Days before the election, we’re rehearsing our shots in the WOOD-TV-8 Studio.  We traditionally rehearse Mondays before Tuesday elections.  We set up our cameras with the anchors moving in and out of different areas on the set.  We run down who’s doing what, who’s going where, when, and how. But this time, we’re rehearsing days ahead.  That’s because this time, we’re so much more high tech. 

When I was a kid watching the election returns at home, the news anchors wrote on blackboards then whiteboards, on huge flip charts, then with felt-backed numbers.  Now, just wait til you see what’s new and improved compared to the last election we just covered: a huge monitor with four-way splits, a touch screen that reveals up-to-the-minute results county-by-county, and a map that turns colors as the states go Republican or Democratic. 

Besides five cameras in studio and one in the newsroom, we’re going to have another dozen satellite, live “eng” trucks (electronic news gathering), and roving cameras around the area as our reporters cover polling places, election clerks,  the hotly contested local races and issues, and the GOP and DEM parties where candidates always gather to watch the returns.  We’ll also be going live to where the presidential candidates are in Illinois and Arizona and we’ll be able to connect with sister stations across our state. 

Election night may be a nail-biter for voters, candidates, and political parties.  For us here at WOOD-TV-8 and woodtv.com, it is among the most important, coordinated, timed, planned, and executed few hours of our broadcast careers.   We are rehearsing and getting ready to roll.