Will Frank Rich beat Keith Olbermann in tonight's ratings around the election returns? Probably not, but in a first, The New York Times is going live from its newsroom with reports and commentary on the mid-term election.
The livestreaming will consist of 5 minute video segments every 30 minutes at 15 and 45 minutes past the hour. The live player will be featured prominently on the home page. The first segment will stream at 5:45 p.m. EDT.
Although the Times has streamed a few live events, this will be the first live program created by the Times.
Tonight's program is seen as an "experiment" in live programming, says Ann Derry, Editorial Director, Video and Television.
In this interview with Beet.TV, she says that live is closer to the news and it is something the paper may pursue. In total, the Times will stream just 45 minutes during the evening.
Among the Times people on the Webcast will be star political reporters Peter Baker, Jackie Calmes, Matt Bai, Kate Zernike and polling guru Nate Silver. Opinionators will include Frank Rich, Bob Herbert, Charles Blow and others.
More on online election coverage at The Times is up on the Caucus blog.
Meanwhile at the Wall Street Journal, which has been doing daily live programming for over a year, will be a show hosted by Executive Editor, Online, Alan Murray that will stream non-stop for six hours. Here is our report.
Update 11/3 : You can find the videos segments here.
Andy Plesser
