Obama Picks Biden. CNN is First With The News

By the time the network evening newscasts went on the air Friday night, the democratic veepstakes had been narrowed to one name. But it would take another six hours to confirm Barack Obama had chosen Joe Biden to be his running mate; and CNN would be first with the news. John King confirmed the choice with two sources at 12:42amET, nearly five minutes before the AP.

FNC’s Shepard Smith reported the news with Fox News confirmation at 12:50amET.

David Shuster on MSNBC reported the news at 12:51amET sourcing the AP. NBC News confirmed the story at 1:17amET.

ABC News produced a special report confirming the news at 1:51amET. Andrea Canning anchored from ABC’s Washington Bureau with George Stephanopoulos and Jake Tapper joining in by phone.

Create a social media strategy, launch your campaign, and track the results in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. The online event and workshop will feature speakers including The Onion‘s Baratunde Thurston (left), Facebook’s Morin Oluwole, and bitly’s Tim Devane. Register now.