As the results of the midterm elections rolled in Tuesday evening, the major news networks used their online outlets to expand their coverage of the races and in some cases, fill in the gaps when they were preempted for other programming.
ABC News anchors Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos appeared on a live Webcast at 8 p.m. viewable on ABCNews.com and on its iPad app while the network aired Dancing with the Stars.
CBS had a special election night edition of Webcast Washington Unplugged on CBSNews.com. Its election night homepage also had the most visible social media presence, with real-time updated tweets from @CBSNewsHotSheet and viewers weighing in via Facebook in the Campaign 2010 Chat Room.
When NBC News was the first network to call the House for the Republicans, with Brian Williams opening his 9 p.m. newscast with the announcement, it splashed the breaking news in a banner headline across sister cable net’s MSNBC.com.
CNN prominently featured a video module on its homepage with live victory and concession speeches as the winners and losers reacted to the results. The network also had a live blog from the CNN election set and a special CNN Election Center app.
FoxNews.com featured a “Balance of Power” monitor to track the night’s big storyline, the shift of power in Congress from Democrats to Republicans. Fox also streamed the live Web show Strategy Room from 8-11 p.m. ET.
Even PBS NewsHour live blogged the evening, updating its feed with YouTube speeches from the candidates and the latest projections from the Associated Press.
