Parliament and Frontline Communications Build the CNN Election Express:
 The Ultimate Coach

When it came time for CNN to plan its coverage of the 2008 election campaign, the decision was made: Have Parliament Coach and Frontline Communications build the Ultimate News Bus.

During the 2004 election, CNN experimented with Hank Williams’ former touring bus, a 1980 Eagle. That coach required a separate satellite truck for linking to the network. It provided an opportunity to see whether a bus was a useful feature in the network’s campaign coverage. The venture was a success, but it triggered thoughts of how it might be done better.

Enter David Bohrman, CNN Senior Vice President and Washington, D.C. bureau chief. He had a vision: Why not build the Ultimate News Bus, something that had never been constructed before? Why not a coach which would have four separate and unique functions: A newsroom, broadcast studio, a state-of-the-art editing suite and a transmission facility?

All these functions would be contained in a single, reliable coach which could operate anywhere in the United States.

Such an undertaking, even with today’s technology, is no easy task.

Parliament Coach and Frontline Communications, both of Clearwater, Florida, were given the mission of building the Ultimate News Coach in the summer of 2006. The coach, a Prevost H3-45, was modified to add a single slide.

“We’ve had a long history of building coaches for our customers on a custom basis,” said Steve Mitchell, Parliament president, “We took the assignment because this was a coach that no one else ever built before.”

While working on the internal design and engineering details, Parliament “coved out” 10 inches of the rear roof of the shell. This area would provide room for the satellite dish to stow. Special attention was paid to the structural changes in the roof system, with the use of tubular steel.

Work can be done aboard the CNN Express whether it is parked or in motion, making it an indispensable tool for keeping up with busy presidential campaigns. The coach is a can be used as a stationary facility or be in operation going down the road.

Racks were installed in the rear of the coach to house transmission gear and a mammoth non-linear high-definition video server system. Special attention was paid to creating an environment which would keep the electronic gear cool and also provide access for technicians. A state of the art edit suite was constructed mid-way on the coach that taps into the server system’s video library of political coverage.

While in ‘newsroom’ mode, the coach houses more than 20 producers, engineers and support personnel. Parliament installed bathroom facilities and a small kitchenette area for the CNN staffers. Power is provided by two onboard 25Kw generators. Assuming there would be situations where one side of the coach would be blocked, two large patch panels were installed to allow for hookups on either the street or curbside of the coach.

The CNN Express coach has the capability to connect with the world in a wide variety of ways. It can tap into local T3 connections, wireless, satellite or use iDirect when away from urban areas.

“This coach can be used where there is very little, if any local infrastructure,” according to Matt Speiser, CNN Deputy Washington bureau chief. “It’s not limited to use in Presidential campaigns. We expect it to be used for news coverage between campaigns, possibly deployed to major breaking news stories.”

The coach was designed to have four high definition uplinks. The idea here was to be able to create a news environment in the middle of a cornfield, if necessary for live transmission to the network.

CNN had a long standing relationship with Frontline Communications, literally around the corner from Parliament Coach, to provide consistent and timely coordination on the innovative bus.

While many coach conversion companies provide, ”attention to detail,“ Parliament’s challenge was to support not only the technical and mechanical requirements of the design and construction of the coach, but to make it comfortable and attractive as well.

“The CNN Express has a studio which we outfitted with black sofas so the election candidates would have a comfortable place to sit,” Mitchell added, “The plans also called for enough desk space, benches and power for up to 20 people at a time.” He said that Parliament used the same team approach on the coach it uses for the design and construction of luxury motorhomes which bear the Parliament logo.

“The idea here is to integrate electronics, mechanical systems, colors, fabrics, all the components of a well-designed and functional coach need to be considered. Whether it’s the CNN coach or one which will be used by a couple in their travels, we approach the job in the same way.”

Speiser pointed out that the coach is truly an innovative creation in that every function is custom designed for the CNN Express coach.

The first use of the CNN Express was during a primary debate where 3,000 YouTube submissions were processed by the staff in Charleston, South Carolina, narrowing them down to 100 actual questions to be posed to the Presidential candidates. The CNN crewed pared these down to 40 at 3 a.m., prior to the debate, only to find another 500 submissions had been made overnight. These too were processed into YouTube-like submissions.

“We intend to make the submission deadline a bit earlier in the future,” Speiser wryly noted.

The CNN Express was first put to the test during the July CNN/YouTube Democratic presidential primary debate in Charleston, South Carolina. Three thousand debate questions were submitted by the public through YouTube and then viewed by CNN staff working on the bus. Because of the bus’ playback server, it was instrumental in that debate and in the Republican CNN/YouTube debate, which took place in St. Petersburg, Florida on November 28.

The bus was the playback source for the clips, aired live on CNN, projected on a 25-foot screen and on the moderator’s monitor in real time.

In addition to its production capabilities, the CNN Express has been the site of numerous interviews with presidential candidates such as Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. John McCain, Sen. John Edwards and Gov. Mike Huckabee. Speiser commented that, “The next President of the United States will have been on the CNN Express coach. We expect that before Inauguration Day in Washington, DC on January 20, 2009, all the candidates will have been in the bus at one time or another.”

From the initial conception of the coach to service date, nearly two years have been involved with ongoing cooperation between CNN, Parliament Coach and Frontline Communications.

“This has been a long process, including the training of our staff and producers as well,” Speiser concluded. “It was a novel experience that went beautifully from our point of view. We wanted to do something that had never been done before as everything on the CNN Express bus was new. It turned out to be a wonderful marriage between Frontline and Parliament."

Parliament president Steve Mitchell summed it up, “We like to think that we have the flexibility to produce whatever our customers need, whether it be a top-quality motorhome, command center or any other special coach like the CNN Express. We welcome the challenge of building what our customers want. That’s why we’re here.”

                                                                                                                                Photos supplied courtesy of CNN