CNN launches John King ‘Magic Wall’ election map for app users
Political junkies will be able to zoom in on real-time election results in CNN’s app — just like John King does on TV using the news network’s famous “Magic Wall” — on election night and beyond.
CNN’s iconic Magic Wall election map, which debuted in 2008, is now available on the native iOS and Android apps for phones and tablets. As polls close on Election Day, beginning on November 5 at 6:00 PM ET, the Magic Wall in the CNN app will show live results in every state, district and county on more than 500 congressional, gubernatorial and presidential races. The new section of the app also includes the latest vote counts, race projections and analysis.
CNN is boosting its Magic Wall developments with the launch of the app version, according to VP and political director David Chalian. It “puts all those crucial real-time results and crucial historical and political context directly into the hands of every single user,” he said. “Now you can follow your own Magic Wall while watching John King follow the votes.”
With CNN’s app, users can access the Magic Wall via a new icon in the bottom tab bar. The app can send alert notifications, such as when US presidential election battleground states are called for Donald Trump or Kamala Harris. The digital Magic Wall also features vertical video clips and articles on national and state political stories from CNN.
“I have a bigger one,” King, CNN’s chief national correspondent, said in one explanation video about the app’s Magic Wall feature. “But this is just as powerful, and you have it at home.”
Ahead of Election Day, CNN app users can see a snapshot of the Electoral College landscape with the “Road to 270” map. The digital Magic Wall also allows users to explore historical election results for the 2020 and 2022 presidential, Senate, House and gubernatorial races at the national, state, district and county levels (as well as data from the 2016 presidential election).
CNN is counting on great interest in the American presidential elections to stimulate the use of the Magic Wall. Opinion polls currently show this very tight races between Harris and Trump in seven swing states – Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – which will likely determine the outcome.
The app’s Magic Wall is ad-supported, but not behind a paywall and there is no registration requirement. (The main sponsor is Oura, the company that sells a “smart ring” that monitors users’ sleep, fitness and stress for wellness.) “Our North Star here drives engagement,” says Manav Tanneeru, senior director of product management at CNN. “We didn’t want any roadblocks. We want as many people as possible to have access to the CNN Magic Wall because this may be one of the most critical elections in American history.”
Why hasn’t CNN introduced such an interactive Magic Wall until now? “We needed the technology [in devices] to catch up to deliver this immersive experience,” Tanneeru said. “We integrate video, articles and data visualizations to create this unified experience.”
Please note that the CNN Magic Wall is not available on the internet. That’s because “we wanted a tactile experience, where users could literally zoom in with their fingers, so they could feel like John King at home,” Tanneeru said. That said, CNN does offer one interactive Electoral College map for subscribers allowing them to create their own projections for the US presidential race.
Here is the video of King explaining how to use the Magic Wall feature in the app:
