:: 11:45pm: Dan Rather: "It's not over, but clearly advantage Bush."
:: 11:39pm: ABC calls Florida for Bush. CBS follows 4 minutes later.
:: 11:35pm: Tom Brokaw is losing his voice on NBC.
:: 11:30pm: Dan Rather just went to reporter John Roberts with video clips but he did not realize that he was on and he said, "I need to get more maps, I feel like I'm falling asleep here."
:: 11:24pm: Al the networks have different numbers: CNN: 197 / 188 EV NBC: 207 / 199 EV ABC: 210 / 188 EV FOX: 197 / 144 EV CBS: 219 / 199 EV
:: "Shep just asked Jane Skinner if she brought cookies tonight... She said maybe, but it depends on how he behaves. This is, of course, a reference to the cookies and brownies she bakes for him during Skinnerville on Studio B."
:: 11:00pm: Tom Brokaw: "There have been no major surprises so far."

> "Chris Matthews is so chipper and has the best most genuine laugh of all the talking heads."
> "Could somebody close the curtains on CNN's set? A bunch of fools [are] doing the 'hi mom' thing."
> "Aaron looks miserable and upset, having to play second fiddle to Wolf Blitzer."
> "MSNBC has been completely solid all night. Chris and the team are superbe, analysis is keen, results are spot on accurate, and the night has run so ridiculously smoothly that I almost feel it's scripted. MSNBC surpasses each of its competitors tonight."
> "Larry King on CNN makes Jeff Greenfield REALLY look like the more experienced broadcaster."

Are the news networks going to re-evaluate their reliance on exit polling? "Somebody needs to re-assess exit polling," Tucker Carlson said on CNN. "It stinks. Tomorrow morning we are going to put the exit polls up against the actual numbers, and you're going to see that it's useless!" Radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt said "exit polls are to election nights what food poisoning are to great restaurants," according to the Hotline.

Most of the 'big names' are appearing on their respective networks tonight -- except for Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes. On his radio show today, O'Reilly said Fox approached him to provide analysis of the election tonight and he said no. "I don't like to speculate," he said. I'm surprised H&C have had no role in the coverage...
> Update: Alan Colmes is contributing to Fox News Radio coverage.

:: 10:40pm: Joe Lockhart on CNN: "The night is young. I think you guys can stay up a little while longer."
:: NBC's Brokaw, via the Hotline: "You want reality television. This is reality television. Someone, before this night is over or when this night is over, will be voted off the island."
:: 10:31pm: Peter Jennings noted that wire services are now reporting a major offensive is about to begin in Fallujah.
:: 10:30pm: Aaron's alive! He cited the Jeff Jarvis pledge. "Ask yourself this tonight: Isn't anything better than what we call political discourse these days?," he said.
:: "Where is Aaron Brown?," an e-mailer asks. "Is he in a bunker at an undisclosed location without any cameras?"
:: "The states we can't call are stacking up like cord wood," FNC's Chris Wallace said at 9:52pm.
:: 10:08pm: Sen. Bob Kerrey on NBC: "There is a big cultural war going on in the country."
:: 10:03pm: The Daily Show's Stephen Colbert is ready: He's wearing pajamas, stocked up with canned food, and set up a cot in the studio. "I'm prepared to miss my childrens' developmental milestones!"
:: 9:58pm: Brit Hume: "I'm not promising any great surprises, but you're going to want to stick around for these 10pm results."

> "NBC, far and away, has the best coverage, certainly the best-looking coverage. Stunning set at Democracy Plaza. And you gotta love Tom Brokaw & Tim Russert."
> "CNN Interactive is amazing in its online coverage. Easy to navigate and understand. Very comprehensive. No ads! MSNBC on the Internet is also comprehensive, but navigation and layout is confusing. There seem to be server issues from time to time -- reloads slow."
> "FNC's talking heads havn't moved all night. Are they superglued to their chairs?"
> "Poor Shep is stuck at the kids table on the Fox Network," one viewer jokes.
> Wonkette says FNC's Brit Hume "looks like he's covering a funeral."
> "The window washers making charts on the side of 30 Rock is particularly lame," an LR commenter says.

