TV Guide’s Stephen Battaglio writes about the FNC Decision Desk during Super Tuesday…

For viewers, Super Tuesday was a dizzying night of spinning graphics, graphs and maps. But it would mean nothing without the number crunchers who sift through the exit polls and the vote count. TV Guide took a seat at the Fox News “decision desk” as the results rolled in to get a feel for how the electoral sausage gets made.

6:30 p.m. The Fox decision desk team includes academics, a pollster, a veteran election results analyst, and Fox News senior vice president John Moody who’ll make the final determination on when anchor Brit Hume will call a race. The polls are still open, but the team is already poring over exit poll numbers from the research firm that provides them to all of the networks. But instead of being holed up in a back room, they are smack in the middle of the news channel’s Super Tuesday set — a mix of lucite, steel and plasma TV screens that could serve as the set for a futuristic musical stage production. The team, who look they like belong in a university mathematics department, seem a bit out of place in the high gloss production. But that’s the point, says Fox News vice president David Rhodes. “We thought the best way to deal with this issue is maximum transparency — to put as much of this process as possible on camera to demystify it. Let the viewers see a journalistic and academic process.”

During Studio B this afternoon Shepard Smith interviewed someone from his alma mater, Ole Miss, on the tornado that swept through the region in the early hours of the morning when he was anchoring Super Tuesday coverage. Using his knowledge of the region he talked about the campus and the different areas in and around the town of Oxford, near where he grew up.

ICN has learned that Nielsen Media Research miscalculated Super Tuesday data with a cable news network today and it’s not the first time an error of this magnitude has happened in recent weeks. One of this network’s programs was off by more than 400,000 viewers in the 25-54 demographic. ICN also hears that Nielsen has since issued a formal apology for the colossal error and has been forced to wave all fees associated with this set of fast national data.

CNN put out a release noting its ratings for Super Tuesday…

On Super Tuesday, CNN was the #1 cable news network, out-delivering both Fox News and MSNBC in primetime (8–11p) and throughout the network’s extended election coverage from 8p to 2a. During primetime (8-11p), CNN averaged an impressive 3.646 million total viewers, FOX News placed second with 3.493 million and MSNBC was third with 2.118 million. In the key demographic P25-54 during primetime, CNN was also top-rated with 1.526 million, FOX News had 1.094 million and MSNBC had 1.029 million.
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I have expanded the ratings to go to 1am since everybody was live at the time…

Daily Live+SD Ratings for February 5, 2008

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Portfolio’s Jeff Bercovici blogs about the so called boycott of FNC in light of Hillary Clinton agreeing to appear on an FNC debate…

With Edwards out of the picture, Clinton showed some foresight yesterday in agreeing to debate on Fox — a move that makes her, not Obama, look like the kind of bridge-building candidate who can reach out to swing voters. (In fact, both of them have made multiple Fox appearances during the primaries, just not in debates.)

Obama hasn’t yet responded to the latest Fox invitation, nor to press inquiries about it. I assume that means he’s hunkered down with his advisors, trying to figure out how to avoid being outmaneuvered by Clinton while keeping the MoveOn and DailyKos left in his corner. The irony here is that, of the three leading Democrats, Obama was always the worst suited to the role of anti-Fox warrior, with all his talk of healing the partisan divide and learning from Republicans.

Mike Huckabee was Jim Cramer’s guest on Mad Money this evening. One of the subjects was who exactly created Mike Huckabee…

Jim Cramer: First, I’ve got to ask, because it’s in the New York Times. There are two people who are claiming creation of you. And one of them is a guy from another network, so I know it can’t be him, Steven Clobert. But we have a guy, Conan O’Brien, who seems to say that he created you. Could you solve that for us before we get to the issues.

Mike Huckabee: You know the truth is, let’s let it out of the bag. It was Jim Cramer who created me, and we just have to be honest about it and let the world know.

Jim Cramer: I have been waiting and waiting for that recognition and I didn’t know it would come right from you, right here on the show. Thank you.

Mike Huckabee: You’re welcome.

The Miami Herald’s Glenn Garvin blogs about who made which projections first…

When it came to projecting winners during Super Tuesday election-night coverage, Fox News was usually first, and CNN usually last — sometimes, way last. Fox News beat CNN by nearly an hour in calling winners in the Democratic primaries in both Missouri and Massachusetts. Take a look at these projection times:

With the big Democratic turnout last night and the near 50-50 split between Obama and Clinton in the results as the night progressed, viewership was high for Super Tuesday. CNN had the most viewers from 6pm-1am ET, FNC was second, and MSNBC third.

6pm–1am (Live)
FNC – 2,644,000
CNN – 3,054,000
MSNBC – 1,722,000

25-54 Demo (Live)
FNC — 861,000
CNN – 1,304,000
MSNBC – 801,000

Newsday’s Verne Gay

A split decision!

No massive screw-ups. (No noticeable screw-ups of any sort). Solid coverage. Good graphics. Competent field reporting. Amazingly detailed and informed commentary. Lower thirds…well, a little more on that in a bit.

All in all, a pretty good night of TV coverage.

