Nov 03, 2008 (Contra Costa Times - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
KTVU-Channel 2 news director Ed Chapuis cannot emphasize enough how important Tuesday's historical election is for the local and national television teams assigned to cover it.

"It's bigger than big," he said. "It's our Super Bowl."
Fittingly, it's prompting a super effort. Television outlets across the dial will rely on armies of reporters, analysts and historians, as well as the latest in in-studio technology and plenty of online reinforcements, to deliver the night's events to what is expected to be a massive audience.

The main focus will be the hotly contested presidential race between John McCain and Barack Obama, but there are also Senate and House races to monitor, and in California, several

--Coverage: Updates and complete results
--Endorsements:Full list -- Interactive guide -- Printable list for local and state measures
--Blog: Inside Politics with Lisa Vorderbrueggen
--Blog: Political Blotter with Josh Richman
--Mobile alerts: Get the latest news on your mobile device
--Download: Play along at home with our election bingo cards, featuring campaign phrases you're likely to hear again, and again, and again ... Card 1 -- Card 2 -- Card 3 -- Card 4

propositions are of major interest.
"Your goal is to provide the kind of coverage that can live up to the unprecedented intensity, enthusiasm and interest," said David Chalian, director of ABC's election-night efforts. "You want the size and scope to match the moment."

Along those lines, ABC News is shifting from its regular New York City studio to a specially designed new set on the site where "Good Morning America" usually originates -- a set with a huge window looking upon Times Square.

"People are going to want to gather to mark the moment," Chalian said. "And I think our anchors will feed off the energy. It will have that feeling of the country looking in at us and us looking out at the country."

Other
networks and cable stations have their own fresh approaches. CNN, for example, will use holographic technology during live remote interviews. In other words, a three-dimensional image of the interview subject will make it appear as if he or she were in the studio with the anchors.

Both NBC and Fox News have built new studios to make the most of visual technology, and virtually every network will be using some kind of touch-screen gizmo to provide real-time exit-poll data and electoral-map information.

"Viewers have become so sophisticated. They want to see things and gather information in new ways," said Phil Alongi, executive producer of election night programming for NBC and MSNBC. "Pie charts just aren't going to do it anymore."

Still, they mostly are bucking the trend at low-key PBS, where Jim Lehrer and company once again will stay with the basics.

"We've made a bargain with our audience," said Linda Winslow, executive producer of "The NewsHour." "We'll bring them the best minds and not the toys."

Every newscast, however, will reflect the growing impact of the Internet, not only via their own Web sites and live streaming, but with Web-centric reporting. ABC, for example, will have a correspondent specifically assigned to monitor the blogosphere. CBS's Katie Couric will anchor a live Webcast on CBSNews.com and CNET.com immediately after the network's regular on-air coverage ends. Several networks will use Twitter feeds.

Locally, KRON-Channel 4 will have staff members live-blogging the entire night, and KPIX-Channel 5 will produce a three-hour Webcast beginning at 7 p.m.

"I think a lot of people will be relying on both the television and the Web that night," said KPIX news director Dan Rosenheim. "The online stuff just adds a tremendous amount of detail and depth to the coverage."

Until taking the air with their own late-night newscasts, the Bay Area stations affiliated with networks will rely on national coverage. But they will cut in with brief reports every half-hour and provide local results via a "crawl" tape at the bottom of the screen.

KRON, which is not affiliated with a network, has the flexibility to provide more local coverage earlier in the evening while leaning on CNN for national results.

"That's what sets us apart," said KRON spokesman Kevin Adler. "We can go local the entire night."
Every Bay Area station will have reporters stationed at the state's Democratic and Republican headquarters, as well as the headquarters for opponents and proponents of controversial Proposition 8. But only one local -- KGO-Channel 7 -- will have reporters at Obama headquarters in Chicago (Mark Matthews) and the McCain base in Phoenix (Laura Anthony).

"There's just so much interest in the national race," said KGO news director Kevin Keeshan. "We wanted two people who could cover it exclusively for us, giving us what we want when we want it and providing a Bay Area perspective."

Tuesday's television audience is expected to exceed the estimated 64 million viewers who watched presidential election results in 2004.

Reach Chuck Barney at cbarney@bayareanewsgroup.com. Check out his "TV Freak" blog at www.ibabuzz.com/tvfreak.

PRIME-TIME ELECTION
The major networks and various cable channels plan blanket coverage of Tuesday's elections. Here's a rundown:

-- ABC: Charles Gibson, Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos anchor from Times Square in New york, beginning at 4 p.m. (A special edition of "Nightline" airs at 11:35 p.m.)

-- CBS: Katie Couric anchors both the television newscast and late-night Webcast. 4 p.m.
-- NBC: Anchor Brian Williams is joined by special correspondent Tom Brokaw and others. 4 p.m.
-- Fox: Shepard Smith anchors coverage for the broadcast network. 4 p.m.
-- PBS: Jim Lehrer leads "The NewsHour" coverage. 6 p.m.
-- Fox News: Brit Hume and Chris Wallace head the coverage. 3 p.m.
-- CNN: Wolf Blitzer anchors, along with Campbell Brown and Anderson Cooper. 3 p.m.
-- MSNBC: Anchor David Gregory's team includes Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow and Chris Matthews. 3 p.m.

-- C-SPAN & C-SPAN 2: Greta Brawner and Steve Scully lead the coverage. 4 p.m.
-- Univision: Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas anchor "Destino 2008." 4 p.m.
-- BET: Jeff Johnson provides the latest developments. 8 p.m.
-- COMEDY CENTRAL: Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert present their twisted take on election-night events in the live special, "Indecision 2008: America's Choice." 7 p.m.

To see more of the Contra Costa Times, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
http://www.contracostatimes.com/. Copyright (c) 2008, Contra Costa Times, Walnut
Creek, Calif. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For
reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or
847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group
Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]

Discussions: