News networks are gearing up for the biggest night of their year, and they’re each preparing not only for Election Day, but for the days and weeks after as votes are counted and the official calling of presidential and congressional races.
For NewsNation, this will be its first election since becoming a 24/7 news network back in June. Cherie Grzech, Co-President of News & Politics, told CFX that what viewers will see on Tuesday is not just a show of the power of NewsNation, but the other branches of Nexstar as well, including its 199 local stations across the country and The Hill. The last three months have been something of a training period for the big night, but they’ve been intense amid a campaign season that included President Joe Biden pulling out of the race, Vice President Kamala Harris taking his spot and an assassination attempt on President Donald Trump’s life.
“It’s a preparation for the biggest night of our year, which will be election night. Everything we’ve learned up to this point will be utilized on election night. And we’re not only preparing for the days leading up to the election, but we’re certainly preparing for what it may mean after the election and how long it may take to call the election,” she said. “So we have to be prepared for so many things that may or may not happen.”
To amp things up, NewsNation has partnered with Decision Desk HQ to provide real-time election results, voting analysis and projections and coverage will begin at 6pm ET on Tuesday. A visual tool called Election Pulse will provide real-time updates on the projected outcome of races, and viewers will see a probability needle move throughout the night based on patterns and remaining uncounted ballots. The CW Network will provide a simulcast of NewsNation’s election night coverage from 8pm-12am.
NewsNation certainly isn’t alone with every other network preparing for their version of the Super Bowl. C-SPAN’s plans for election night coverage are more comprehensive than ever, including 17 hours of nonstop live TV production (no commercials, of course!). Programming begins at 7pm ET on Tuesday night, with C-SPAN expecting to present at least 20 victory and concession speeches from races across the country. This year, it also struck a partnership with Charter-owned Spectrum News for the provision of additional reports with detailed exit poll results and live local coverage from battleground states. Spectrum News+ election coverage will also be simulcast on C-SPAN2 throughout the night.
Leading up to Election Day, Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” will be on the ground with diners throughout Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin to discuss the status of the races in these swing stages. Enhancing the network’s coverage of the races this year will be a number of technology enhancements and design changes. Anchor Bill Hemmer’s “Bill-board” now has augmented reality tools integrated into its system, allowing him to drill deeper into election night developments across population maps, outstanding vote maps and more. Other new tools include a Path to 270 map and a snapshot into the top five races that are simply too close to call.
CNN viewers and app users will also gain access to new tools for Election Day analysis. Fans of John King’s “Magic Wall” will now be able to tap into its abilities on their phones and tablets thanks to native iOS and Android apps. It will display live results in every state, including for more than 500 congressional and gubernatorial races.
MSNBC’s primetime coverage will begin at 6pm ET with Rachel Maddow leading the way. More than 100 NBC News correspondents, reporters and embeds are being dispatched across the U.S. to report from key battleground states, the White House and from candidates’ headquarters. Over the weekend ahead of the big day, MSNBC is also airing specials highlighting different voter populations. For example, at 12pm ET on Saturday, “The Katie Phang Show” will shine a spotlight on Florida voters and their take on this year’s races.
CNBC’s coverage will expand beyond what is shown on its network. CNBC.com is hosting an election blog all week with up-to-the-minute results and commentary. Its digital video team will also produce in-depth explainer and analysis videos breaking down the most important news from the election. The videos will be published on CNBC.com, YouTube and other social media platforms.
Greta Van Susteren will lead Newsmax’s election night coverage, starting at 5pm from Newsmax’s Washington, D.C., studios. Decision Desk HQ is also a partner of Newsmax, offering up election calls and results in real time. Newsmax’s free streaming channel Newsmax2 will also offer live election coverage starting at 7pm.
Each of the networks know that this isn’t just a competition for viewership on Election Day. The hope, especially for some of the more fledgling operations, is to make a strong impression that will encourage viewers to stick around for the other 364 days of the year.
“I think we’re a place where people will return to because they’ll find that we’re not set up to tell anyone what they want to hear. We’re set up to tell people what is true and what is accurate about the information that’s coming in,” Grzech said. “It’s our job, and our network is based off of that. I think there’s no better arena to show that fairness than on Election Day.”
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