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This article examines the extent and nature of British television news programmes’ coverage of European elections. A sample of national terrestrial prime-time television news programmes were content analysed during the 2004 Euro-election campaign, and compared with a previous analysis conducted on the same outlets’ coverage of the 1994 Euro-election campaign. The original study of the 1994 campaign identified a number of key characteristics of that election, including the dominance of domestic political issues and actors, and a marked lower level of news media coverage and editorial interest in the campaign relative to national general elections. This study examines whether those patterns of Euro-election coverage in British television news persisted in 2004, representing what could be called a journalistic deficit, compounding existing problems of limited activity on the part of the political parties, and a lack of knowledge, interest and participation amongst the British electorate when it comes to European elections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]