{"id":903451,"date":"2026-11-02T17:36:09","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T17:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/903451\/"},"modified":"2026-11-02T17:36:09","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T17:36:09","slug":"inside-nbc-news-bid-to-break-out-from-election-night-pack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/903451\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside NBC News’ Bid to Break Out from Election-Night Pack"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tTom Llamas<\/a> says that on Election Night, he\u2019ll stay up late by sipping espresso that he takes the same way he likes his news \u2014 without sugar.<\/p>\n

\n\tHard facts are likely to surface quickly as different precincts, counties and states tabulate their votes in an election that could change control of Congress. The espresso may be necessary, with Llamas, and colleagues Savannah Guthrie, Kristen Welker<\/a> and Hallie Jackson slated to be together on camera from 6:30 p.m. until at least 2 a.m.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn all, NBC will run 13 hours of election news coverage just on TV, starting at 5 p.m. when Jackson commences coverage, and continue until 6 a.m. with Craig Melvin and Kate Snow anchoring the wee hours of the morning. This kind of sheer tonnage is typically reserved for a presidential contest.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis is when viewers need us the most,\u201d says Llamas, who has been holding multiple study sessions each day to make sure he is up on the factors that may govern how different states vote. \u201cThis is one of the most important jobs we have, if not the most important job,\u201d he says during a recent interview.<\/p>\n

\n\tLike its TV-news brethren, NBC News<\/a> finds itself in a challenging position. An audience that once flocked largely to mainstream TV-news outlets has splintered, with more people gravitating to less formal discussions of the news held by independent journalists and so-called creators<\/a> via video podcasts and newsletters. What\u2019s more, national elections aren\u2019t necessarily tidy, leaving anchors to explain that whichever party has the lead in early tabulations may find its position reversed later in the evening. NBC is counting on its size and resources to make itself more indispensable in an era of multiple voices.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThere are obviously a lot of people doing a lot of content right now, but we have a level of credibility and a level of scale,\u201d says Marc Greenstein, an NBC News executive vice president who oversees many of the elements tied to the election broadcast.\u201cWe just have a lot of resources that others don\u2019t and we are available everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tNBC could be looking to gain new ground in an era when many traditional media companies are grappling with new ownership. CBS News and CNN are now part of Skydance, where moves made by the controlling Ellison family around CBS have been viewed with skepticism by journalism advocates.<\/a> MS NOW, using a name that is only about a year old,<\/a> has spun off from NBCU and is now part of the smaller media company Versant.<\/p>\n

\n\tIndeed, NBC is making sure its news isn\u2019t only on TV. More hours of coverage will surface in an uninterrupted digital stream that focuses solely on Steve Kornacki analyzing his popular digital touch screen filled with voting stats and election data. Meanwhile, correspondent Gadi Schwartz will hold forth from Texas in NBC News\u2019 first vertical-video program, offering first hand reactions from reporters on the ground across the nation.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cPeople are consuming news in so many different ways and formats, we want to be ubiquitous on Election Night and the morning after,\u201d says Catherine Kim, executive vice president of editorial at NBC News. \u201cWe understand that the audience is going to be dipping in and out of various platforms.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tGiven some of the uncertainty that can result as social media discussions make spot interpretations of data, producers expect to use new graphics and standards to make races easier to understand. \u201cWe are classifying races in new ways,\u201d says Greenstein. \u201cIn the past, it was \u2018too early to call\u2019 or \u2018too close to all.\u2019\u201d Now, he says, \u201cour Decision Desk will be able to signal to viewers that we really believe a race is going this way.\u201d There will be caveats about NBC News not calling a race, but that the news organization is offering \u201can indication of where we think it\u2019s going,\u201d he adds. \u201cThere\u2019s a bit more transparency around the numbers. It\u2019s really important, now more than ever, to show people how we are getting this information.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tEven so, NBC News will make no call before it\u2019s time, says Kim. \u201cWe always stress that it\u2019s not important to be first. It\u2019s important to be right, and to make the decision when we are at 99.5% confidence \u2014 at least. We take great care in making that call.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThere are even contingency plans in place for chaos. Anchors and producers prepare in case major news breaks that is not tied to the election.<\/p>\n

\n\tAmid all the technology, scrutiny, experimentation and high-stakes business developments, there\u2019s even room for some storytelling. Results at the end of the evening will determine which party controls Congress, says Welker, so following the factors involved in that across the evening will be important. \u201cDo voters turn out?\u201d she asks. And does the coalition of factors that helped Trump win in 2024 \u2014 Latino voters and other segments return in 2026 with similar support?<\/p>\n

\n\tSuch drama could keep people tuned in for hours, Welker suggests. \u201cWe think of this as our Super Bowl, and we hope viewers will hang in there with us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tom Llamas says that on Election Night, he\u2019ll stay up late by sipping espresso that he takes the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":903452,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4,450,451,5365,170164,61226,3,100977,452,453],"class_list":["post-903451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-headlines","tag-kristen-welker","tag-midterm-elections","tag-nbc-news","tag-news","tag-tom-llamas","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/903451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=903451"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/903451\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/903452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=903451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=903451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=903451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}