In an election night plan that seems almost quaint, America’s unbiased political TV voice is steering away from the partisan yelling that has marked this year’s campaign coverage to deliver a program theme unfamiliar to most — just the facts.
Bolstered by a partnership with Spectrum News and led by a team headed by outgoing CEO Susan Swain and incoming CEO and former CNN Washington Bureau Chief Sam Feist, C-SPAN plans to offer an election night sans bias and with a broadened focus on the fight for control of Congress.
“C-SPAN, because this is our bread and butter, day in, day out, we’ll spend more time than anybody on the balance of power,” Feist said. “But we’ll also bring you your updates in the presidential race.”
On its C-SPAN 1 and C-SPAN 2 channels, the outlet created by cable TV 45 years ago said it would offer a full plate of election coverage with a special focus on House and Senate races that usually get short shrift by network TV and the big cable channels on presidential election nights.
“The reality is, on election night, the main national television networks don’t really spend very much time on the balance of power because they are so focused, understandably, on the presidential race,” Feist said.
Early polling suggests that control of the House and Senate could switch because the majorities are so small. Control of Congress will determine if Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump will have enough leeway to push their agendas through.
“This is a rare presidential election where all of those are really up in the air, and we could see anything. It’s possible that everything can flip, and those are really important races that are likely to not get a lot of attention elsewhere. It is what C-SPAN does,” said Feist, who headed CNN’s Washington bureau for 13 years.
Over 17 hours, C-SPAN will air noncommercial election coverage on its main channel. It plans to feature local stories about critical House and Senate races and results from Spectrum News, a collection of straight-news local stations such as NY1. Spectrum will also run on C-SPAN 2.
C-SPAN’s Word for Word:
• Vice President Harris criticizes former President Trump over “very offensive” comments about women
• U.S. says Russia’s preparing to deploy 8,000 North Korean troops to UkraineREAD: https://t.co/tKARUDDnvy
SUBSCRIBE: https://t.co/LAxlcdjxgv pic.twitter.com/zPJdapEzWQ— CSPAN (@cspan) October 31, 2024
While pundits will be banned, C-SPAN plans to feature reporters who specialize in Capitol Hill coverage, Kirk Bado, managing editor of the Hotline, and NOTUS reporter Evan McMorris-Santoro. The night will be produced by C-SPAN Political Editor Nate Hurst.
It will also be the only place to see the victory and defeat speeches of top House and Senate candidates.
Feist has a reputation as a straight shooter. While it is likely that viewers will see some of the tech he brought to CNN, he told Secrets he is sticking to what the outlet does best.
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“I’m the new guy. I’m still learning, still learning the place. But I think that working with this team and encouraging the team to really focus on what C-SPAN does better than anybody, in this case Congress, is a great opportunity,” Feist said.
“You will see no political pundits, no spin. We’re going to focus on the results. We’re going to focus on the candidates and their speeches,” he said, adding, “It’s an important night because we are the network that brings American democracy to our viewers.”