Even Fox News Saw a Close 2024 Election. Then the Voting Data Came In

variety.com:

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor At the start of Election Night, even executives at Fox News Channel didn’t think Donald Trump had a decisive edge over Kamala Harris. “At 5 p.m., the most likely outcome was a very close election,” says Arnon Mishkin, who has directed Fox News’ decision desk for years. “Different people looked at the data and said this could tilt Trump and this could tilt Harris.” Within hours, however, a different story was unspooling — and viewers of Fox News were early to hear it being told.

Fox News was able to call many states earlier than many of its competitors, including a critical loss by the Harris campaign in Pennsylvania in the wee hours of the morning that largely decided the race in favor of Trump.

How so? The company made a big investment in new voter technology last decade that relies less on exit polls, and more on on-the-ground data from each state.

The Associated Press works with Fox News in the venture, called Fox News Voter Analysis, which uses large online surveys of registered voters. “I think, for whatever reason, there is some evidence that people who vote one way are less open to spending time with investing or filling out a questionnaire,” says Mishkin. “We’ve seen that for years.” The arrangement has benefitted Fox News.