Fox News Plans a “Super Desk” and Virtual Set For Election Night Coverage (Exclusive)

Fox News is planning a barrage of high tech features for its election night coverage, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

With tens of millions of people tuning in for election coverage on Nov. 5, every network is pulling out all the stops when it comes to technology, and figuring out creative ways to display data, close races, and other returns on election day.

Fox News, which is the most-watched cable news channel in the country by a wide margin, is no exception. Its election coverage will be led by anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum in New York, who will hold fort in Studio M, Fox’s massive studio set within its headquarters.

Among the enhancements is an even more tech-infused “Bill”-board, the interactive segment with Bill Hemmer digging into exit polls and voting results. By now every cable news channel has an anchor or correspondent with a touchscreen of their own (MSNBC has Steve Kornacki, CNN has John King, who helped originate the format), but Fox is giving Hemmer a slew of other TV-friendly ways to display data, including augmented reality and virtual set features.

Whereas Hemmer (and King and Kornacki) previously relied on a touchscreen that is more akin to a giant iPhone, Hemmer will now be able to display data in 3D space on set, interacting with the data thanks to infrared sensors that can track him. The company is also using a voice to text language model, allowing Hemmer to call up data just by speaking it.

Among other bells and whistles are a “path to 270 map,” which will place a 3D map in the studio letting anchors explain how the electoral votes are stacking up, as well as a “top 5 closest races” tool, which will visualize certain key close races.

And Studio M itself is getting an upgrade, including a “Super Desk” which will be the home base for anchors, correspondents and analysts over the course of election night. Fox also built a two-story tall accent wall, as well as a 20-foot long ultra HD video wall that will display photos and video over the course of the evening.

While much of the focus on election coverage is on the anchors, correspondents, analysts and candidates, the tech innovations have become another source of interest and intrigue for both viewers and executives.

Much of the tech investment can be traced back to David Bohrman when he was CNN’s Washington D.C. bureau chief. Bohrman, who passed away last year, was the executive who helped create CNN’s “Magic Wall,” tech that has since been replicated across TV. He also helped create the infamous CNN “holograms” in 2008, which saw celebrities like Will.I.Am beamed into CNN’s studio for interviews.