2009 was interesting because TV2 Denmark declared that the referendum on the royal succession act would result in the act being rejected because of low turn-out (you need 40% of all voters voting in favour to pass a constitutional amendment in Denmark). As it turned out, turn-out was little under 60% (same as in 1953) and the act passed without problems.

The interesting question is if reporting with 4-5 hours to go boosted turn-out. (Another problem is if or how scheduling the referendum with the EP election influenced the distribution of votes in that election). The answer is: We don't know, but it is not unlikely that the conclusions drawn from the polls were wrong.

In any event, what we are seeing is TV stations competing for viewers. There really is nothing to report before 9.30-10 pm but just as with football matches coverage starts earlier and earlier.

Donsbach has also published a 30+ page manifesto in which he argues vehemently (and with very good reasons) against such restrictions: http://www.unl.edu/wapor/who-is-afraid-of-opinion… One country that is particularly restrictive is Greece, which has been repeatedly criticised by the World Association for Public Opinion Research (WAPOR) for banning the publication of survey results as early as 15 days before the actual election: http://www.unl.edu/wapor/WAPOR_PressReleaseAugust…