TV pickup

[1][2] Electricity networks devote considerable resources to predicting and providing supply for these events, which typically impose an extra demand of around 200–400 megawatts (MW) on the British National Grid.

Short-term supply is often obtained from pumped storage reservoirs, which can be quickly brought online, and are backed up by the slower fossil fuel and nuclear power stations.

The largest ever pickup occurred on 4 July 1990, when a 2800 megawatt demand was imposed by the ending of the penalty shootout in the England v West Germany FIFA World Cup semi-final.

TV pickups occur during breaks in popular television programmes and are a surge in demand caused by the switching on of millions of electric kettles to brew cups of tea or coffee.

[3] The introduction of a wider range of TV channels is mitigating the effect, but it remains a large concern for the National Grid operators.

[4] The Grid predicted a pickup of around 3000 MW, equivalent to 1.2 million kettles being turned on at once, if England made the later stages of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

[26] This was the largest rapid increase that the grid had ever experienced but it had been anticipated and sufficient generating plant were made ready to accommodate the additional demand.

[3] National Grid argued against the mass switch-off originally planned for the Live Earth and Planet Aid events as these would have resulted in highly unpredictable demands for electricity and would have generated more carbon dioxide than would have been saved.

Despite the trend towards streaming services reducing the magnitude of traditional pick-ups, televised pandemic statements such as by the Queen and Prime Minister Boris Johnson still attracted a large number of live viewers.