CULTURE WATCH : Prodigy Gets Out the Vote Info

While most Americans settle in front of the television to bite their nails over tonight’s election returns, cutting-edge viewers will sit down at the home computer, tap into a telephone hookup, enter a code word and call up Prodigy.

There they can track races at their own pace--getting instant updates on specific congressional races and on the presidential battle. Maps, charts, polling information and candidate interviews will also be fed into the mix by Prodigy’s newsroom computer wizards.

“This is the first presidential election where the average person can get instantaneous results,” says Steve Hein, program manager of the computer service.

Prodigy was launched nationally in 1990 and now has 1.75 million subscribers. For $14.95 a month, they have ongoing access to news, weather, stock market reports and a range of other information. And now, election results.

Although Prodigy is only covering presidential, congressional and gubernatorial races this year, they expect to add local races next time around. Says Hein: “We think this service is going to be very popular.”