CNN insiders are thrilled with the network's Times Square broadcast. "CNN is a real screen grabber," another viewer says. "I feel compelled to watch its seamless liquid wall." One e-mailer calls it breathtaking: "I am stunned by how good it looks...CNN is looking snazzy and by far the best." But "CNN coverage stinks!," one e-mailer says. "The wall of monitors look bad...washed out, and it's difficult to read!" "CNN Video wall isn't that cool, it's too busy," another viewer says. But the majority of e-mailers love it...

Just before 9pm, Fox News Channel projected that Indiana governor Joe Kernan would win another term in the state. Then, a second later, Brit Hume realized it was wrong: "We're misreporting that, that board was wrong," he said. He explained that Mitch Daniels is actually the projected winner...

:: 9:51pm: Vanessa Kerry has also been making the rounds. "She looks exhausted...and at a loss for words on CBS," Ed says.
:: 9:47pm: Rudy Guiliani is jetting around New York City for interviews. He's sat next to Tim Brokaw and Larry King so far, and now he's at Fox News HQ...
:: 9:46pm: MSNBC's "States Won" graphic is very cool. It lists each state Bush and Kerry have won.
:: 9:41pm: Chris Matthews says all the "too close to call" announcements are not due to "incompetence:" "It's caution...This may be the first real close re-election of a president in modern times."
:: 9:32pm: "Not a single state has changed from where it was in 2000," CNN's Jeff Greenfield noted.
:: 9:31pm: Dan Rather: "Make no mistake: Until we know Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida -- to say nothing of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan and Missouri -- we aren't going to know a whole lot."
:: "Does CBS know it's the 21st century?," a viewer asks. "Every 10 minutes they cut to that stupid map on the anchor desk, with Dan Rather pointing at states with his pencil like he's a 1980s weatherman!"
:: 9:04pm: "I think this is about what we expected," ABC's George S. says. "We expected the red states to go red, the blue states to go blue, and for this to be a relatively long night."
:: 9:01pm: Tim Russert: "The states you called are important, but the ones you didn't call are more important."
:: 9:00pm: NBC's green map demonstrates that 14 states are too close to call.
:: 9:00pm: Chris Matthews: "There is no dramatic news right now in this block."

A sampling of the best, thanks to Ed: > 8:08pm: "This race is hotter than the devil's amber."
> 8:06pm: "Bush is sweeping through the south like a big wheel in a cotton field."
> 8:02pm: "In Missouri. The Show Me State. Show me insufficient data."
> 8:01pm: "Illinois: Land of Lincoln. Land of Kerry tonight. Play a round of 'Johnny Be Good' there in Illinois tonight for Kerry."
> 7:47pm: "You know, we may need Billy Crystal to help analyze this before it's all over."
> 7:33pm: "Ohio turns into a sauna for both Bush and Kerry. All they can do there now is wait and sweat."
Update: RatherBiased.com is tracking all the comments.

"MSNBC has Brokaw, Russert & Williams only during the 23-30 and 53-00 windows," an NBC affiliate insider tells TVNewser. "This is when NBC network cuts away to local (or to an NBC NewsChannel feed in those rare markets where the local stations don't take the time). Very interesting structure to make sure MSNBC gets some time from the stars."

