CBS News president on Election Night: "This is going to be wild, buckle up"

The Hollywood Reporter

The major TV news organizations aren't just getting ready for Tuesday night, but for multiple days of rolling coverage. “We are going into election day with a ton of preparation, but very few preconceptions,” says NBC News president Noah Oppenheim in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “We want to be prepared for every contingency. We think it is very possible we will have a call at some point that night, possibly in the wee hours of the early morning the next day, or it may take many days after that. We need to be ready from a personnel, staffing standpoint to handle all of those possibilities.” ABC News president James Goldston adds: "I think this is obviously a very unique election, it is the first-ever election that has taken place during a nationwide pandemic, and that introduces just a degree of uncertainty into the entire proceedings that we haven't seen before. We have put elaborate plans in place to essentially staff this and run with this for as long as is necessary.” Meanwhile, CBS News president Susan Zirinsky, emphasizes that this year's election is taking place in an unprecedented year. “This is an incredibly complex election. This is an unpredictable election, and we have what will be absolutely, almost guaranteed, a record number of voters,” she tells The Hollywood Reporter. “But what has to be acknowledged is that it is happening in what has been one of the most cataclysmic years of events. You have COVID, you have systemic racism cracking open this country, you have police injustice, and this is all happening in the midst of what is a very dramatic, important presidential election, with two of the most different candidates than you could possibly have put head-to-head. In the context of this enormous backdrop of things happening, it is really intense. … This is going to be wild, buckle up.”

ALSO:

• What will TV networks do if Trump prematurely declares victory?: "For the major television networks, one question is paramount: Will they carry Trump live if he is giving a speech and making completely specious claims?" says CNN's Brian Stelter. "The short answer is yes. Though network executives are reluctant to talk publicly about such a hypothetical and disturbing scenario, five people at various networks said on condition of anonymity that they fully expect the President's Election Night remarks to be shown live virtually wall to wall. However, any premature claims by the President -- or by Joe Biden, for that matter, though there is no equivalent fear of that happening -- will be wrapped in televised context, with vigorous corrections and visual proof that the race is too close to call."
• How TV news can get Election Night coverage right: Place an emphasis on the percentage of uncounted votes, as opposed to counted ones, and avoid the “what a president says is news” reflex.
• Fox News is preparing for a terrifying election day, acting like a get-out-the-vote operation and warning of leftist violence
• Read an oral history of Election Night 2016 at MSNBC
• How to watch Election Night coverage: Here are the plans for every news organization, from ABC News to PBS