Some of the country's biggest television anchors saw their election night plans change almost as soon as the first exit polls came in.

The initial preparations for election coverage required hours of work to work through an actual head-to-head race. Instead, former President Donald Trump quickly emerged as new President Donald Trump, while Vice President Kamala Harris's supposed foundations among blue wall states like Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania collapsed over the course of the evening.

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The largest audience tuned in to Fox News Channel, followed by ABC News and then MSNBC, according to early Nielsen estimates that could change throughout the day. From late afternoon into the early hours of the morning, presenters had to keep a cool head and wait for the actual numbers before they could tell the full story.

Still, thanks to the use of historical voter numbers in every county in the U.S., they were able to see a narrative build that showed how Harris' victories fell below those achieved by President Joe Biden in 2020. Hard, cold numbers went to the anchors and correspondents below and many more of her colleagues.

Bret Baier, Martha MacCallum And Sean Hannity

Baier and MacCallum are old hands when it comes to election night, but thanks to Fox News Channel's voter data machine, they were often ahead of key state elections. As the duo called for Trump around 1:20 a.m. ET in Pennsylvania, they also told viewers that Harris' chances at the Oval Office were “gone.” Meanwhile, opinion host Sean Hannity himself raised eyebrows when he told viewers earlier in the evening that he knew Trump would win Georgia and North Carolina – ahead of Fox News' decision division. It turned out he was right.

Chris Christie

The former New Jersey governor brings unique experience to his role as an analyst at ABC News, which gained more viewers on election night than any other network. His time as a public servant and as a Republican primary candidate for president gave him important insights that helped him tell viewers what to expect during a Trump presidency. At one point during ABC's coverage, Christie suggested that Trump had barely two years to implement his new agenda given the high chance candidates would emerge for the 2028 campaign.

NewsNation

Emerging cable news network Nexstar made a splash on election night by relying on data from Decision Desk HQ to become the first mainstream TV news network to call the race for Trump. Do the honors? Chris Cuomo, who quickly became one of the faces of the network.

Steve Kornacki and Joy Reid

Kornacki, MSNBC's lead actor, had a lot to do during the progressive news network's election coverage and continued to make sure to explain to viewers what was happening and why — even if they probably didn't want to hear it. He also got to star in his own show – a “Kornacki Cam” that was available on both the streaming service Peacock and MSNBC's YouTube channel. Meanwhile, toward the end of the trial, Reid explained to her colleagues why Harris lost: “Black voters came through for Kamala Harris. … White voters didn’t do that.”

Lester Holt

Holt, who has been at NBCUniversal for nearly a quarter-century, has amassed enough credit over his tenure to offer “NBC Nightly News” viewers a few comments during some of his final segments of the evening newscast. During election night, he advised some of his colleagues not to call the race for Trump until all the necessary votes were collected. Around 11 p.m., Holt reprimanded the others on set for starting to speak as if the whole thing had been decided. “This is starting to sound like an autopsy,” he warned.

Jake Tapper, John King and Abby Phillip

This CNN trio delivered hours of stoic reporting, with Tapper working from the start of CNN's coverage at 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday until very early Wednesday morning. King, who has worked on CNN's signature “Magic Wall” for at least a decade, taught himself to manipulate the screen with both hands and is perhaps the best at conjuring up quick data to explain to the audience how Candidates really matter. Phillip, reporting from Harris' headquarters at Howard University, kept the audience informed even as the candidate's chances became increasingly slim.

Norah O'Donnell

O'Donnell led tough, no-nonsense coverage of the election at CBS News, presiding over a gathering that included Gayle King, Ed O'Keefe, Major Garrett and Anthony Salvanto. She is expected to leave her post at “CBS Evening News” soon, but viewers can likely expect to see her again at moments of great national importance, such as an election.

Brian Williams

The NBC News veteran returned to his anchor duties for the first time since leaving his MSNBC program at the end of 2021, popping up on Amazon's Prime Video with a host of familiar faces in tow, including Abby Huntsman, Don Lemon, Poppy Harlow and Candy Crowley . among other things. The program relied heavily on conversations, not graphics, and key race calls, but suggested the streaming giant has new ambitions when it comes to live events.

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