---
title: The Dawn of Election Night Computer Forecasting
date: 2024-05-01T05:30:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/the-dawn-of-election-night-computer-forecasting"
section: Articles
---
# The Dawn of Election Night Computer Forecasting

*May 1, 2024* — by [Karen Shih ’09](/author/karen-shih)


> Journalism Professor’s New Book Details How ‘Mechanical Brains’ Paved Path for Modern-Day Coverage

*Getty Images 106505099 1920x1080 — Famed CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite, right, with the UNIVAC machine that would be used on election night in 1952. In a new book, journalism Professor Ira Chinoy details how TV networks used computers on air for the first time.*

On election night in 1916, instead of being glued to 24-hour news coverage or doomscrolling social media, you could find out election results by going to see a burlesque show where results would be announced every half hour. Or in 1928 you could join the crowd waiting for returns on a “zipper” of flashing letters and numbers circling The New York Times building. Or way back in 1896, you could listen for a steamship whistle blasting out coded sounds.

So when computers became the latest technology—clunky and room-sized as some were post-World War II—it’s no surprise that television networks, then also in their infancy, saw an opportunity.


*"Predicting the Winner: The Untold Story of Election Night 1952 and the Dawn of Computer Forecasting” book cover — Book cover courtesy of Nebraska Press*



**Sidebar note:**

Join Associate Professor Ira Chinoy for a book launch and retirement celebration on May 9 from 5-7 p.m. at Knight Hall. [Registration](https://umd.alumniq.com/index.cfm/events:register/home/eventId/2499) is required.





**Topics:** [Research](https://today.umd.edu/tags/research)


**Tags:** [Books](https://today.umd.edu/topic/books), [2024 Elections](https://today.umd.edu/topic/2024-elections), [Research](https://today.umd.edu/topic/research)


**Units:** [Philip Merrill College of Journalism](https://today.umd.edu/topic/philip-merrill-college-journalism)