The political analyst nearly avoided a tech disaster during an Aug. 4 livestream of ‘Kornacki Cam’

NEED TO KNOW

• Steve Kornacki accidentally spilled water on his computer during a live NBC stream while analyzing election results
• NBC confirmed the computer and monitor are working again after the mishap, which briefly paused the broadcast
• Kornacki’s six-hour livestream set a record with 3.5 million video starts and offered election night transparency

Steve Kornacki’s computer survived what could have been a significant spill during live election night coverage, PEOPLE can exclusively confirm.

During a Tuesday, Aug. 4, Kornacki Cam livestream, Kornacki, 46, made an awkward pause when he accidentally spilled his water bottle all over his computer. The NBC News analyst was tracking primary elections in Virginia with NBC senior producer Adam Noboa when he caused the blunder.  

“Oh boy the monitor went off,” Kornacki stressed, wiping his brow nervously. 

“Sorry, I just don’t wanna… we have to tend to this computer,” he said while nervously scrambling to grab tissues to clean up.

“We gotta get this cleaned up before…” he started. “It sets on fire?” Noboa interrupted with a laugh.

“My map, no!” Kornacki then exclaimed, trying to collect his soaked papers.

As he quietly apologized and scrambled to clean up the mess, the broadcast took a brief one-minute hiatus while audiences watched him grow more anxious about the tech.

“Both the computer and monitor are working again — just a little cleaner than before!” an NBC News spokesperson exclusively tells PEOPLE.

The rest of the Aug. 4 livestream went off without a hitch. After everything was cleaned up, Kornacki resumed breaking down real-time vote tallies from Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Virginia and Washington, giving viewers a behind-the-scenes look at election night coverage.

This stream in particular set records for the program. The NBC News spokesperson tells PEOPLE they had 3.5 million video starts for his longest livestream yet — six hours!

“I was amazed to see how many stayed up to the end with us,” Kornacki posted on X.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Kornacki Cam was launched in March for political junkies who favor the data analyst keeping them informed through every minute of election night. The livestream follows Kornacki in real time as he analyzes results and shuffles through predictions and statistics as elections unfold. 

“It’s liberating,” Kornacki told The Hollywood Reporter of the livestream in March. “I think typically on an election night, there’s a certain bar that I would have to reach with the election returns to get the producer’s attention, to get me on the air with the result. Doing it this way, on this livestream, there is no bar. Every result makes air. Every county result makes air. Every little twist and turn makes air.”

Kornacki will move on to analyze the results in Wisconsin, South Carolina, Minnesota and Connecticut on Aug. 11.

#Steve #Kornackis #Computer #Survived #Viral #Water #Spill #NBC #Livestream #Cleaner #Exclusive