Four years ago, Fox News precipitated a domestic crisis with a bold call on election night that President Joe Biden would defeat Donald Trump in the crucial state of Arizona. This year has illustrated the difference four years can make.

Fox News was not the first network to say early Wednesday that Trump had sealed his victory over Kamala Harris — upstart NewsNation, conservative rival Newsmax and Scripps Networks led — but his final call came nearly four hours before ABC, CBS , CNN. NBC and the Associated Press did theirs.

Judging by the cheers that erupted when Fox’s call was shown to the Trump faithful gathered at his victory party in West Palm Beach, it was a decision that was certainly far better received by viewers than the 2020 call was.

“When you don’t like the taste of the cake, you won’t like the recipe.” said Chris Stirewalt, political editor at NewsNation. “When you like cake, you’ll like the recipe.”

Trump and Fox can both claim returns on election night

Fox’s Bret Baier called Trump’s victory “the biggest political phoenix from the ashes I’ve ever seen” and Fox can claim a comeback of its own.

Fox’s call from Arizona in 2020 angered Trump and many of the network’s viewers. Although ultimately proven correct, it sparked furious internal second-guessing and led some Fox personalities to espouse conspiracy theories that ultimately cost the network $787 million to settle a defamation lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems.

NewsNation, which used information from election forecasting company Decision Desk HQ, made its call at 1:22 a.m. Wednesday. Scripps and Newsmax, which also use DDHQ, were a minute away from making the same statement.

At about that time, Baier said this “We’re not there yet” but noted that Harris did not have a path to victory. Fox made the call at 1:47 am

AP called the election for Trump at 5:34 a.m. ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and the AP made their calls within moments of each other. The AP explained that its declaration that Trump had won came after it awarded Wisconsin to the former president, determining that the remaining uncounted votes in the Milwaukee area would not be enough for Harris to overcome Trump’s lead there.

For NewsNation’s Stirewalt, his network’s early call Wednesday offered a rich irony. He was political editor at Fox News in 2020, and he and a fellow executive, Bill Sammon, were essentially fired over the outcry over the Arizona call — even though they were proven right.

“It would be easy to overstate the results, and I want to be careful not to do that.” he said. “I will say this, it’s a victory for the way things were done and a personal vindication.”

Let the numbers do the talking

He said Decision Desk HQ and NewsNation let the numbers do the talking with their calls. He did not criticize rivals for waiting longer, saying it was a natural reaction to be careful in making race calls after what happened in 2020.

The happiness of some viewers at Fox’s call was evident in some social media posts. Fox rejects any suggestion that its calls are politically motivated, and its decision office, led by veteran Arnon Mishkin, is widely respected in the industry. Stirewalt appointed Mishkin “superb” and said “It’s to Fox’s credit that they kept him when they didn’t keep Bill Sammon and me.”

A vigorous conservative media ecosystem has built up in recent years to compete with Fox. But the network remains king of the hill, illustrated again Wednesday by Nielsen’s preliminary ratings for election night television coverage.

Fox averaged 9.7 million viewers for its primetime coverage, well ahead of second-place ABC News, which had 5.7 million. Newsmax, Fox’s main rival for conservative viewers, had 947,000 viewers and NewsNation had 237,000, Nielsen said.

“I’m extremely proud of our team’s commitment to delivering top-notch reporting and analysis for the largest and most diverse political audience in the news.” Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott said of Tuesday night’s ratings, according to the network.

Trump’s complicated relationship with the network attests to its continued influence. The Republican nominee was a regular guest on his shows during the campaign, particularly in the mornings “The Fox and Friends” yet he complains bitterly on social media if he doesn’t like something said there.