Code and Theory and NBC: A vote of trust for election reporting

PROBLEM

The 2024 U.S. election played out against a landscape of mistrust fueled by misinformation, deep political divides, and an emerging wave of AI-generated doubt. NBC recognized that regaining public confidence wasn’t about louder headlines or flashier graphics. It was about turning raw data into a source of clarity. With NBC’s Steve Kornacki as the nation’s most trusted data interpreter, the opportunity wasn’t just to inform; it was to find a partner to help NBC reconnect audiences with  precise and real-time data around the election clock. 

SOLUTION

Code and Theory built a system capable of ingesting millions of data points, updating in real-time, and clearly delivering insights across multiple languages and platforms, from NBC to MSNBC, Telemundo to YouTube and TikTok. To get it right, the team embedded itself in Kornacki’s process, mapping his habits, preferences, and decision-making to engineer a system that could respond as fast as he could think. The Big Board became more than a tool; it was an extension of the storyteller himself. Viewers weren’t just watching returns –they were experiencing a form of narrative data journalism that made the noise intelligible. When the numbers turned chaotic, it stayed calm. Its precision became a pressure valve for a country on edge, reminding millions that truth still had a place on live television. 

RESULTS

NBC’s Big Board is today’s fastest, most accurate real-time data storytelling platform. It takes four seconds to ingest, verify and deliver data from anywhere in the country to the Big Board live on air. The end result was instant access to 10 million data points from 16 years of electoral data and results. Election 2024 marked MSNBC’s most viewers in network history, surpassing rival CNN for the first time. MSNBC’s YouTube channel achieved a record-breaking 30 million video views on election day, marking its single strongest day on record. 

About Code and Theory: The Code and Theory Network is the only technology and creative network with a balance of 50% creative and 50% engineers. Its unique makeup makes it the place where CMOs, CTOs and CIOs come together to drive results for their businesses.