Coming out of a commercial break at 6:33pmET, Neil Cavuto begins setting the scene for when races begin to be called. He describes the Senate races, and the possibility the Democrats could get 60 seats. “A magic number that all but effectively wipes out the opposition. They can do little more than stop by the Senate cafeteria and say, ‘do you want fries with that?'” he concludes after approximately a minute introduction.
In the control room at Fox Business Network, there are chuckles from the crew. The teleprompter has yet to budge, as Cavuto ad-libs the entire introduction.
The FBN anchor has been on the air since his FNC program “Your World” at 4pmET. He wouldn’t leave the air until 12:30amET.
Cavuto is one of the veterans guiding a young, excited business news network just over a year old. “The last two weeks, there has been so much energy,” SVP of operations, Brian Jones, tells TVNewser. “Every time we’re doing something its volunteer. We’re inundated. It’s a tremendous opportunity for them.”
Just after 6:40pmET, director of business news Ray Hennessey and VP of Fox News Digital Jeff Misenti enter the control room. Foxbusiness.com launched its first ever webcast tonight with Cheryl Casone, similar to the Fox News Streams that include The Strategy Room.
Hennessey describes FBN’s presidential election push. “The election is a big business story. It’s the biggest business story,” he says.
He also glances up at the competition, and sees CNBC still airing Mad Money as scheduled. “I’m surprised they’re doing Cramer,” says Hennessey.
FNC’s Greta Van Susteren joins Cavuto on set, furthering the partnership between the networks contained in the building. Jones describes the benefits of “shared services,” which means FBN has access to the “Bill Board,” and the “Balance of Power” screen, while FNC uses Alexis Glick’s reporting from the NASDAQ.
As the first polls close at 7pmET, FBN has high profile guests, including former White House Chief of Staff Andy Card. In the green room sits Frank Luntz, Steve Forbes and Byron York.
“We’ll be here to the last speeches,” Jones told us. And they were.
• Related: The Hollywood Reporter’s Paul J. Gough goes behind-the-scenes at FNC HQ.
Click continued to see more pictures from inside and outside the News Corp. building, including Griff Jenkins interviewing “Bill O’Reilly”…
Frank Luntz tells Cavuto after his interview that 11pmET will be make or break for Sen. John McCain. He was right.
The view of the studio from outside the News Corp. building.
FNC’s Griff Jenkins interviews a Bill O’Reilly cut-out outside the building.