But during an historic evening, personalities - network personalities - tend to emerge, stripped of flackery or spin, they show their true colors. Last night wasn’t about “who was first” but “who was most watchable,” which is a whole different metric. So let’s just go network by network:

The Politico’s Michael Calderone…
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FishbowlDC notes that another expletive escaped on MSNBC’s air last night…

Correction: Originally this entry attributed the expletive to Matthews. That was my error. Sloppy. Very sloppy on my part. I could toss out excuses but it really doesn’t matter what the circumstances were, does it? Apologies to Matthews.

Tonight on Bloomberg TV, Mike Schneider’s “Night Talk” will focus on the aftermath of Super Tuesday…

Tonight on the BLOOMBERG TELEVISION® program “Night Talk,” anchor Mike Schneider interviews Douglas Schoen about Super Tuesday results, what it means for the road ahead, the viability of a third party candidate and how the candidates will stack up in a general election. Schoen is the author of “Declaring Independence: The Beginning of the End of the Two-Party System” and was a campaign consultant for more than thirty years with the firm he founded, Penn, Schoen & Berland.

Also on “Night Talk,” Former Congressman Mickey Edwards talks about Super Tuesday Results, the Conservative backlash against a McCain candidacy, and the future of the GOP party. His book “How the American Political Movement Got Lost–And How It Can Find Its Way Back” is released this month. Edwards is the founding trustee of the Heritage Foundation, national chairman of the American Conservative Union and currently is Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School Lecturer of Public and International Affairs. He was a member of Congress for 16 years (1977- 92).

Night Talk airs everyday at 10pm ET and is repeated at midnight.

On Monday, Nancy Grace had its highest ratings since the program’s launch in February 2005. Yes, that was the night that the Van der Sloot video hit the airwaves, but it didn’t make an appearance on Grace’s program that night. So Grace’s viewers weren’t tuning in to see the video but what Grace had to say about the video.

Here are the numbers…

P 2+: 1,301,000
P 25-54: 509,000

NPR’s David Folkenflik writes about race projections and interviews FNC’s David Rhodes…

A few long blocks away, at Fox News Channel’s Midtown Manhattan headquarters, executive David Rhodes shows me around the decision desk. That’s where Michael Barone, who’s overseeing the network’s team of academics, political researchers and journalists, will stand and explain to viewers exactly how they’re making predictions.

Rhodes says there’s a lingering memory that accounts for the caution: Election Night 2000, when networks predicted who had won Florida. Twice. And had to withdraw it. Both times.

“This is tougher than a general election,” Rhodes says of tonight’s Super Tuesday primaries.

Roger Ailes sent out a memo to the troops this morning on FNC’s Super Tuesday coverage and all the work done to bring the new set online…

I was proud of Fox News last night. Everyone who worked so hard to make Super Tuesday a special night succeeded. Thank you very much.

GretaWire takes on David Zurawik over his comments last night on Super Tuesday and Campbell Brown…

Let me be one of the first to welcome my woman competition to cable news prime time — Campbell Brown. Then let me be the very first to say - shame on you to Baltimore Sun’s David Zurawik who wrote this (and I hope that his women colleagues at the Baltimore Sun have a little talk with him):

[snippage]

What’s with this? Doesn’t this guy like the women? If this is so easy do television, why isn’t this guy at the Baltimore Sun on the air? Let me make plain: I want to beat Campbell Brown but not at the expense of jerks being unfair to her….she has gotten to where she is the old fashion way — she earned it!!….(one other thing…I guess this reporter was too busy whacking the women to notice all the stupid predictions by some of the men ….oops….)

MSNBC’s release for its new Lockup series…

Following the success of the “Lockup” series, MSNBC introduces “Lockup: Raw,” a new franchise from the creators of “Lockup.” The “Lockup: Raw” series features never before aired footage of some of Lockup’s most memorable inmates and candid interviews with producers who have spent years inside prisons working on the series. “Lockup: Raw” airs Mondays at 10 p.m. ET/PT beginning February 11 on MSNBC.

In the four episodes of “Lockup: Raw” airing in February, producers from the “Lockup” series share dramatic accounts of filming in violent prisons. “Lockup” producers discuss what it’s like to be locked in cells for interviews with killers, to work through deafening yelling and disturbances that make documenting behind bars unsettling, and to risk their own personal safety. Each producer has his or her own unique story to tell. In addition, “Raw” revisits some of the most memorable wardens, guards, and inmates with brand new footage and producers’ perspectives on what it took to get it. Three episodes, “Hell in a Cell,” “Violence Behind Bars,” and “The Convict Code” will air on consecutive Monday evenings at 10 p.m. ET/PT beginning February 11. A fourth episode, “Criminal Minds,” which aired as a “sneak peek” in January, will re-air on February 18th at 11 p.m. ET/PT. More episodes of “Lockup: Raw” will come later this year. MSNBC produces “Lockup: Raw” in partnership with 44 Blue Productions.
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The New York Daily News’ Rush and Malloy have the latest exchange between Glenn Beck and Keith Olbermann…

At least Limbaugh has a friend in Glenn Beck. The younger conservative radio star declined to weigh in on Limbaugh’s “anal” expulsion Tuesday, which is probably a good thing, considering he’s recovering from hemorrhoid surgery. But Beck was happy to fire a few rounds at their mutual enemy, MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann.