:: 8:40pm: Chris Matthews called Joe Trippi "Mr. State of the Art."
:: 8:27pm: On Fox, Shep Smith said: "No need to walk around some Nasdaq site, we have it all right here, on your screen."
:: 8:25pm: "I have no idea why Larry King is part of CNN's election coverage," an e-mailer says. "He just asked Wolf Blitzer how many Congressmen were in the House."
:: 8:23pm: Lost Remote says the coverage on CNN and ABC is good, but: "Everyone else? Snoozeville. Too many talking heads."
:: 8:22pm: "In many ways, George Bush's lead is as thin as November ice" in PA, Dan Rather said.
:: 8:08pm: Howard Dean sighted w/Chris Matthews in NYC.
:: 8:06pm: FNC's "Alert" ticker (above the lower thirds) is spiffy.
:: 8:03pm: Peter Jennings, after a lingering studio shot: "I promise you that hive of activity you see behind me is real-time stuff. Everybody is working like nobody's business here."
:: 8:02pm: "This is the red and blue of American life we're watching," Chris Matthews said
:: 8:02pm: MSNBC viewers could hear Democracy Plaza visitors reacting to each projection
:: 8:00pm: Wolf Blitzer's refrain: "We don't know yet, we don't have enough information"

:: "CNN looks sharp tonight. They get my vote for the category 'Best in Presentation.'"
:: "MSNBC's election coverage is remarkable. They have the best graphics, and BEST overall coverage."
:: "Who is doing better? Chris Matthews is yelling, Brit Hume looks old and seems slow with half glasses, and CNN is in information overload."
"It's interesting to see CNN HLN using their underutilized video wall with Erica Hill doing the projections on it. Also, very interesting to see the flurry of activity at the desks on the set. They are usually abandoned."
:: "CNN by far has the best coverage including the networks."

The sense of excitement is palpable on every network: The night has finally arrived. As one network exec told me yesterday, "Of course we don't want to screw up. But this is going to be a lot of fun." The anchors are warmed up, the producers are prepared, the graphics are glowing, the technical backend has been tested over and over again. This will be a night for television news to shine -- and I hope I don't end up with egg on my face.

:: 7:11pm: CNN keeps noting the fact that its coverage is being shown internationally.
:: 7:08pm: Wolf Blitzer: "We're much more cautious this time than four years ago...and if we don't know something, we'll tell the viewers." Larry King called the Marketsite set "amazing."
:: 7:06pm: CNN's multiple camera angles at the Election Analysis Center are pretty cool.
:: 7:06pm: FNC's Bill Kristol: "If Bush loses, the mainstream media can take some of the credit, or some of the blame."
:: 7:06pm: ABC contributor Travis Smiley was awfully distracting as he twirled his pen back and forth.
:: 7:05pm: ABC News has put an electoral college vote tally on the lower right corner of the screen.
:: 7:03pm: Peter Jennings: "As exciting as this is for all of us...it's also a sad day. Here is an election being held while the country is at war."
:: 7:03pm: Tim Russert's whiteboard is no more. "We've gotten rid of the old grease board," Tom Brokaw said. "He's gone electronic." Russert is using a tablet PC that automatically projects its image onto the TV screen.
:: 7:02pm: CBS's graphics helpfully listed how each state voted (Dem or Repub) in 2000.
:: 6:59:50pm: Wolf Blitzer looked tiny compared to the huge clock that ticked down to the top of the hour.
:: 6:59pm: FNC has moved its spinning logo to the lower right corner of the screen, and placed a "You Decide 2004" bug on the lower left. Fox listed exit poll info in the lower-thirds.
:: "MSNBC is showing Joe Trippi and not Wonkette," Jeff Jarvis says. "Bad TV choice."

:: 5:00pm: CNN's Lou Dobbs is anchoring two hours of election coverage from NYC.

:: 4:55pm: Keith Olbermann: "Not to encourage you to do this, but if you happen to catch the CNN shot from the new Time-Warner Center in New York (they used it during Crossfire), you can see my house on the right. I opted not to hang out a 'CNN *****' sign on my balcony."

:: 4:20pm: "Watching Inside Politics on CNN, and Woodruff and Schnieder are sharing a microphone. It seemed odd, this is the biggest day and they don't have audio set up?"

