Election Day is characterized by huge interactive electoral maps broadcast by the major news networks, offering a visual diagram of who won what state.
By 2020, interactive screens had become a staple of every major network’s election coverage. CNN, NBC, Fox, and ABC all feature interactive maps to announce results.
Here is everything you need to know about them:
CNN’s ‘Magic Wall’
CNN’s famous “Magic Wall” made its debut in 2008. It’s run by John King, who uses it as a touch screen to showcase the results and hypotheticals. King is arguably the most recognizable of the major networks, winning praise for his quick thinking and performance.
King appears to visibly enjoy the job, repeatedly telling viewers during the 2020 Elections, “this is fun.”
The “Magic Wall” is also backed by a team – David Reisner, Lauren Holt, Billy Holbert, Pallavi Reddy, Caroline Tounget, and John Murphy.
NBC News’s interactive map
Anchor Chuck Todd of “Meet the Press” presents NBC News’s interactive map. Variety described him as “unquestionably among the most facile with the gusher of voter data” and “among the most active with hand gestures.”
Todd has been lauded for his in-depth knowledge of how different counties vote in each election. When analyzing results coming in from North Carolina in 2020, he showed awareness of where President Joe Biden needed more votes to make up for his deficit
“If Biden comes up short, that’s where he’s going to find the votes he should have gotten to get this,” Todd said of the state.
Fox News’s ‘Bill-Board’
Fox News’s interactive map is run by anchor Bill Hemmer, who Variety described as the “smoothest talker of the magic board bunch who never forgets to look at the audience” and also one of the “humblest.”
He is so identified with the map that it has become colloquially known as the “Bill-Board.”
The board requires anchors to think on their feet as they handle the surge of real-time data.
“This is real-time data here. You’re seeing it when we’re seeing it,” he told viewers on election night in 2020, as new data flashed across the screen.
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ABC News’s interactive map
Chief National Affairs Correspondent Tom Llamas controls ABC News’s interactive election board. He is known as one of the most cautious, waiting longer than others to announce results.
“We want to make sure we have enough of a sample,” he said in 2020 when analyzing data from some parts of the map.