4 takeaways from Election Day media coverage

A historic night meant historical TV coverage of Tuesday's election. Here are four takeaways:

1. There was a lot of coverage.

From hyperlocal (Newsday TV) to hyper-maximalist (NBC News), there was a lot of prime-time TV coverage Tuesday — more than any single person could consume, more than any would want to, and more than ever before, in fact. NBC News set that maximalist tone early and often, broadcasting 13 straight hours of coverage (beginning at 5 p.m.) although it felt like a lot more.

If anyone tuned into the top of "The Today Show" Wednesday, there was Savannah Guthrie, Ryan Nobles, Hallie Jackson, et al., still there, and still talking. As in 2024, the network's digital feeds got quite a workout, too: Did anyone, for example, check out CBS News' well-intentioned and well-named "Nerd Show," a bottomless numbers crunch (hosted by elections director Anthony Salvanto and congressional correspondent Caitlin Huey-Burns) that spread across hours upon hours? The networks collectively made the bet that the interest level in this election would reach historic Nielsen heights for a midterm. That now seems like a reasonable one — and those Nielsen numbers will be out shortly.

2. Caution, then caution to the wind

Historically, midterms have been about the horse race, or horse races — hundreds of them — and calling those first was a network news priority for decades, until it was not. Chastened by spectacularly bad calls (during the 2000 general election, for example) and bad polls, the networks pulled back Tuesday, awaiting mathematical certainties. The major networks leaned into one single word last night — the word "lean," in fact — to signal that they were about to call a major race for a candidate. "Lean" was all over the air Tuesday night, accompanied by momentous thumping music and swirling graphics.

Nevertheless, networks are networks, and the urge to call was impossible to repress. CNN charged out with early calls for the Georgia governor race, and was among the first, if not the first, to report that both the House and Senate had flipped to the Democrats.

Technology was the big star, too. There were interactive boards wherever you turned: Bill Hemmer's "Bill Board' on Fox, or the "Big Board" on MS NOW, or John King's famed "magic wall" on CNN which had magically morphed into many magic walls. As such, the big TV race Tuesday was to see how fast someone could punch buttons or interpret graphics — or who would simply drop from exhaustion. None did, although NBC News's chief data analyst Steve Kornacki was winner by default, with 13 straight hours on his feet. "This is why that call just came in, because I just want to show you what happened here. This is shocking!" Kornacki said at one point. He was shocked a lot last night.

Otherwise, network coverage among the majors from 7 to 9 p.m. was largely muted, in part because over the last few election cycles, maps that tended to be blue early in the evening tended to turn red as the evening wore on (as the in-person raw vote came in) Nevertheless, by 9 it was clear that the color palette was not about to change. By 10 p.m., caution was set aside. By 11, it was all over.

3. It was Fox News vs. MS NOW

How would the two openly partisan networks cover this historic night after months of spin, hyperbole and wishful thinking? Just as you might expect. There was a party atmosphere at MS NOW — its first major election night since the split with NBC News, and rebranding from MSNBC — as the night turned blue then stayed blue.

"Somebody came in [during] the break there and brought me a quote that we got from the President from from the White House tonight in response to the results," said MSNow's Rachel Maddow, "and I just threw it away."

Or this from former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele, who also rode MS NOW's election desk all night: "You've lost the governorship, you've lost the Senate, you've lost the people, and so welcome to New America."

Meanwhile, Fox News — which has seen a slump in viewership the last few months — was forced to reckon with a new world order. President Trump, who has bitterly complained about his coverage on the network, did call in late in the evening, while Bret Baier told him "the results are pretty close to what the Fox polls show." Trump: "I can just tell you about speaking for myself and the results with Fox with me were wrong for 12 years. I mean, they've gotten me wrong for 12 years. But I don't care. It doesn't matter."

4. Jimmy Kimmel's revenge

Yes, amid that tsunami of coverage last night, a late night comedy show (or two if you count "The Daily Show") actually surfaced. This has certainly been an interesting year for Jimmy Kimmel — his show briefly shelved by ABC, investigations by the Federal Communications Commission, ongoing battles with Trump — but last night vengeance was served ice cold, over and over: "The bad news is, I guess, we're not getting that $5,000."

Then, "Man, oh man, would I hate to be the DoorDash driver who delivers Trump his Papa John's tonight."