Most of the country’s major TV news anchors used the same phrase on election night: “We’re not there yet.” As it turned out, it was.

TV networks came into the 2024 election ready for a repeat of the 2020 election. Executives had scheduled 24-hour coverage sessions for the battle between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, and expected, based on polling, political panels have that ready all weekend. The belief was that swing states including Pennsylvania, Michigan and Arizona would, like last time, take days to tabulate the results. But before midnight the crystal ball became clearer. On NBC, around 11 p.m., Lester Holt chided his colleagues for beginning to speak as if the whole matter had already been decided. “This is starting to look like an autopsy,” he warned.

Soon that would be the case. After 1 a.m., Fox News Channel’s Bret Baier told viewers that it appeared Harris had “no path” to 270 electoral votes, and then, at 1:23 a.m., conservative outlet Newsmax had called the race for Trump, with Nexstar’s NewsNation . Fox News Channel, which had previously called Pennsylvania for Trump, quickly made things official for the wider public.

Anchors, panelists and correspondents spent most of the evening trying to convince viewers that more drama was about to unfold. Phrases like “we’re not there yet” and “there’s more to come” became oft-repeated mantras across all outlets. CNN’s John King spent much of his time using the network’s signature Magic Wall to show how many Democratic votes might be left to help Harris overcome apparent deficits in Georgia or Pennsylvania.

Over time, he began to show viewers that there wasn’t enough to go around.

Sitting in the middle of a huge soundstage in Culver City, California, as it approached 1 a.m. on the East Coast for an evening-long Election Night special streamed by Amazon Prime Video, Brian Williams called Erin McPike, who put in an interactive map had hands. : “Erin, do you have anything?”

There were good reasons to hope for an extended cycle. It is presidential elections that typically bring the largest and broadest audiences to the news. That could be a boon at a time when advertisers have become wary of sponsoring opinion hosts and news broadcasts that deliver harsh headlines about climate change and polarized voters. If the audience likes what they see, they might stick around longer. At a time when the economics of the TV news business are under scrutiny, with the departure of veteran anchors and high salaries under the microscope, days of reporting might have attracted a new audience.

But it wasn’t to be. Of course, coverage will likely continue the next day. At NBC News and ABC News, plans are in place for hours of coverage, which will draw viewers of morning shows like “Today” and “Good Morning America” ​​throughout the evening.

For some it was clear where things were going well before midnight. “North Carolina and Georgia are going to Donald Trump tonight,” Sean Hannity told Fox News. “And I have as much confidence in that prediction as I ever have.” On CNN, Chris Wallace tapped into exit poll data just after 5 p.m. showing voters dissatisfied with big kitchen table issues like the economy. Harris, he said, would need “a miracle” to win in the face of such sentiment.

At 11 p.m., as Harris proved unable to come forward with clues in crucial states, the smoke cleared. “This looks a lot more like 2016 to me than 2020,” Chuck Todd said on NBC News. He would be followed around midnight by – for Democrats, at least – a more sobering sight. Jen Psaski, Biden’s former White House press secretary turned MSNBC host, was on the NBC News panel and said, “I’m a firm believer that you have to wait until you know… but yes, if you’re on the campaign you’re right, you’re feeling pretty down right now.