In a countdown to the final results of the 2012 U.S. presidential elections, a Media war was declared at Times Square of New York on Tuesday night.

Almost all the cable TV giants gathered at the square, competing for bigger influence on tourists at home and abroad.

At the junction of 47th Street and Broadway, three jumbo screens of Cable News Network have been opened to the public since 4 p.m. Tuesday (2100 GMT) on a first-come-first-served basis, updating the audience, mostly tourists, on the latest news of the elections.

Spectators may attend to watch CNN's coverage, share their Election Day stories via iReport, play election trivia and create mementoes at the social media-enabled photo booth on-site. CNN-branded food carts serve coffee, hot chocolate, pretzels and hot dogs to attendees.

Besides the outdoor viewing location at Times Square, CNN also has similar ones in Chicago, Boston, Las Vegas and Los Angeles and has taken control of the lights on the Empire State Building, where it will measure electoral votes in real time for all of New York City -- and the nation -- to watch.

Its rival Fox News has also taken over two jumbo screens, which normally belonged to Sony and American Eagle, to send out all real time updates about the elections. ABC News, another big cable channel, prepared itself with two screens borrowed from Nasdaq and Reuters for the race. The NBC and ESPN were also among the players at Times Square.

According to statistics, the 2012 U.S. elections have collected over 2 billion U.S. dollars, the most in history, with half of which spent on TV commercials.