Calls leaderboard
Decision Desk HQ has been first to call 361 races, the most of any network; NBC News is next with 71. Ranked by races called first; calls less than a minute apart count as ties and share a place.
- 1stDecision Desk HQ361races called first · 49% of firsts
- Median lag
- 0 min
- Races called
- 443
- Retracted
- 1
- 2ndNBC News71races called first · 10% of firsts
- Median lag
- 36.7 min
- Races called
- 434
- Retracted
- —
- 3rdCNN69races called first · 9% of firsts
- Median lag
- 45.9 min
- Races called
- 424
- Retracted
- —
| Rank | Network | First to call | Median lag | Races called | Retracted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Decision Desk HQ | 361 | 0 min | 443 | 1 |
| 2 | NBC News | 71 | 36.7 min | 434 | 0 |
| 3 | CNN | 69 | 45.9 min | 424 | 0 |
| 4 | Fox News | 57 | 48.3 min | 416 | 0 |
| 5 | MS NOW | 54 | 48.3 min | 414 | 0 |
| 6 | Associated Press | 50 | 48.7 min | 414 | 0 |
| 7 | New York Times | 49 | 48.4 min | 414 | 0 |
| 8 | ABC News | 24 | 49.9 min | 416 | 0 |
First to call, by race type
How the standings work
- First to call: the network that called a race first. We use a network's own published call time when it gives one, and otherwise the moment our check of its page first saw the call.
- Ties: calls less than a minute apart count as tied for first. A gap that small mostly reflects how quickly each network's data reached us, not who made the call first. The minute is measured from the first call, so a run of calls can't stretch a tie: calls at 9:00:00, 9:00:50 and 9:01:30 put the first two networks tied for first and the third in third. Calls also tie when a network publishes no call time and another network's call falls inside the window in which we spotted it.
- ABC News: ABC's published call times are often stamped with the poll-closing time even when the call came later, so ABC calls are timed from when we first saw them on ABC's map.
- Median lag: across every race a network called, how far behind the first call it was (zero when it was first).
- Races called includes calls already on a network's page when tracking started; those don't count toward first-to-call.
- Retracted: calls a network later withdrew or changed.