The polls that have flooded television news in recent months projected that the 2024 presidential election would be close. And they were right for most of election night.

In the first hours of coverage of the race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump, it seemed as if red, white and blue graphics would flash across viewers' screens for at least another day.

All networks were cautious as results came in for the seven swing states that pave the way to the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House.

But NewsNation, using data from Decision Desk headquarters, called the race for Trump at 1:22 a.m. Eastern Time, after giving the Republican 19 electoral votes from Pennsylvania and three from Alaska. Scripps News and Newsmax, which also used Decision Desk HQ, conceded the race within minutes.

Fox News followed at 1:47 a.m. Eastern after awarding Trump Wisconsin's 10 electoral votes.

“Harris achieved Joe Biden margins across Pennsylvania, but what Donald Trump was able to do was beat his 2020 margins by 4% to 6%, particularly in key counties like Bucks,” said Scott Tranter, director of data science for Decision Desk HQ, said NewsNation anchor Chris Cuomo. “In other words, Vice President Harris did what she had to do, but Donald Trump just got a few more votes where he needed it, and that basically made the decision pretty clear around 1 a.m. this morning.”

ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN, which use Edison Research for their data, still had 266 electoral votes for Trump when he gave his victory speech around 2:30 a.m. Eastern Time. About three hours later they called the race for Trump. Fox News partners with the Associated Press and NORC.

Decision Desk HQ, which provided data and voting analysis for a number of news platforms, was the first to call the election for President Biden in 2020, a full day ahead of the networks. The company provided data to Vox and Business Insider during this campaign cycle.

Trump is the first president since Grover Cleveland to be elected to non-consecutive terms – a surprising turn of events after early signs suggested vote counting could take several days.

The bottom third of Fox News' screen read: “Key battlegrounds too early to call,” hours after most polls on the East Coast closed at 9 p.m. CBS News anchor Norah O'Donnell advised viewers to “pack up your patience.”

Even conservative commentators on Fox News, confident of a Trump victory and disparaging Harris' abilities as a candidate, recognized the tension of the contest.

Fox News host Bill Hemmer discusses the results from Pennsylvania on “Bill-board”.

(Fox News)

Because of the initial uncertainty of the results, networks relied heavily on county-by-county analysis broken down by CNN's John King on his “Magic Wall,” Bill Hemmer's “Bill-board” on Fox News and Steve Kornacki's Big Board on MSNBC.

“I hope everyone knows their geographic history in Pennsylvania,” Chris Stirewalt, political editor at cable channel NewsNation, said earlier in the evening.

News organizations have added legal experts and panelists to their ranks to analyze possible challenges or lawsuits, but they had little to do that evening.

As King guided voters through the upcoming results, he noted the volatility of the 2020 campaign. “I want to say it again slowly and clearly. In 2020, at this time of night, there were conditions that changed,” he said. “Pennsylvania has changed. In Georgia, Trump was ahead. Things have changed.”

Ed O'Keefe and Norah O'Donnell during CBS News' presidential election coverage.

(Michele Crowe/CBS News)

But at Decision Desk headquarters, there was a probability meter on NewsNation's screen that was pointing to a Trump victory as early as 7 p.m. Eastern Time. Using DDHQ data, NewsNation was the first to declare a battleground state, handing North Carolina to Trump around 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time. It was also the first time Georgia was called for Trump.

Hallie Jackson, Kirsten Welker, Savannah Guthrie, Lester Holt and Chuck Todd during NBC News' 2024 election coverage.

(NBC News)

The early call is a coup for NewsNation, which is owned by Irving, Texas-based Nexstar Media Group. The channel, which launched in 2020, trails Fox News, CNN and MSNBC significantly in the Nielsen ratings despite seeing audience growth in every year of its existence.

In the hours before the polls closed, cable news increased the anticipation with their countdown clocks to the polls closing.

The first available results from the small town of Dixville Notch, NH, which traditionally votes at midnight on Election Day, were released throughout the day.

CNN's John King talks about the election results in his “Magic Wall.”

(CNN)

Voter stress levels were recognized in a sharply divided electorate. Brian Williams, who hosted the first-ever election night coverage on Amazon's Prime Video streaming service, sought advice from Dan Harris, a former ABC News veteran who once had a panic attack on “Good Morning America.”

“What is the self-help remedy for the people watching and pacing tonight, the people who have been taking 20,000 steps a day all week to get rid of their fears? “The people who might have a bottle of their favorite drink in front of them?” Williams asked.

NewsNation anchor Leland Vittert checks in with Scott Tranter at Decision Desk HQ.

(NewsNation)

“Deep breathing can reset the nervous system,” Harris said.

Prime Video's election program with Williams was a stripped-down, talk-show-style presentation at Amazon's Los Angeles studio that didn't rely on flashy graphics and data. Contributors included a number of veteran cable news stars – Jessica Yellin, Candy Crowley, Don Lemon and Shepard Smith.