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Networks ready Election Night gizmos
2008-11-04
Election night technology has come a long way since Tim Russert memorably held up a white board with three words scrawled on it: "Florida! Florida! Florida!" But when CNN's Wolf Blitzer talks with Candy Crowley from the Obama headquarters in Chicago on Tuesday evening, the correspondent could simultaneously appear in the New York studio-at least as a 3-D hologram. Really. Although CNN's takes the prize for most extravagant election-night bells and whistles, each network will pack studios with their entire stable of anchors, pundits, analyst and correspondents, while bringing out every gizmo in their arsenals to break down the results-including such primary night favorites as CNN's "Magic Wall and Fox's "Bill-board." Outside of the studios, NBC transforms Rockefeller Plaza's ice rink into a giant U.S. map, while ABC takes over three massive screens in Times Square to display results in real time. But despite the fanfare and the heightened viewer interest that's propelled ratings all year-64 million viewers tuned in on election night four years ago, and expectations are high that ratings will be even higher this time-the networks still come into election night with plenty of baggage from the past two cycles. Network executives and political directors always say that being first doesn't matter, but there are bragging rights that come along with calling a state, or the country, before one's competitors. Of course, as 2000 proved, such rushes to judgment can be disastrous. And in 2004, exit poll data leaked during the day to the Internet seemed to indicate that John Kerry was in the lead, an unexpected development the networks had to deal with on the air. Sam Feist, political director of CNN, said that while new technology "allows the network to bring information to our viewers in a way we haven't done before," in the end "election night is really a night about data." Political junkies, exhausted by endless pundit speculation, won't have exit poll data until early evening if all goes according to plan. Following a post-2004 agreement, there's a strict embargo for all exit poll data until 5 p.m. All five networks, along with the Associated Press, have pooled resources in conducting the polls, and each will have a representative in what's been dubbed a "quarantine room," which won't expose the poll data until 5 p.m. It's at that time that MSNBC's election night coverage begins with David Gregory anchoring, along with Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann-the more outspoken duo that anchored through the conventions-in the secondary role. At 6 p.m., Fox News starts off with Brit Hume anchoring the last election of his lengthy career, along with Chris Wallace. And Blitzer takes the lead on CNN, with Anderson Cooper and Campbell Brown also taking on additional anchor duties. Among the Big Three, each nightly newscast will be stretched to a full hour, with coverage beginning at 7 p.m. On the broadcast networks, CBS's Katie Couric, NBC's Brian Williams and ABC's Charles Gibson will sit in the chairs warmed by Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw, and the late Peter Jennings four years ago. As it did during the debates, Fox goes with Shepard Smith in the anchor spot. Of course, some of the most memorable television moments won't be in New York or Washington studios, but further out in Chicago or Phoenix, where the campaigns are throwing celebrations of differing scales. For example, when McCain delivers his remarks at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel, there will only be pooled press since the room couldn't accommodate the entire press corps. A second "results watch party" will be open press, though. Assigned to the McCain headquarters will be correspondents Kelly O'Donnell and Savannah Guthrie (NBC); Ron Claiborne and David Wright (ABC); Chip Reid (CBS); Molly Henneberg (Fox); Dana Bash and Ed Henry (CNN); and Carl Cameron (Fox News). The Obama press corps will include Lee Cowan and Ron Allen (NBC); Jake Tapper and John Berman (ABC); Dean Reynolds (CBS); Steve Brown (Fox); Crowley, Suzanne Malveaux and Jessica Yellin (CNN); and Major Garrett (Fox News). Clearly, the Obama team's event will be larger, with estimates that a million people could descend upon Chicago's Grant Park on Tuesday night. Despite the differences in size-which should be apparent to televisions viewers whenever there's an overhead shot-ABC political director David Chalian said that the "focus of those events are really on the candidates and the analysis of correspondents." The networks, though, will spend less time surveying the crowds than they will providing viewers with numbers and analysis of what they mean-especially since more news will be made that will be more news than only who becomes commander-in-chief. "The potential for a filibuster-proof senate would clearly have a huge impact," Chalian said, adding that the "balance of power" story will have to be factored into covering the returns. The key, though, remains getting the results right, no matter whether they're delivered by a live anchor, a hologram, or a projection on a skating rink. "It's critically important that we be accurate and correct when we make a projection," Feist said. "The American people are going to find out who their next president is on television that night. We're in no rush. Being first is simply not a priority."
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