As Trump took the lead, TV anchors tried to persuade viewers to stay

Most of the country's major television news anchors used the same phrase throughout election night: “We're not there yet.” As it turns out, they were.

Television networks came into the 2024 election ready to rehash the 2020 election. Executives had planned 24-hour coverage sessions for the fight between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris and also expected political panels to be on hand throughout the weekend, according to polls. It was expected that, like last time, swing states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and Arizona would take days to tabulate the results. Before midnight, however, the crystal ball became clearer. On NBC around 11 p.m., Lester Holt chided his colleagues for starting to talk as if the whole thing was settled. “This is starting to sound like an autopsy,” he warned.

It would happen soon. After 1 a.m., Fox News Channel's Bret Baier told viewers that it looked like Harris had “no path” to 270 electoral votes, and then at 1:23 a.m., conservative network Newsmax, along with Nexstar's NewsNation, had the race proclaimed about Trump. Fox News Channel, which had previously called Pennsylvania for Trump, soon made things official for its larger audience.

Hosts, panelists and correspondents spent much of the evening trying to convince viewers that more drama was about to unfold. Phrases like “We’re not there yet” and “There’s more to come” became oft-repeated mantras across all branches. CNN's John King spent much of his time using the network's signature Magic Wall to show how many Democratic votes might be left to help Harris overcome apparent deficits in Georgia or Pennsylvania.

After a while he began to demonstrate to the audience that there weren't enough of them to be had.

Sitting in the center of a massive sound stage in Culver City, California, as it was just before 1 a.m. on the East Coast to watch an evening Election Night special streaming on Amazon Prime Video, Brian Williams called Erin McPike, who was busy with an interactive map: “Erin, do you have anything?”

There were good reasons to hope for an extended cycle. A presidential election typically attracts the largest and broadest audience to the news. That can be a boon at a time when advertisers have become wary of sponsoring opinion anchors and news programs that deliver hard-hitting headlines about climate change and polarized electorates. If the audience likes what they see, they might stay for more. At a time when the economics of the TV news business are under scrutiny, experienced anchors are leaving and high salaries are under scrutiny, days of coverage may have won new viewers.

But it wasn't meant to be. Certainly, coverage will likely continue the next day. NBC News and ABC News have plans for hours of coverage that will follow viewers of morning shows like “Today” and “Good Morning America” ​​into the evening.

For some it was clear long before midnight where the journey would go. “North Carolina and Georgia will face Donald Trump tonight,” Sean Hannity said on Fox News. “And I'm as confident in that prediction as any I've ever made.” On CNN just after 5 p.m., Chris Wallace used polling data that showed voters were dissatisfied with major issues like the economy. Harris, he said, would need “a miracle” to win given that mood.

By 11 p.m., the smoke cleared as Harris proved unable to emerge with leads in crucial states. “This looks a lot more like 2016 to me than 2020,” Chuck Todd said on NBC News. Around midnight, at least for Democrats, a more sobering sight would follow. Jen Psaski, the former Biden White House press secretary who is now an MSNBC host, sat on the NBC News panel and said: “I'm a firm believer in waiting to know… but yes, if you do the right thing to do in the election campaign. “Now you’re feeling pretty down.”