It’s fair to say that 2012 has been yet another incredibly ‘busy’ news year for many of us attending NewsXchange. Whilst ITN’s foreign newsdesks have continued deploying teams abroad to cover stories as varied as the Eurozone financial crisis to unrest in Syria, my focus has been closer to home on the UK’s biggest diarised events of the year – the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, followed swiftly by the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.

The events captured the imagination of UK audiences and it was clear there would be widespread global demand for access and footage. Based in London at the centre of the action and with a host of affiliate broadcasters and international clients, ITN Source News offered a range of broadcast, workspace and studio facilities as well as on-the-day coverage around all of the events. Looking back now, we can reflect on what has been a hectic but successful summer making sure live spot locations, studio bookings and feeds all went smoothly - from the pomp of the Diamond Jubilee to the Olympian feats witnessed from Weymouth on the coast, via Eton Dorney  and Richmond Park to the Olympic stadium in East London. Client testimonials and expressions of thanks have struck a chord with me and my team, particularly as we identified a common theme from our clients – how to enhance news coverage of such major occasions when you’re not a rightsholder?

With the Olympics, for example, rightsholders from all over the world had studios in the Olympic Park and access to athletes immediately post-events. But where did that leave rival broadcasters who wanted to bring viewers distinctive and compelling news coverage beyond news access footage of the actual events? The feedback from international broadcasters who came to ITN was unanimous – make sure you work with a local partner who can secure you access to the key people involved, bring you as much colour and atmosphere as possible of the events surrounding the main occasions, and offer the broadcasting and newsgathering infrastructure and expertise to set up a ready-made temporary local ‘bureau’. We did this extremely successfully for a number of broadcasters, with one Australian producer telling us that the location of our studios overlooking the Olympic Park was so impressive that audiences back home were convinced they were using a chroma key backdrop! In short, while they weren’t rightsholders, they still delivered their viewers great coverage from the heart of the action.

Whilst the UK news horizon is a bit quieter now, we’re still offering international broadcasters the very best broadcast services and coverage from the UK. If you want a stand-up position with a backdrop of central London or the Houses of Parliament for a story about the UK economy or politics, or you just need footage from a critical football presser or breaking news story then we can deliver.

Delegates that want to find out more about what we can offer every single day can visit our website news.itnsource.com, ask me any questions at NewsXchange or you can email me and my team at itnsourcenews@itn.co.uk