From Frustrated to Nervous, Television Networks’ Moods Explain Results

When a test is really, really hard, students sometimes can’t resist looking at the face of the class know-it-all for signs of dismay or discomfort. And on a really, really close election night, even anchors at rival networks couldn’t help sneaking a peek at the mood over at Fox News. And Fox News was the channel to watch on this election night.

On most days, it presents an alternative reality to its rivals, alerting viewers to Black Panthers stalking polling stations or citing a survey that had given Mr. Romney a double-digit lead over the president he was trying to oust. But on election night, everyone had to work with the same numbers. And in the end, Fox News called the election for President Barack Obama at the same time as CNN, even though the Romney campaign and their own expert, Karl Rove, said Fox was wrong. The subsequent dispute on-screen was, as one anchor said, “awkward.” Megyn Kelly left the set and marched down a corridor, a camera in tow, to interview the channel’s number crunchers, who said that Mr. Romney’s hopes had run out.