Keynote’s Powerful XML
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Apple’s presentation software Keynote is a powerful tool for even the most demanding professional uses. Because Keynote’s file format is based on XML, KBYU was able to export statistical data from its election polls directly to Keynote, making it insanely easy for the TV reporters to display poll results using beautiful Keynote graphs.
Each election cycle since 1982, KBYU-TV, the public television station of Brigham Young University has broadcast live on election night featuring data from a statewide voter survey conducted Election Day. The KBYU/Utah Colleges Exit Poll has gained a reputation for accuracy in its predictions. … Hundreds of interviewers fan out on Election Day to administer surveys to scientifically selected voters.
Each year a major challenge for KBYU has been how to display data from the poll. Previous solutions have involved old fashioned text tables generated by TV titling systems, custom TV graphics hardware and software, and converting computer displays to video. All have had major drawbacks from poor image quality to steep learning curves. In 2006 KBYU will employ Apple Computer’s Keynote software to build and display crosstabulated data from the exit poll. A MacBook pro laptop is on the Election Night studio set with the program hosts. It drives a large plasma screen display placed next to the hosts. Keynote presentations appear on the display where a studio camera captures the images for broadcast. Keynote was chosen for its ease of use, its professional quality transitions and animations, and the flexibility of its XML engine. Poll statistics are computed using SAS (a statistics program) and exported directly to Keynote using SAS’s ability to output XML data. The XML code from SAS format the graphs used on the broadcast and dynamically update them as needed. The broadcast hosts merely click on the Keynote file which contains the graphs of interest and place them in presentation mode. Sitting next to the display screen allows the hosts to engage with the data, pointing to items of particular interest for the audience watching the broadcast live on KBYU-TV.
For more information about using XML in Keynote:
About the Keynote XML File Format (official spec)