’ll make you think you’re about to find out who gets murdered, but actually you don’t find out until the next episode. That’s fantastic television. Imagine if we could do that with Hamilton East.”
The executive clarified that he did not necessarily mean someone would have to be murdered, but that “it might not hurt.”
The Commission said results were published as they became available and that it was not responsible for providing a dramatic structure to the count.
However, it acknowledged that the current process could be improved, and was considering introducing a mystery electorate, whose identity would not be revealed until the end of the evening.
The Commission said the electorate would be selected at random, and that its result would be withheld regardless of whether it had any bearing on the outcome.
They have also suggested that the winner could be announced with the words “The next Prime Minister is Chris…” immediately before cutting to an advertising break.
Broadcasters have also proposed introducing a proper public vote to decide the winner, in which everyone actually votes, unlike the current system, which they described as “not really the same thing.”