On Nov. 8, millions of Americans will be glued to their TVs to see the outcome of the bitterly fought battle between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump for president.
But this year, election day coverage will be available more ubiquitously than ever on internet platforms, including the two biggest video players — Facebook and YouTube — without the need for a TV set at all. Scores of other online outlets will be trying to grab their share of eyeballs, too. Twitter, for example, is hoping to build momentum in its live-video push by carrying an exclusive election-night broadcast from BuzzFeed, marking BuzzFeed’s most ambitious live TV-style production to date.
The glut of online options for following the biggest night in U.S. politics stands to peel some of the audience away from TV, which in years past has been the go-to source for up-to-the-minute election results. Younger audiences are particularly at risk for tuning out TV: Millennial voters (18-34) were 86% more likely to turn to online sources than TV to learn what others thought about the first presidential debate, according to a Google-commissioned survey conducted by research firm Ipsos Connect last month.
That said, many of the partners for the two big video platforms are actually TV networks, hoping to either provide supplemental coverage on digital platforms or incrementally monetize their television feeds. Here’s a rundown of the 2016 Election Day coverage plans on different platforms:
YouTube: Starting at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Nov. 8, live streams will be available on the channels of the following partners: NBC News, PBS, MTV News, Bloomberg, Telemundo and The Young Turks. Also, Verizon-Hearst’s Complex News will host a special election-night event at YouTube Space NY.
Twitter: BuzzFeed’s “Election Night Live” video stream will be available via election.twitter.com, as well as on the Twitter app for Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Xbox One, and BuzzFeed will host the Twitter syndicated video player on its own sites and social accounts.
CNN Digital: The news network’s “Election Night in America” coverage will be streamed live from 4 p.m. to 4 a.m. in its entirety via CNN.com and across mobile devices via CNN’s apps for iOS and Android (no pay-TV authentication required). In addition, CNN Digital will provide real-time results and exit polls for presidential, Senate, House, and gubernatorial races, as well as ballot measures on the state, district, and county levels, on the CNN Election Center page.
CBSN: CBS News’ 24-hour digital streaming news service will begin election day coverage at 6 a.m. ET on Nov. 8, available free across digital platforms including CBSNews.com/live, mobile and connected-TV devices including Apple TV, Roku, and Amazon Fire TV. The coverage will be led by CBSN anchor Josh Elliott and CBS News correspondents Vladimir Duthiers and Reena Ninan; CBSN will feature the network’s “Campaign 2016: Election Night” coverage from 7 p.m.-2 a.m. plus additional live recaps. From 2 a.m. ET Wednesday onward, CBSN will have additional live coverage and post-election analysis.
Facebook:
- ABC News: Following the news unit’s partnership with the social giant for the 2016 conventions and four general election debates, ABC News on Nov. 8 will produce live streams from anchors and correspondents at key polling locations and candidate election parties around the country as well as feature commentary from anchors and correspondents at ABC News’ election headquarters in New York. ABC News will incorporate viewers’ comments, questions and conversations in the Facebook Live coverage. Anchored coverage will begin at 7 p.m. ET with “Nightline” co-anchor Dan Harris, anchor Amna Nawaz, and contributor LZ Granderson, plus analysis from ESPN’s FiveThirtyEight. In addition, “Good Morning America” co-anchor Michael Strahan and ABC News correspondent T.J. Holmes will report on the latest polling results and analysis from “Times Square Crossroads,” ABC News and Facebook’s live booth in Times Square that will allow real voters to voice their opinions as Americans go to the polls on Election Day starting at 7 p.m.
- CNN: From 9 a.m.-6 p.m. ET on election day, the cable news network will provide hourly Facebook Live broadcasts on CNN and CNN Politics pages. Starting at 6 p.m. until the presidential winner is called, CNN will provide a “second-screen experience” with Facebook Live video from watch parties and battleground states around the country.
- The New York Times: The newspaper will live-stream election coverage on its Facebook page continuously starting at 4:30 p.m. ET, with live video reports from correspondents at polling stations across the country as well as college campuses, election viewing parties and more. International correspondents in a handful of countries will report on worldwide reaction to the results of the American election. The newspaper is also offering free unlimited access to NYTimes.com for 72 hours from 12:01 a.m. ET on Monday, Nov. 7, until 11:59 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Nov. 9.
