Also interesting is the listing of back-up help:
Mr. Williams will be joined by his predecessor, Tom Brokaw. Mr. Gibson will have George Stephanopoulos, the anchor of ABC's "This Week" Sunday news program and a former senior aide to President Clinton. Ms. Couric's predecessor, Bob Schieffer, will appear with her.
As for tricks of the trade:
The three anchors will be judged not only on ratings but also on content and their ability to perform on the spot. One particularly tricky moment for rookie anchors to master: bringing the newscast back from a commercial or a local break. Called a "reset" in TV parlance, the anchor must sum up the news so far in a pithy sentence.
While election junkies relentlessly will be flicking the remote from network to cable news, consider what is expected from the average viewer:
Unlike the audience for presidential coverage, when the networks remain on the air all evening, viewership for the midterm coverage is typically affected by the strength of the show immediately before. By that measure, ABC has the strongest lead-in with "Dancing With the Stars."
Still, networks are just networks.
New this time around at every network is a plethora of news offerings on the Internet and cellphones. CBS plans to update its Web site every 90 seconds, while ABC says it will provide updates every minute. ABC will also allow college and high school students to file Internet "perspectives" via video cellphone, Web cam or camcorder. NBC plans extensive additional material on MSNBC.com, along with original newscasts for mobile phones.
Of course, those of us wanting insta-updates will be watching all the networks, cable included, with RSS feeds clueing us in to instantaneous news from individual state election returns.
Does a 1 minute lead make a difference to anyone but political junkies? I doubt it, but bloggers who cover the election live have our loyal readers, who expect us to be on top of the latest, breaking news. Blogs have done it before, and we'll do it again. I doubt you'll find a blog calling a race for Dewey instead of Truman.
Consider this a pitch for blogger coverage of election night. We're instantaneous and immediately self-correctible. We watch them all, and bring you the results as fast as anyone.
Bloggers don't know from Dancing With Stars. We know from keeping feeds open from a variety of sources and clicking the tv remote every 20 seconds. It's another chance for blogs to shine, and I have every expectation they will rise to the occasion.
That being said, go Brian, Katie and Charles. We'll be watching you too.
