The Newsroom

US Presidential Election 2016

Run up to election graphics and coverage (February 2016)

This site closed in March 2021 and is now a read-only archive
BR
Brekkie
People voting by post vote early but if voting in person or by proxy it's on the day itself.

Not too much of note UK wise on TV the day after - all bulletins are of standard length except for the C4 getting a half hour lunchtime bulletin and Newsnight being extended by 15 minutes. There is also a special edition of The Last Leg at 10pm.
CH
Charles
Here's a good sense of what it will be like (also especially what it will be like this year). Here's CNN at (I think) around 11 p.m. ET on election night in 2008:



As you can see, the majority of precincts in eastern swing states like Virginia and Ohio had already been accounted for, showing Obama wins in both states. Once polls closed everywhere, with California being the largest state and an almost certain Obama win, CNN was able to pretty comfortably declare the election for Obama. Both candidates gave speeches around midnight as well.

Of course, if it's close, things can turn out very differently (see also: the 2000 election).

In terms of presentation and coverage, all the networks pull out their very best and go overboard for their coverage. NBC takes over the skating rink in front of Rockefeller Center to project the electoral college map, and CNN famously used their holograms on election night. I'm not sure how big the theatrics will be this year, but it's a lot of pundits drawing maps and reporters in the field at the candidates' rallies. NBC/CBS/ABC/Fox also give parts of the hour to local affiliates to do inserts on local races. So when all is said and done, it really takes up everything from the afternoon well into the night.
AA
Aaron_2015
I've never stayed up for a US election before, what sort of time do things start to get interesting? I don't imagine there is all that much for UK broadcasters to discuss at 10:40PM, but I might be wrong.

11:00 EDT (New York) (4am UK ??) the real numbers start popping up. I would imagine things start becoming clear, but nothing is set in stone. This is an unusual election by all accounts. So who knows. Plus you have loads of other races on the ticket as well. Not just presidential ballot. So the state legislatures will look different and the Congress as well. So its all change. I think the coverage will consist of Presidential results and state races as well. Because the make-up of the congress will determine what the president is actually able to accomplish realistically.


Interesting, I guess the broadcasters mostly discuss opinion polls and look at the states where the result will be close.

So really, it'll be well gone midnight UK time before there are any major developments?
IS
Inspector Sands
UK broadcasters cannot broadcast anything during the voting hours (7am-10pm nationwide) which could be deemed to influence how people vote

Are you sure about that? Yes it's the case with British elections (although the restrictions currently starts at 12:30am), but is it with US ones?
BR
Brekkie
I was answering Mouseboys questions about UK elections.
IS
Inspector Sands
I was answering Mouseboys questions about UK elections.

Oh yes, I missed that amongst the rambling, sorry
JC
JCB
2004, 2008 and 2012 elections were all called between eleven- midnight (et). I only know this because I remember watching The Daily Show election night shows. This year being a total car crash though I don't think anyone really knows how the hell it will all unfold...and I suspect most media outlets now are now preparing for a repeat of 2000 if anything.
:-(
A former member
JCB posted:
2004, 2008 and 2012 elections were all called between eleven- midnight (et). I only know this because I remember watching The Daily Show election night shows. This year being a total car crash though I don't think anyone really knows how the hell it will all unfold...and I suspect most media outlets now are now preparing for a repeat of 2000 if anything.


A good bet would be 2am, there just have to wait for details coming in, BUT if Ohio is democrate then its over, but if New hampshire and penn goes for trump then its all to play for.
RK
Rkolsen
Stephen Colbert will be broadcasting live on CBS' premium sister channel Showtime starting at 11PM eastern. The special is called Stephen Colbert’s Live Election Night Democracy’s Series Finale: Who’s Going To Clean Up This Sh*t? Being on Showtime allows him and his guests to be uncensored. Colbert described is special as “Get all the election news without all the ethics and standards of news."

Sorry if this was already posted - I went back the past three pages.
JK
JK08


TM
tmorgan96
Stephen Colbert will be broadcasting live on CBS' premium sister channel Showtime starting at 11PM eastern. The special is called Stephen Colbert’s Live Election Night Democracy’s Series Finale: Who’s Going To Clean Up This Sh*t? Being on Showtime allows him and his guests to be uncensored. Colbert described is special as “Get all the election news without all the ethics and standards of news."

Sorry if this was already posted - I went back the past three pages.
Any means of watching the program from overseas?
MA
mark Founding member
Here's a round-up of what all the US networks are doing on election night, courtesy of TV Newser...

http://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/heres-how-the-networks-will-cover-election-night/309350
Charles and scottishtv gave kudos

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