- Daily Caller: Facebook Live broadcasts throughout the day include stand-ups in front of the White House, inside the new Trump hotel in Washington, D.C., and from the victory parties.
- NowThis: Starting at noon ET, the “No Sleep Til POTUS” live-stream will be hosted by comedian Jordan Carlos from the NowThis studios and remote locations around NYC.
- PBS NewsHour: The pubcaster’s news program will run a Facebook Live broadcast from 8 p.m. until 2 a.m. (or later if necessary), with the program’s 6 p.m. ET broadcast also available on Facebook Live. News Hour also plans to have live video from both the Clinton and Trump campaign headquarters prior to 6 p.m. and from the newsroom after its special wraps.
- Univision: The Hispanic broadcaster will present various Facebook Live events prior to election day and during election night, including Facebook 360-degree videos from the Clinton and Trump campaigns. In addition, through a partnership with Facebook, Univision will have unique access to data on how Facebook users are talking about the candidates and issues, which will be reported and updated regularly during the “Live Election Night” broadcast by Felix de Bedout in Univision’s Electoral Center via touchscreen monitors.
- Vox: Vox.com’s Liz Plank will be going live on Facebook at Hillary Clinton’s rally at New York’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on election night.
- AJ+: The Al-Jazeera digital news division will host an election-night live show.
- Washington Post: The newspaper will launch live original programming starting at 7 p.m. ET from its Washington, D.C., newsroom, hosted by political reporters Ed O’Keefe and Elise Viebeck. The live show, available on Facebook, WashingtonPost.com and its news app, will feature updates and commentary from nearly a dozen reporters and columnists, analysis of real-time election returns and results from The Fix’s Chris Cillizza, on-camera reports from journalists at the Trump and Clinton campaign headquarters, and remote interviews from the floor of the Post’s election-night watch party.
Reuters: Live updates on Reuters TV will start at 2 p.m. ET with correspondents reporting on the ground in New York, Washington, D.C., Florida, and Ohio as well as in from London, Hong Kong, Tel Aviv, and Moscow. The news org also will present Facebook Live coverage from swing states.
Sling TV: Dish Network will offer a free preview of the Sling Orange service as well as access to the News Extra tier (normally $5 extra per month) from 9 a.m. ET on Nov. 8 through 4 a.m. ET on Nov. 9. No credit card or payment is required; only a valid email address and password is needed at sling.com/watchfree. In addition, existing Sling TV customers will get free access to News Extra (which includes CNBC, MSNBC, HLN, BBC World News, TheBlaze, and international news channels) over the same time period.
USA Today Network: Reporters Laura Petrecca and Marco della Cava will host live coverage from USA Today’s McLean, Va., headquarters, with journalists from USA Today and other Gannett outlets reporting from polling locations and Trump and Clinton election night headquarters. The coverage will be available on USA Today and across 109 local media organizations; the USA Today app; and on the Facebook pages of USA Today and more than 100 others.
Yahoo News: Coverage will kick off Tuesday at 6:45 p.m. ET (accessible via yahoo.com/2016choice). The webcast will be led by global news anchor Katie Couric with national political columnist Matt Bai and chief Washington correspondent Olivier Knox, along with a series of special guests. Yahoo News reporters will be with the candidates at their campaign headquarters.
OZY Media and Wired: News site OZY has teamed up with Conde Nast’s Wired to produce six hours of live election night coverage, streaming from 6 p.m. to 12 a.m. on OZY.com, Wired.com and Facebook Live. The program, hosted by OZY.com editor-in-chief Carlos Watson, will be broadcast from D.C. restaurant Busboys and Poets; guests booked to appear include former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Republican strategist Karl Rove, Norman Lear, Mike McCurry, Jim Messina, and Ann Coulter.
C-SPAN: In addition to election night coverage on cable TV beginning at 8 p.m. ET, C-SPAN Radio and C-SPAN.org will present live election results as well as victory and concession speeches on the free C-SPAN Radio app and on-demand.
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