> 96 high-resolution screens will be used to display the "liquid wall."

> The wall is approximately 14 feet tall and 60 feet wide

> Production team of 20 producers and graphic designers

> At the Marketsite: 8 cameras inside and 2 cameras outside; 3 floor directors

Amid all the election hoopla, let's not forget about ABC News Now! "Almost everything we do on Now feels groundbreaking, from the many ways we're sending the programs out to viewers on broadband, digital cable, and cell phones, to the fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants live coverage," ABC anchor Don Dahler says in an e-mail to TVNewser. "We don't plan out every minute of the program day so that we can respond to live events and breaking news, so that's terrifically challenging and also, frankly, a lot of fun. As the day goes on I'll be interviewing our correspondents and producers at various polling places, as well as experts and spokesmen from the two parties. We'll be keeping an eye on the blogs and chat rooms for any red flags and to get a sense of the mood of the electorate."

Sam Feist, the senior executive producer of CNN's political coverage, is ready for a long night. In a Q&A with TVNewser, Feist says the Nasdaq Marketsite will the backdrop for "a remarkable night:"

-- How did rehearsals go over the weekend? What's the scale of this production like, compared to previous election nights?

This is the biggest election night CNN has ever produced. We have teams of anchors and analysts at three separate primary locations in New York city: Nasdaq, our Election Analysis Center in the CNN New York Newsroom, and our Crossfire voter forum in the atrium of Time Warner Center. Plus we have almost forty reporters sent to every state that could be critical to the race. Our rehearsals have gone very well. We spent a long time learning how to drive election results in the Nasdaq wall. It looks better than we ever imagined -- it's going to be a remarkable night. And I think you'll find that CNN's coverage looks completely different from the other networks. Our viewers will be able to get more information faster than ever before.

-- Has there been concern that the bells and whistles could overshadow the actual reporting?

At its core, election night is about telling the viewers who's winning and why. Using the Nasdaq Marketsite to display the votes helps the viewers understand the race better than ever before. But at the end of the day, we rely our our Political Unit and our decision team to characterize the race and to project which states each candidate will win. We have beefed up our decision desk this year and have added legal experts and analysts to help us understand the significance of potential legal challenges. We have never deployed more editorial staffers to cover an election day.

:: 3:02pm: "This Is It!," CNN's graphics enthusiastically proclaim.

:: 3:00pm: "You are deciding, '04," Shep Smith said, twisting his network's election moniker.

:: 1:50pm: Later today, the Discovery Times Channel will announce that its Page One program will go inside the New York Times' newsroom to 'share with viewers what goes on in the newsroom during an election.' It's the first time the Times has allowed this during an election...

:: 1:48pm: Lost Remote notes that CNN.com is the first net to post the presidential vote tally on its home page. The results page looks very spiffy.

:: 1:30pm: FNC aired Fox News Live from Studio C today, instead of Studio B. Linda Vester is broadcasting Dayside without an audience, just like yesterday.

Only on TVNewser: It's that time of the month: Individual program ratings for October 2004 are out today.

Bill O'Reilly averaged a 2.7, H&C had a 2.0, and the majority of FNC's other shows averaged more than a million viewers. CNN's Crossfire had a good month, earning a 0.7. (Wolf Blitzer, Paula Zahn and Aaron Brown did, too.) On MSNBC, Hardball was the top program, averaging a 0.6.

> PDF: Individual show ratings for October 2004

"NBC News will be clearer about its nomenclature during the entire Election Night broadcast," the network says in an MSNBC.com article today. They describe the terms they will use on the air:

> "Projected winner" means that "NBC has made a projection that a candidate will win the race, but the vote count is not complete."

> "Winner" means that "a candidate who has clearly won the race, beyond the normal margin for a recount."

> "Too early to call" means that "there is not enough data in the NBC News decision computer systems to allow analysts to make a call."

