WOULD NANCY REAGAN wobble or not?

That, for the most part, remained the only unanswered question during network election night coverage. The president's wife had suffered a fall in her hotel room early Monday morning. The ever exact Reagan White House announced that she stepped out of bed around 3 a.m. because "she was chilly." Since her fall, Mrs. Reagan has experienced a "dizziness" She appeared unsteady as she stepped from the presidential helicopter, regained her composure when she voted, only to hesitate yet again while leaving the polling place. How would the late-night landslide excitement affect the First Lady?

Although they tried hard, Peter lennings, Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather had more than a little trouble finding other topics to hold viewer interest throughout the evening. And for that, they had themselves to thank. With sophisticated computers and tracking polls, each network was able to predict early on not only Reagan's reelection victory but also its magnitude. Much controversy followed network coverage of the presidential election in 1980, when NBC predicted Reagan's victory at 8:15 p.m. EST, long before Western polls had closed. Members of Congress advocated network self-restraint. But CBS, NBC and ABC rightly noted that there exists little if any evidence to suggest that early projections after voter turnout. That said, at least two networks went out of their way on Tuesday to appear cautious and to show what a grateful Colorado Congressman Timothy Wirth termed a "respect for the electoral process."

The self-righteousness began Tuesday morning. In full page newspaper advertisements, NBC touted its team of Brokaw, Roger Mudd and John Chancellor, Boxed in a corner, like some surgeon general warning, appeared the first example of "electoral process respect," or EPR. NBC, the ad promised, would not call any state until the network had received some actual returns. That high-minded avowal forced NBC to wait practically an entire minute. By 8:01 p.m., enough "actual returns" had trickled in to allow NBC to credit Reagan with 166 electoral votes.

ABC News President Roone Arledge offered the second example of EPR. He announced that the Tuesday edition of "World News Tonight" would not broadcast the results of its exit polls. The network would wait until after the Eastern polls had closed. Imagine: all this for John Q. Public. CBS and NBC failed to match Arledge's self-restraint. Their evening newscasts reported voter trends and all they portend.

CBS refreshingly avoided any whiff of pre-broadcast self-righteousness. NBC and actual returns be damned: at 8 p.m. EST, CBS declared Reagan the winner. ABC followed suit at 8:13; NBC at 8:31. Phew. All that holding back.

Respect for the electoral process aside, it seems ridiculous to argue that the networks should refrain from revealing all they know--ridiculous if only because it's such an unlikely proposition. Television news is competitive in a way that print journalism is not. Most newspapers and magazines have similar deadlines and, as a result, must rely on similar information. In the world of TV news, though, every second counts. Being first on an election night--or with special bulletins about political assassinations or natural disasters--does wonders for advertisement campaigns. Take the CBS pre-election ad: "When it counts, America turns to CBS News. Tonight, it counts." How long will it be until we see full page newspaper ads with Reagan's face superimposed over Dan Rather and the CBS newsroom, with the words. "When it counts, America turns to CBS first. And CBS reports the news first." Or, "When it counts, CBS counts its polling data very quickly."

IT'S HARD TO blame the networks for their passion to be first. Immediacy is their strongest suit. Newspapers take the time to research and prepare in-depth analyses or investigative pieces. For its part, TV news generally follows the print media's lead, as it did after the Louisville debate. On the following Tuesday morning, The Wall Street Journal ran a front-page story on Reagan's age as a campaign issue. Guess which heretofore untouched story led the broadcasts on each network that night? The debate had been on a Sunday. Why hadn't age been a story on Monday?

Newspapers generally lag behind the networks in one area: breaking stories. And it's hard to expect the networks not to relish their moment as leaders of the pack. Moreover, it's not the networks' job to guard or build a respect for the electoral process. Let Timothy Wirth turn off his television set. Let those who like to know the news as soon as possible tune in. One possible compromise has been mentioned: close polls across the country at the same time, regardless of time zone differences. If this happens, the country will be presented with the clearest example yet of TV's power in society.

But a defense of network election day philosophy need not necessarily imply a defense of network election day coverage. From 8-9:00 p.m. they reported a story. But even an interest in close congressional or gubernatorial races falls far short in justifying the at times breathless antics of so many network personalities. Coverage quickly became just so many dumbshows, full of sound and fury and signifying--well, if not nothing, then at least very little.

Dan Rather appeared particularly off balance. A few years ago, he donned a sweater to fight a cold and the garment became something of a trademark. On Tuesday night, the sweater was back, and so too, it seemed, was Rather's cold. Was he fighting a cold or fatigue--and if so, was he using speed to do the trick? No, most probably not, but that at least would explain his ballpark behavior. "Ronald Reagan is like the Babe Ruth of politics," Rather said, leaning forward intently. "The old democratic coalition is going"--right arm waves frantically to the side--"going"--a little more frantic waving--"gone!--waving climaxes and is accompanied by a little jump from seat. Ever the educator, Rather, as he announced each state's returns, punctuated his comments with a little trivia--"Michigan, the Wolverine state, goes to Reagan; Wisconsin, the dairy state..."--as if the electoral process were some sort of grammar school pageant sponsored by the local Chamber of Commerce. Confronted with Reagan's landslide, and well aware of what such an obvious outcome might do to his viewership, Rather valiantly fought on. "Stay with us," he said. And then like Monty Hall or Bob Barker came the "can he win them all?!"

At NBC, Brokaw couldn't match Rather's Babe Ruth analogy, but not for a lack of effort. "This steamroller, this wave--I'm running out of metaphors!" But to be fair to Brokaw, how else could one describe the evening's outcome? (Those readers who suggested "this victory" are on the right track.) Brokaw also fell into the habit of asking commentator John Chancellor for his "immediate thoughts" on this or that. After NBC projected Reagan the winner, Chancellor offered this immediate thought: "Just that there's a hunger in America for a president who serves eight years." On at least one occasion, Brokaw harkened back to former NBC newsman David Brinkley, now with ABC News. In 1980, Brinkley surveyed the giant NBC map--colored Reagan blue--and labelled it "a suburban swimming pool." It's odd to see Brokaw so drained that he must rely on a former colleague's quip.

Over at ABC, Brinkley joined Peter Jennings, who interviewed Moral Majority founder Jerry Falwell. Jennings spoke of those who identified themselves as "born against, I mean again, Christians." Forgive the slip. And Barbara Walters' commentary? "As a woman I think I should say something about Ferraro as a woman candidate but as an American I think I should say nothing about the Ferraro candidacy but I will speak now as a woman so I will comment on Ferraro as a woman and how her campaign has affected American women." No, that's not an exact transcript. But it's close enough. And it typifies the problem of Tuesday's coverage: too much time and too little to say.

There was some welcome relief. Roger Mudd brought intelligence to the NBC triumvirate. And Brinkley managed to seem as sharp and wry at ABC as he once was at NBC. ABC also scored with George Will and Tom Wicker, if only because both seemed so visibly confused by Walters' words.

Local coverage in Boston was most noteworthy for the stations' annoying reluctance to switch to their network anchor desks. Channel 7, for instance, gave us a plodding Tom Ellis while Dan Rather announced the Reagan victory. And the station also took its time before joining the Reagan family in Los Angeles. Their viewers missed the first couple walking up to the podium. Let the record show that Mrs. Reagan, like Rather, wobbled just a bit and appeared slightly dazed.