“[Olbermann] is never brave enough to say his political position on air,” contends Beck. Although he’s pleased that his latest tome, “An Inconvenient Book” has so far outsold Olbermann’s “Truth and Consequences,” Beck argues, “I don’t care about other hosts. I don’t need to throw people under the bus. If I saw Olbermann standing on the subway [platform], I might think for a moment about pushing him, but I wouldn’t.”

Olbermann responds: “The subway remark summarizes who Glenn is. If he (or anybody else) fell in front of a train, I hope I’d have the courage to emulate Wesley Autry and try to save him.”

The New York Post’s Adam Buckman writes about the technological bells and whistles on display last night…

CNN had the most pie charts. CBS had them too, but never more than one at a time.

Everyone seemed to have touch-screens, too. Big flat-screen TVs whose states would turn various colors when touched by John King of CNN or Bill Hemmer of Fox News Channel.

Maps of the United States are common on election nights, but CNN delved even deeper with King tapping his touch-screen to zero in on individual states and individual counties. I asked myself, Why stop there, John? Why not go street by street or house by house to show us who voted for whom?

Update: 23/6 - News has a video clip of Hemmer working the FNC board…

The New York Observer’s Felix Gillette interviews Chris Matthews…

But this morning, in lieu of going for a walk, Mr. Matthews, who is 62, called the South African embassy. Recently, MSNBC announced that Super Tuesday would be broadcast live in South Africa, and Mr. Matthews, who spent two years in the Peace Corps, “spreading capitalism in the bush,” wanted to greet properly his faraway viewers. The nice woman at the embassy signed off on Mr. Matthews’ phrase of greeting: Sanibonani! Mr. Matthews planned to use the phrase later that night.

In the meantime, he continued to ponder the big factors in the campaign. History. Courage. Change. Hope.

“I’ve been following politics since I was about 5,” said Mr. Matthews. “I’ve never seen anything like this. This is bigger than Kennedy. [Obama] comes along, and he seems to have the answers. This is the New Testament. This is surprising.”

The Boston Globe’s Joanna Weiss writes about Super Tuesday…

It was an election night with as many moving parts as there were moving graphics on a Fox News Channel screen. Indeed, the best metaphor for Super Tuesday coverage last night was probably that Fox ticker, filled with so many measures of counting - raw totals, percentages, delegate counts - that it threatened to overtake the screen and cover the analysts’ heads.

That would have been rough, given how many commentators got airtime during the marathon coverage - otherwise known as The Long Wait for California Returns to Finally Arrive. Analysts on the varied networks ranged from jaded veterans of campaigns past to a flurry of African-American voices to the usual crew of columnist types. (At one point, Bill Bennett made a crack about being on CNN’s second-string panel.)

As does the New York Times’ Allessandra Stanley…
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FNC called Missouri for Obama at around 12:33am with Brit Hume huffing, tongue in cheek, at Bill Hemmer for getting to make the call. I’m checking for CNN and MSNBC…

Update: MSNBC called it for Obama next. CNN still hasn’t as of 12:42…

Update 2: As TVNewser noted, MSNBC is being cagey with its Obama declaration, saying Obama is the “apparent winner”…

Update 3: Olbermann just spent considerable time trying to explain the “apparent winner” label.

This is not so much political projections, not so much exit polls, but simple mathematics and logic. There are so many votes already officially counted, 98% in among the Democrats, that the odds against say the next, or the last 5-6,000 votes all going for one candidate are astronomical. This is essentially a mathematical….ok….I’ve explained this too much haven’t I?

2% to go. Obama’s ahead. We’re saying it is a virtual victory already.

And I have to say that virtual 3D map of the US MSNBC is showing is scary in how well it holds up in terms of image sharpness when the camera is zoomed in on a single state. I thought it was a real physical map at first until the camera pulled back to reveal the map floating in the air.

Both MSNBC and FCN have called California for Clinton and McCain. CNN has not as of 12:23am ET…

Update: Projection times…

Clinton
MSNBC - 12:12
FNC - 12:13

McCain
FNC - 12:13
MSNBC - 12:19

Update 2: CNN calls it at 12:25

The Baltimore Sun’s David Zurawik has a blog entry saying that Campbell Brown’s appearance on CNN’s Super Tuesday coverage was not needed…

Of all the extra star power added to the political coverage on all the networks and cable channels Tuesday night, none seemed as big mistake as CNN’s Campbell Brown (left).

First, CNN had no need for another featured anchor. Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper have been doing an outstanding job of keeping the political telecasts moving swiftly from one location and field reporter to another, one expert to the next. And who has more experts and field reporters than CNN?

So why add Brown to the mix in such an expanded role — one that was clearly beyond her talents? And why was she so heavily made up and dressed to look like someone headed for a cocktail party instead of an anchor chair on one of the most important nights in the history of American politics?

Ouch.