> "Too close to call" means that "while there is data in the systems, the numbers are too close to allow analysts to make a call."

Fox News Channel recorded its third highest rated month ever in primetime in October. (March and April 2003 are first and second.) "For the first time ever, FNC had the top six cable news programs," the network announced today. John Gibson's Big Story was #6, beating Larry King, who ended up in #7. The rest of FNC's daytime lineup beat CNN's Zahn and Brown.

Roger Ailes' Memo To FNC Staffers

Only on TVNewser: It was sent to every employee this morning:

TO: Fox News Channel Staff   |   FROM: Roger Ailes

DATE: November 2, 2004   |   RE: Election Coverage

Good luck tonight. Be cautious. Be fair. Don't get out ahead of the story. Have a good time. Now that we're #1, we have a continuing responsibility to be the best. Fortunately, we have the best team.

TVNewser Q&A: Jim Angle, Fox News

In an election eve interview with TVNewser, Fox News senior White House correspondent Jim Angle says he is ready for the campaign to end:

-- Are you ready for the campaign to finally be over?

Donald Regan once compared the job of chief of staff to the guy who walked behind the elephant in a circus parade with a shovel. Political reporting can be like that, with charges and countercharges flying in every direction. So, yes, I think we're all ready to lay down our shovels and get back to reporting on how the nation is governed.

-- Compared to your times at NPR and ABC, do you feel more pressure to be fair? Is this feeling especially strong as the election nears?

Fox is very serious about balance. Fairness is something I feel and practice with no pressure necessary. You have to have an internal gyroscope to keep you from tilting even accidentally to one side or the other. I was once told by a manager at another news organization that I was "too fair."   I can live with that.

Angle said this campaign cycle has been "particularly nasty and contentious." He will report from Bush campaign headquarters tonight...

Channel Surfing: Morning Coverage Notes

:: 10:40am: CNN is broadcasting a five-hour edition of American Morning from NY. A countdown clock has set up shop in the bottom left corner.

:: 10:35am: ABC News Now is airing special Vote 2004 coverage all day. Several correspondents are reporting via Wi-Fi. Here's the schedule.

:: Today is the Super Bowl for people who cover politics," FNC's Marty Ryan tells the NY Post.

:: 9:58am: Did anyone else notice FNC's Janice Dean rolling her eyes during the tease just now? MSNBC is also providing regular weather updates.

:: MSNBC ran Imus in the Morning until 9:45am, since the radio host was broadcasting from Democracy Plaza. He'll be there again Wednesday morning.

:: 8:00am: "A crop of new complications has arisen this year that leaves room for error, and at the very least could give the networks difficulty in declaring a winner tonight," network officials tell the New York Times today.

Democracy Plaza, Circa 1996

NBC is awfully proud of Democracy Plaza, but this isn't the first time they've used Rockefeller Center as a backdrop for election night. In 1996, they projected results on the outside of the building, just as they're doing this year. (Here's a photo.) The network won an Emmy award for its production...

Exclusive: MSNBC Memo Reminds Staffers To "Be Cautious" On Election Day

An abundance of caution will rule today at all the networks. An internal MSNBC memo obtained by TVNewser outlines the network's guidelines for characterizing the race:

"It may be appropriate to say 'George Bush has a strong lead here' or 'John Kerry is clearly ahead here.' But, until the polls close, we should be cautious about wording such as 'It looks like Bush is going to win' even if this is conventional wisdom. On-air guests should be reminded that they may not characterize a race until the polls close. However, they can discuss information from knowledge prior to Election Day, but their comments should not reflect knowledge of Election Day exit polls. We should be extremely cautious to be sure that we are not forecasting the outcome of the election."

The memo states that "no exit polling information which might show who may win or lose shall be disclosed until the scheduled poll closing. This includes the reporting of voting trends of men and women or any other information which would allow our viewers to calculate who is ahead or behind."