Sponsor (Oct-Dec 1964)

Computers Star in Election Night Coverage New York — With Network Election Service collecting the figures and providing them simultaneously to the three networks and wire services, the stars of election coverage on tv were the computers, and probably the most frequently aired word was "projection." Each of the networks featured its own computer systems. NBC's was Electronic Vote Analysis (EVA); CBS dubbed its system Vote Profile Analysis (VPA), while ABC declined to use a label. All three networks offered projections of both national and state races early in the evening, but, in an effort to take the onus off the prognostications, repeatedly urged viewers who lived in states where the polls were still open to go out and vote. Presumably, this was done in answer to critics of computerized forecasts who have argued that projections of victory for one candidate or another could affect voting patterns in areas where the polls were still open. Some critics, particularly in California, have gone to the extent of proposing legislation in this area. Network Election Service reportedly cut about one hour and 19 minutes from time necessary to tabulate results in past elections. Head quartered in New York, each of the networks and the wire services were responsible for a specific number of states with all figures going directly to the pool. Aim of NES was to speed gathering of returns, eliminate duplication of effort and reduce viewer confusion. In the past, with returns coming in from many sources, the viewer, hopping from channel to channel, often received conflicting information on the election's progress. Network, Wire Officials Praise NES NBC EVA" New York — Network and wire service executives were unanimous in their praise of NES. the pooled election coverage, indicating that the service will be used in future elections. "NES did an excellent job," declared William B. McAndrew, executive vice president for news, NBC. "It was the best reported election that Fve ever been involved in and Eve been involved in them since 1936. I believe NES was one of the smoothest operations I've ever seen." Elmer W. Lower, ABC News vice president, declared that "overall, it has been a highly successful evening for NES and we can easily improve and strengthen our coverage even more in 1966 and 1968." Declared Fred Friendly, CBS News president: "I think it was a historic night for American journalism. The networks and wire services were able to collect more votes faster than had ever been collected before. It was a great breakthrough." Dubbing the experiment a "great public service," Wes Gallagher, general manager of AP, said, "The pooled election service provided the public solid results far earlier than before. The vote count was so fast that it made unnecessary the use of vote projections by newspapers, since they had defin ite results in hand for early editions." Gallagher added: "There were some tabulation errors but they were quickly caught and did not affect the reported result in any race." Earl J. Johnson, UPI vice president and editor, described NES as "a well conceived and well executed enterprise." ELECTION NIGHT RATINGS PICTURE New York — Here is a breakdown of how the various rating services saw the election night coverage: Share of Rating Audience National Arbitron NBC 25.8 48% CBS 20.1 37% ABC 8.0 15% Trendex NBC 28.4 52% CBS 18.4 33% ABC 8.3 15% New York Nielsen WNBC-TV 28.8 52% WCBS-TV 20.6 37% WABC-TV 6.5 1 1 % Note: Ratings covered the period from 7 p.m. to 1 1 p.m. on election night. 16 SPONSOR