Inside NBC News’ Bid to Break Out From Election-Night Pack

Tom Llamas says that on Election Night, he’ll stay up late by sipping espresso that he takes the same way he likes his news — without sugar.

Hard facts are likely to surface quickly as different precincts, counties and states tabulate their votes in an election that could change control of Congress. The espresso may be necessary, with Llamas, and colleagues Savannah Guthrie, Kristen Welker and Hallie Jackson slated to be together on camera from 6:30 p.m. until at least 2 a.m.

In all, NBC will run 13 hours of election news coverage just on TV, starting at 5 p.m. when Jackson commences coverage, and continue until 6 a.m. with Craig Melvin and Kate Snow anchoring the wee hours of the morning. This kind of sheer tonnage is typically reserved for a presidential contest.

“This is when viewers need us the most,” says Llamas, who has been holding multiple study sessions each day to make sure he is up on the factors that may govern how different states vote. “This is one of the most important jobs we have, if not the most important job,” he says during a recent interview.

Like its TV-news brethren, NBC News finds itself in a challenging position. An audience that once flocked largely to mainstream TV-news outlets has splintered, with more people gravitating to less formal discussions of the news held by independent journalists and so-called creators via video podcasts and newsletters. What’s more, national elections aren’t necessarily tidy, leaving anchors to explain that whichever party has the lead in early tabulations may find its position reversed later in the evening. NBC is counting on its size and resources to make itself more indispensable in an era of multiple voices.

“There are obviously a lot of people doing a lot of content right now, but we have a level of credibility and a level of scale,” says Marc Greenstein, an NBC News executive vice president who oversees many of the elements tied to the election broadcast.“We just have a lot of resources that others don’t and we are available everywhere.”

NBC could be looking to gain new ground in an era when many traditional media companies are grappling with new ownership. CBS News and CNN are now part of Skydance, where moves made by the controlling Ellison family around CBS have been viewed with skepticism by journalism advocates. MS NOW, using a name that is only about a year old, has spun off from NBCU and is now part of the smaller media company Versant.

Indeed, NBC is making sure its news isn’t only on TV. More hours of coverage will surface in an uninterrupted digital stream that focuses solely on Steve Kornacki analyzing his popular digital touch screen filled with voting stats and election data. Meanwhile, correspondent Gadi Schwartz will hold forth from Texas in NBC News’ first vertical-video program, offering first hand reactions from reporters on the ground across the nation.

“People are consuming news in so many different ways and formats, we want to be ubiquitous on Election Night and the morning after,” says Catherine Kim, executive vice president of editorial at NBC News. “We understand that the audience is going to be dipping in and out of various platforms.”

Given some of the uncertainty that can result as social media discussions make spot interpretations of data, producers expect to use new graphics and standards to make races easier to understand. “We are classifying races in new ways,” says Greenstein. “In the past, it was ‘too early to call’ or ‘too close to all.’” Now, he says, “our Decision Desk will be able to signal to viewers that we really believe a race is going this way.” There will be caveats about NBC News not calling a race, but that the news organization is offering “an indication of where we think it’s going,” he adds. “There’s a bit more transparency around the numbers. It’s really important, now more than ever, to show people how we are getting this information.”

Even so, NBC News will make no call before it’s time, says Kim. “We always stress that it’s not important to be first. It’s important to be right, and to make the decision when we are at 99.5% confidence — at least. We take great care in making that call.”

There are even contingency plans in place for chaos. Anchors and producers prepare in case major news breaks that is not tied to the election.

Amid all the technology, scrutiny, experimentation and high-stakes business developments, there’s even room for some storytelling. Results at the end of the evening will determine which party controls Congress, says Welker, so following the factors involved in that across the evening will be important. “Do voters turn out?” she asks. And does the coalition of factors that helped Trump win in 2024 — Latino voters and other segments return in 2026 with similar support?

Such drama could keep people tuned in for hours, Welker suggests. “We think of this as our Super Bowl, and we hope viewers will hang in there with us.”