Times Square Transformed For ABC Election Night

After stopping by the CNN viewing party in Duffy Square we headed a few blocks south to ABC’s Times Square studios. As we walked in, GMA Weekend anchor Bill Weir was heading outside to begin live shots for the network’s coverage. On the second floor studio, Charles Gibson was just beginning World News, which lead right in to ABC’s coverage for the night.

We stopped in the green room where ABC News president David Westin was watching coverage along with correspondents Dr. Timothy Johnson, Betsy Stark and Brian Ross. Dr. Johnson, physician first, told us that he’d checked earlier in the day and there is a defibrillator in the studio. “A lot of adrenaline rushing tonight,” he said. Westin was pleased with the final story on World News, which featured ABC’s two off-air reporters following the Obama and McCain campaigns.

In a second green room, on-air guests waited for their turns on air, and, in the meantime, enjoyed the catering, as we discovered in the clip below.

Before we departed we ran into Good Morning America senior EP Jim Murphy who came to watch the coverage, so he knows what to expect first thing in the morning.

More pictures after the jump…

The scene from the second floor ABC News studio. ABC had many of the giant video screens in Times Square emblazoned with ABC News graphics. Bill Weir is somewhere in that crowd.

Correspondents including Jim Avila and Bianna Golodryga worked beats in the studio. Avila is reporting on voting irregularities and Golodryga is reporting on the Web.

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