CNN’s John King becomes first overseas host nominated for British TV award

CNN anchor John King became the first overseas host to be nominated for the British Royal Television Society award on Monday.

King, whose popularity catapulted following Election Day during marathon coverage of results in front of CNN’s election map, was nominated as network presenter of the year as part of the British TV awards. 

He was named as a potential winner alongside the BBC’s Clive Myrie and Victoria Derbyshire, contributing to the network’s 23 nominations in 19 categories. The results will be released in February.

The election results analyst told The Guardian that he was “deeply honored” by the nomination.

“I think it’s more about the compelling story we’ve been covering than it is about me,” he said. “I was blown away. I took it as engagement in what was just a fascinating election night that became an election week.”

King said he found out about the international fascination with his analysis after attempting to get ready before bed on election night. 

Twitter users hailed King, MSNBC’s Steve Kornacki and other anchors who manned the electoral maps during the week of the election as “chartthrobs.” 

The CNN anchor spent time on the air that week explaining how an increase in mail-in ballots during the pandemic resulted in the delayed election results. 

Jon Allsop, who authors the Columbia Journalism Review’s daily U.S. newsletter from London, attributed King’s reputation in the U.K. to his style of coverage of the election, which involves more analysis than interviews with past politicians and celebrities.

“It’s something to do with his demeanour,” Allsop said. “He communicates, in quite a calm way, an enormous amount of information at great speed.”