Most major TV networks will use AP data during 2026 and 2028 elections

Zoom in: In 2024, ABC, CBS, CNN and NBC worked with another election data group called Edison Research, while Fox leveraged the AP's data.

• NewsNation, an upstart cable network, leveraged a different vendor called Decision Desk HQ last cycle. It was the first network to call the race for President Trump.

Between the lines: AP in January created a standalone business unit to help grow its elections business. In a statement, the company said it's witnessed a 30% increase in customers over the last presidential cycle.

Zoom out: Thousands of news outlets, domestically and overseas, rely on the AP's election results data to call races for their audiences. Those organizations use that data to make their own, independent race calls.

• The AP has a strong track record for calling races accurately, which is why its results are so heavily relied on by the news industry.
• The outlet counted the vote and declared winners in nearly 7,000 races with a 99.9% accuracy rate during the 2024 election.
• The AP had more than 5,000 people working on election night last year, a record in the company's 178-year history of calling elections.