GMA Network, a commercial broadcast television network in the Philippines, led the ratings for its live Eleksyon 2013 coverage on its flagship TV channel GMA-7. As one of several GMA media outlets covering the country's mid-term elections, GMA-7 together with its news channel GMA News TV, provided a total of 28 straight hours of live coverage beginning at 4:30 a.m. on election day, May 13, 2013.
GMA News and Public Affairs' Eleksyon 2013 garnered the most TV viewers of any Philippine network, driven in part by its innovative use of visually dynamic graphics technology from Vizrt. GMA acquired new Vizrt graphics technology, including a Viz Virtual Studio with camera tracking hardware and the Vizrt Social TV system purchased expressly for Eleksyon 2013 coverage. These Vizrt graphics systems complement GMA's existing Viz Trio character generator and Viz Ticker 3D system.
The Vizrt Social TV systems give broadcasters social media tracking, editorial and production tools to help them manage their social media initiatives both on-air and online as well as incorporate user-generated content into their traditional graphics pipeline.
GMA built an immersive two-story 3D Viz Virtual Studio for Eleksyon 2013 that enabled GMA anchors to give their reports while walking around virtual objects such as 3D charts. The studio was filled with expansive video projections of live feeds from GMA news teams at 47 remote locations nationwide, video packages and real-time data-driven graphics. There were also hologram effects, such as a dozen senatorial candidates appearing to stand alongside the anchor during live reports from the immersive 3D set.
The Vizrt Social TV system grabbed and converted social media content from two custom GMA Web applications for use in live TV graphics including Kandidato Buzz Index, which sifted through Twitter and Facebook posts to determine how senatorial candidates were trending in the social sphere. The other Web application, GMA News Online's Voting Experience Poll, displayed the results of polls asking people about their voting experience. These Web applications were powered by Mass Relevance, a social engagement platform that aggregates, captures, filters and analyzes real-time social media content.
