Midterm election coverage means a chance to watch the ad libbing abilities of people who usually read from teleprompters. Plus those crazy graphics intended to keep the numbers exciting. Who can resist witnessing John King manipulate his “magic wall” on CNN?
Add to that this year, new collaborations between mainstream media and social media — notably ABC and Facebook, CBS and Google — and you’ve got a busy night.
Colorado is a hot spot in this election, meaning the national media will be tuned in to our races. Seeing how the state is depicted by outsiders is always telling. Additionally, local affiliates will flex news muscle; local collaborations promise in-depth coverage.
Colorado Public TV’s news analysts and Channel 4 reporters again join forces to produce a full night of coverage, 7-10 p.m. on Channel 12. Jim Benemann and Karen Leigh anchor with panelists Eric Sondermann, Penfield Tate and Jon Caldera.
Rocky Mountain PBS and Channel 7 will collaborate on a two-hour special from the RMPBS studios, starting at 7 p.m. Channel 6’s “Colorado State of Mind” host Cynthia Hessin and Channel 7 anchor Theresa Marchetta team as co-anchors.
Fox affiliate Channel 31 plans coverage from 7 to 8 p.m. and at 9 p.m.
9News spills over to sister station KTVD- Channel 20 (Comcast Channel 5) from 6:30 to 9. Channel 7 has a local special at 9 p.m. And KCEC-Channel 50 (Comcast Channel 10) has a Spanish-language Univision special at 9 p.m.
On the networks:
The PBS NewsHour Election Special is 9-10 p.m. locally on Channel 6. Jim Lehrer will take to the Internet for a webcast beforehand.
On ABC, Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos will anchor “Vote 2010,” beginning with a special edition of “World News with Diane Sawyer” and continuing through the night with a one-hour edition of “Nightline.”
CBS has Katie Couric presenting a special report at 9 p.m., backed by Bob Schieffer, Jeff Greenfield and Nancy Cordes.
Both ABC and CBS will produce live webcasts on the election night, streaming before and after the TV specials. Because those networks don’t have sister cable channels (as NBC has MSNBC), the push onto the Web is even more crucial for them.
NBC’s coverage begins with Brian Williams, continues with a special 8-10 p.m. and continues, pre-empting both Jay Leno and Jimmy Fallon, to 2 a.m. locally. Tom Brokaw and “Meet the Press” moderator David Gregory will join Williams.
“Midterms! I wish they had a better name for it. This is a big race,” said Mark Lukasiewicz, NBC News VP of Specials and Digital Media and executive producer of NBC’s Decision 2010 coverage. “It’s as big a political story as we’ve had in a long time.”
With a shift in political power hanging in the balance, “it’s very likely we’ll still be answering that question when the polls close in Colorado,” Lukasiewicz said. “The fact that a number of critical races, especially on the Senate side, are in the West is one of the reasons we’re going late.”
CNN will lean on Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, Candy Crowley, Soledad O’Brien and King and “interactive” technology building on the hologram technology the network used in 2008.
On the more opinionated cable fringes, Fox News has Bret Baier and Megyn Kelly as co-anchors in prime time; MSNBC again turns to commentators Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews.
NPR offers Robert Siegel, Melissa Block, Scott Simon and Audie Cornish on the story, beginning at 6 p.m.
Other players:
Denver-based Free Speech TV, billed as a nonprofit progressive network available on DishNet and DirecTV, will have coverage anchored by Amy Goodman and Laura Flanders in New York, Thom Hartmann and Marc Steiner in Washington, and Gloria Neal (of KCNC) and David Sirota (of KKZN 760 AM) in Denver.
Bloomberg Television chief Washington correspondent Peter Cook and longtime PBS interviewer Charlie Rose will anchor from Bloomberg’s studios in Washington and New York.
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com
