Networks roll out their news stars, high tech for Election Night coverage

In this article the Shanghai Daily examines the media technology that will be used on this upcoming election night. It runs through some of the major media outlets and some of the various tricks they will be using to boost their ratings. In Rockefeller plaza NBC will project a map of the United States on the ice rink and have two banners climb up buildings to show the count of electoral votes. It discusses some of the history that technology has played into TV coverage of elections which begins with, "One important lesson about this came in 1976, when NBC built a giant map of the country as a backdrop in their studio. The states were lit in white, and were turned red if Democrat Jimmy Carter won, blue if they backed Republican Gerald Ford. After some early glitches -- the plastic Georgia almost melted from a hot light in rehearsal -- the map became an instant hit". All the networks breaking out their best ideas to capture the attention of the world. The TV Networks will use magic walls and holograms to captivate the attention of the viewer and prevent them from straying to other channels. This technology driven media, says the Shanghai Daily, is meant for the US to show off its supposedly technically superior country.

Source: Shanghai Daily