CNN’s attempt to reinvent election night coverage with a subscriber-only streaming special has been met with a lukewarm response, as the program struggled to balance entertainment with news delivery. The network, which launched its $6.99-a-month CNN All Access service to reach viewers abandoning cable, offered an exclusive Election Livecast that was billed as a “watch party” with political insiders.
Hosted by data analyst Harry Enten, the two-hour broadcast featured conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, radio host Charlamagne tha God, progressive pundit Ana Kasparian and activist Isabel Brown. However, viewers were left in the dark about key developments, including CNN’s projection of Zohran Mamdani as the winner of the New York City mayoral race, which only came after an interruption to a discussion about white nationalist Nick Fuentes.
The specially designed set, complete with sofas, arcade games and a basketball hoop, went largely unused as the panel remained seated throughout. Kara Swisher, who appeared via video link, described the environment as “the weirdest living room I’ve ever seen”. Even Enten admitted the room had not been utilised as intended, with bowls of snacks untouched until the end, when Shapiro was persuaded to try the basketball game without success.
The program also faced criticism for a lack of ideological diversity, with the panel broadly agreeing on the failure of Joe Biden’s presidency and questioning Mamdani’s ability to govern. About an hour in, Charlamagne tha God left early to prepare for his day job, replaced by Tezlyn Figaro. The broadcast concluded awkwardly as the panel debated whether Mamdani was a “jihadist”, with Enten calling it “a lovely way to end this evening” before departing to analyse results on the main CNN channel.
While the network’s experiment may have aimed to make politics more accessible, it appeared to miss the mark, offering more spectacle than substance. Enten himself acknowledged the unusual nature of the event, noting it was “a different experience” before retreating to more conventional election coverage.
