I nearly wore out my remote control last night - zapping from one channel to another on an historic election night.  In the end - I felt that nationally CNN provided the best coverage and graphics support to win my vote as #1 on this night.

Yeah, the hologram interviews were a bit hoky - I felt that I had been dropped into a Star Trek episode - but you also have to admit it was pretty cool at the same time.  But, CNN also had some excellent supporting graphics throughout the night as they clearly explained what was happening as Obama marched toward the electoral vote victory.

CNN's virtual capitol graphic that showcased the battle to control congress was excellent - a great use of technology.  They also used the “magic map” graphic to convey clear information.

But what really sealed the win for CNN was what they didn't say.  CNN wisely said nothing for some 10 minutes after Obama's excellent victory speech - literally taking us to the emotion of the moment from one end of the country to the other - with nothing but natural sound - letting the emotional pictures tell the story.  This was great television.  The tears streaming down the faces of Oprah and Jesse Jackson - and many others - told the story of the night.  No words were needed.  Meanwhile CNN's competitors felt compelled to talk, talk, talk over those same pictures - ruining the moment for me.

NBC/MSNBC had some very cool graphics too - especially the spinning column that came out of the floor and allowed Ann Compton to literally walk around it.  Their virtual maps were nice too - but the commentary was weak.  The pictures were pretty - but NBC's analysis got lost along the way.

Fox News Channel's Megyn Kelly did a very good job using the “launching pad” to add perspective to the voting through exit polling.  She had fun with it - I really like her energetic, upbeat style of reporting.

ABC had some good moments - and used their Times Square location to good advantage.  CBS's Katie Couric looked lonely on election night.  While CNN, ABC, Fox and the others had seemingly a cast of thousands on their sets - CBS (and I must admit I watched very little of their coverage) had Katie and two other people.  While the other networks looked like they had spent millions of dollars for special (and very functional) news sets and graphics - CBS look old-school.  I'm sure the ratings will reflect that too.

I didn't watch much of the local station's coverage in my hometown of Dallas - but it seemed adequate - but nothing special.  Some of my client stations provided some nice extra elements on the web and on air.

The Fox station in Green Bay - WLUK - provided a streaming webcast all night that featured local political experts, one of their anchors, and their assignment manager.  Compared to the national cable channels it was a low tech effort - but the content was live and local all night - with plenty of interesting perspective and updates on the local races.  Nice work!

Jim

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