Brian Williams and Amazon are asking news seekers on election night to give them a leap of faith

Nobody should blame Brian Williams for trying to lower expectations a week before his own Election Night Special Coverage on Amazon Prime Video.

“This will be, if you'll pardon the expression, the first election night launch of a new product since color television,” the former NBC News anchor said shortly after landing in Los Angeles, near where Amazon has a set is building for him in his huge new studio.

Amazon is the pioneer streaming service, competing with television for live news on its biggest night, a presidential election. And its leading man is the typical TV guy who told the world about the elections of Barack Obama and Donald Trump for NBC News from Rockefeller Center.

Williams, 65, is certainly well-known, but he's asking potential viewers to take a leap of faith. Amazon has no track record in elections and, unlike NBC, CNN, Fox News and others reporting the results on November 5, does not have a news division. Williams said he and his executive producer, a former NBC colleague Jonathan Wald, had “built a temporary one-night news division over the last 60 days.”

They contracted with The Associated Press for video and Reuters for earnings data, and hired a number of commentators and journalists to work that evening. They include some of Williams' regulars from his days hosting “The 11th Hour” on MSNBC, including political consultants James Carville, Mike Murphy and author and comedian Baratunde Thurston.

Former Fox News host Shepard Smith will be stationed at Democrat Kamala Harris' election night headquarters, while Puck's Tara Palmeri will be stationed at Republican Trump's headquarters. Other contributors to her one-night team include historian Douglas Brinkley, former “The View” co-host Abby Huntsman, The Washington Post's Jackie Alemany, former CNN and ABC News reporter Jessica Yellin and former U.S. Representative Tim Ryan of Ohio. Reporters from Axios, Politico and Puck would also work for the Amazon team, Wald said.

Some things will seem familiar

In many ways, it will be like a familiar election night television news program – acceptance speeches will be broadcast and pundits will comment. Amazon won't have its own decision desk, but the show will discuss when other news organizations call individual states. “All points of view will be represented,” Williams said. “We strive to present the story in a straightforward manner with minimal drama.”

“Now that the 'Magic Walls' have been around for a few cycles, we get it, we get it,” he said. “So we're just introducing some new things that viewers haven't seen before. There is a formula for election night. We won’t break that.”

They will operate from the massive former MGM soundstage where “The Wizard of Oz” and countless other productions were created, purchased by Amazon and outfitted with the latest gadgets.

“It’s traditional in the sense that there’s a traditionalist in Brian Williams,” Wald said. “But everything else about it, from the location and the way we present things, is new.”

Forest promises a charisma which he believes will appear slimmer and less cluttered than its competitors. A typical news department often involves everyone at its disposal in its election night coverage, and it often feels that way.

Even before this event, Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos played a role in the election. The owner of the Washington Post, Bezos, was also heavily involved decision of the newspaper announced on Friday that it would not support Harris or Trump, causing uproar among many in the newspaper.

Williams steps forward after holding back

Williams anchored “NBC Nightly News,” the top-rated evening news program at the time, from 2004 to 2015 and then lost that job embellish his role in war reporting. Given a second chanceHe hosted “The 11th Hour” on MSNBC from 2016 until his departure in December 2021.

Since then, he's kept a low profile, celebrating the birth of his grandson, born just days before he left MSNBC, and volunteering at the Jersey Shore to fight fires until Amazon arrives.

“That’s the first thing that really got me knocking,” he said. “That got some old competitive juices flowing – emphasis on old.” It's a strange place to be, because you know me well enough to know that there hasn't been a broadcaster more optimistic than me. I fully believed in wireless messaging and cable.”

But every TV executive he's spoken to tells him that streaming is the future, if not the present. “This feels like a chance to get on a train leaving the station,” said Williams, speaking by phone from an airport in Los Angeles on Sunday.

The Election Night newscast begins November 5 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. It's available free to anyone with a device who signs up with amazon.com: no subscription or sign-in is required.

Williams is prepared for the possibility that the ultimate mystery – who will be the next president – will not be resolved by the time it is passed. This will probably take about 10 hours after he starts giving or taking some time. “There have been a lot of good energy drinks coming out in the last few years,” he joked.

Williams said he has no idea what this means for him or Amazon after Nov. 5.

“It’s a big undertaking and they’re making great strides,” he said. “All I know is my part in it, and that’s one night. I don't know if we'll consider this a first for Amazon or an experiment for Amazon. I don't know. That’s up to them.”

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David Bauder writes about media for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder.