|
CBS NEWS TO FEATURE INNOVATIVE, MULTIPLATFORM COVERAGE FOR ELECTION NIGHT 2026
"America Decides: Election 2026" Election Night Coverage Will Air Across Broadcast, Streaming, Digital and Social Platforms
CBS News Will Also Broadcast "ELECTION 2026: THE NERD SHOW," A Data-Driven Experience With Real-Time Results, Detailed Breakdowns Of The Vote, Exit Polls, Trends, And Numerical Points Shaping Each Race While Also Featuring Analysis From CBS News' Data Desk Partner, VoteHub, And Data From CBS News Official Prediction Market Sponsor, Kalshi
With early voting already underway in a number of states and Election Day less than four weeks away, CBS News is announcing its initial plans to deliver multiplatform coverage for Election Night across broadcast, streaming, digital and social platforms. CBS News' "America Decides: Election 2026" coverage plans will offer audiences leading reporting in real time, results and analysis from key races across the country, and exclusive insights into the issues that shaped voters' decisions.
Beginning at 7:00 PM ET, CBS News' main election night coverage will air across the CBS Television Network, CBS News 24/7 and digital platforms, providing audiences with up-to-the-minute results, reporting and analysis throughout the evening. This Election Night coverage will be hosted by CBS EVENING NEWS Anchor Tony Dokoupil and CBS MORNINGS Co-Host Norah O'Donnell, who both have decades of political reporting experience. They will be joined on set by CBS MORNINGS Co-Host Gayle King, CBS News FACE THE NATION Moderator and Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Margaret Brennan, and a team of CBS News' leading political reporters, including CBS News Chief Washington Analyst and National Correspondent for CBS SUNDAY MORNING Robert Costa, CBS News Chief Washington Correspondent and host of THE TAKEOUT on CBS News 24/7 Major Garrett, CBS News Chief White House Correspondent Nancy Cordes, and CBS News Senior White House and Political Correspondent Ed O'Keefe.
In addition, CBS News Senior White House Correspondent Weijia Jiang will report from the White House, and CBS News will have additional reporters in Washington and across the country joining the broadcast, including Nikole Killion, Adriana Diaz, Matt Gutman, Skyler Henry, Lana Zak, Kris Van Cleave, Taurean Small, Jan Crawford, and Nicole Sganga.
CBS News' "America Decides: Election 2026" coverage will also feature commentary and insight from key political voices, including Representative Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Representative Jasmine Crockett (D-TX), and former Senator Joe Manchin (I-WV).
On top of that, CBS News political contributors David Becker (Executive Director and Founder of the nonpartisan, non-profit Center for Election Innovation & Research), Chris Krebs (former director of the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency), Terry Sullivan (Republican strategist), Chuck Rocha (Democratic strategist), Joel Payne (Democratic strategist), and Erin Maguire (Republican strategist) will all join the broadcast.
"For nearly eight decades, CBS News has taken audiences inside the most crucial races on Election Night and the factors that are driving those results," said Fin Gómez, CBS News' political director and executive director of Politics and White House. "We're thrilled that we will have the opportunity to do that again for the 2026 midterms with the sharpest anchors, the most well-informed and well-sourced political reporters, and a wide range of prominent national voices who will all be able to offer the kind of insights that will set our Election Night coverage apart."
In addition to its main election night broadcast, CBS News will offer a dedicated live election analysis program on nonlinear platforms for the first time in its history beginning at 5:00 PM ET. This program, affectionately titled ELECTION 2026: THE NERD SHOW, will be hosted by CBS News' Executive Director of Elections and Surveys Anthony Salvanto and CBS News Congressional Correspondent Caitlin Huey-Burns, and they will be joined by Democratic and Republican pollsters and other election data experts. The program, which will stream live on YouTube, X, CBS News 24/7 (from 5pm-7pm), CBSNews.com, the CBS News mobile app, and the CBS News connected TV app on smart television devices, will feature a deep dive into the key numbers, counties, results, and issues that are driving how the election is unfolding. THE NERD SHOW will also feature data analysis provided by VoteHub, an independent and nonpartisan political media organization that CBS News partnered with last month to incorporate election data, maps, survey aggregation and analysis into its midterm coverage across platforms, and Kalshi, CBS News' official prediction market sponsor.
"THE NERD SHOW will cover Election Night like it has never been covered before," said Anthony Salvanto, CBS News' Executive Director of Elections and Surveys. "For the first time, we're going to take audiences inside a network decision desk operation, so they see the numbers, the data, the models that experts pore over, and they can watch how networks make determinations about projecting particular races in real time. That will include the most locally focused state- and precinct-level looks and state-of-the-art mapping from our partners at VoteHub. It's all results, from everywhere, all the time. For political junkies across the country who spend time on election Twitter and for people following every twist of the markets, this is the show for them."
"Think of the way enthusiast audiences for sports will watch live-look shows that bounce from game to game, across screens, highlights - punctuated with expert analytics," Salvanto added. "We're bringing that to Election Night. And all with the people actually calling the races."
CBS News' Election Day coverage plans are below and subject to change:
KEY SHOW DETAILS:
· On Tuesday, Nov. 3, ELECTION 2026: THE NERD SHOW hosted by Anthony Salvanto and Caitlin Huey-Burns will begin coverage at 5:00 PM ET on CBS News 24/7, YouTube, X, the CBS News mobile app, the CBS News connected TV app, and CBSNews.com.
· At 6:30 PM ET, CBS EVENING NEWS WITH TONY DOKOUPIL will broadcast a special edition focused on the election, directly preceding CBS NEWS AMERICA DECIDES: ELECTION 2026 special coverage.
· At 7:00 PM ET, CBS NEWS AMERICA DECIDES: ELECTION 2026 primetime special coverage anchored by Tony Dokoupil and Norah O'Donnell will begin on CBS, CBS News 24/7, Paramount+, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, the CBS News mobile app, CBS News connected TV app, and CBSNews.com.
· CBS MORNINGS will continue coverage from CBS News' election headquarters at 6:00 AM ET on Wednesday, Nov. 4. Gayle King, Norah O'Donnell, and Nate Burleson will have the latest election returns with additional special reporting from correspondents in key states.
ADDITIONAL CBS NEWS PLATFORMS:
· CBS News Digital's coverage on CBSNews.com will feature a live blog with up-to-the-minute election results, reporting and analysis. Coverage will also be available to watch on the CBS News app, CBSNews.com and the CBS News YouTube channel.
· A dedicated Election Day dashboard on CBSNews.com will provide real-time results, race tracking and key election data from across the country.
· CBS News 24/7 will offer full election coverage starting at 7:00 AM ET on Election Day, Nov. 3, and election coverage will continue on CBS News 24/7 through 6:00 PM ET on Wednesday, Nov. 4.
|