The mid-term 2018 elections are here, and many states have already seen huge turnouts in early voting. Tonight, we will find out if any Senate or House seats flips, and whether Republicans or Democrats are in control of Congress. Results will start being announced as the polls close, and the first polls will close at 6 p.m. Eastern in Indiana and Kentucky. You’ll want to definitely tune in to watch the results on TV this evening, but you may want to start watching earlier if you can. Here are all the details on how to watch the election results on television.
Almost every major TV broadcast station will be covering the election results live tonight. Below is an overview of some of the major coverage that you can choose from.
DATE: Tonight, Tuesday, November 6, 2018
TIME POLLS WILL CLOSE: Polls will begin closing at 6 p.m. Eastern in Indiana and Kentucky, with the final polls closing at 1 a.m. Eastern on Wednesday in parts of Alaska. You’ll probably want to start tuning in at least by 6 p.m. Eastern. You’ll want to especially pay close attention around 11 p.m. to midnight, when many states tend to report the results of their races.
ELECTION RESULTS ANNOUNCEMENT TIME: There’s not a set time that election results are announced, as it depends on when polls are closed and how quickly results are tabulated. But in 2014, midterm results came in around midnight.
TV CHANNEL: The election results will be broadcast live on all the major networks and leading cable sites, including ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, CNBC, Fox, Fox News, MSNBC, and PBS NewsHour, Telemundo, and Univision.
To find out what channel the station you want to watch is on for you, click here to go to TV Guide’s listings. Then change the “Provider” (right under TV Listings) to your local provider. You’ll be able to scroll down to see what channel the station you’re interested in is on for you.
See more details about major stations and their broadcast times below.
ABC: ABC’s election coverage begins at 5 p.m. Pacific, and a Democracy Live Stream will air from 7 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. Eastern. ABC’s national coverage will air all night with George Stephanopoulous reporting from “Your Voice, Your Vote.” David Muir, Martha Raddatz, Jonathan Karl and Cecilia Vega will join him.
CBS: Coverage will begin at 5 p.m. Pacific with the CBS News Decision Desk, and projections will be made throughout the night. Norah O’Donnell, Jeff Glor, Gayle King, John Dickerson and Bianna Golodryga will lead.
CNBC:
CNN: CNN anchors Wolf Blitzer, Jake Tapper, and Anderson Cooper will kick off the Election Night in America 2018 with live coverage from the CNN Election Center in Washington starting at 5 p.m. Eastern. Chief political correspondent Dana Bash will join them and will track the Senate races. Senior political reporter Nia-Malika Henderson will cover the governor races around the country. And CNN anchor and chief national correspondent John King will cover the House races from the “CNN Magic Wall.”
C-SPAN: C-SPAN coverage begins at 5 p.m. Pacific, featuring results from the Associated Press on national races.
FOX NEWS: Anchors Bret Baier and Matha MacCallum will moderate the election results on Fox News tonight starting at 6 p.m. Eastern at “America’s Election HQ.” Viewers can see live updates and projections as news comes in from the Fox News Decision Desk. Bill Hemmer will break down vote totals on an electronic Bill-Board as the results come in, and Harris Faulkner will report on critical battles in a “Key Race Tracker” section. Shannon Bream will lead the Fox News Voter Analysis, which is a survey of early and Election Day voters from all 50 states.
FOX BUSINESS NEWS: The Fox Business Network will also be providing live coverage today. Neil Cavuto will anchor a five-hour edition of Cavuto: Coast to Coast, and Lou Dobbs will host a special election-edition of Lou Dobbs Tonight from 7-8 p.m. Eastern.
MSNBC: MSNBC’s coverage begins today with its Morning Joe program at 6 a.m. Eastern and will continue all day. MSNBC will also have a re-launched version of Steve Kornacki’s interactive “Big Board” to show results as they come in.
NBC: Lester Holt and Savanna Guthrie will host NBC’s coverage beginning at 5 p.m. Pacific.
NPR: NPR will offer special coverage of the midterm elections starting at 8 p.m. Eastern, 5 p.m. Pacific, on Election Day, November 6, 2018. Coverage will feature newsmaker interviews, reports from state races, and analysis from NPR’s Political Team. Check your local NPR station for broadcast times: NPR.org/stations.
PBS News Hour: PBS News Hour will begin coverage at 6 p.m. Eastern, with special coverage beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern. According to PBS: “The special broadcast will be anchored by managing editor Judy Woodruff, with a panel of studio guests to include syndicated columnist Mark Shields, New York Times columnist David Brooks, Cook Political Report national editor Amy Walter, editor and publisher of American Greatness Chris Buskirk, MoveOn.org senior adviser Karine Jean-Pierre, and PBS NewsHour Capitol Hill correspondent Lisa Desjardins.”
Telemundo: Telemundo’s “El Voto, Nuestro Futuro Latino (The Vote, Our Latino Future),” will be hosted by José Díaz-Balart. But coverage begins at 4 a.m. Pacific and continues throughout the day.
Univision: Univision’s coverage starts at 3:30 p.m. Pacific, hosted by Jorge Ramos and Ilia Calderón.
READ NEXT: Watch multiple live streams of the election results as they come in tonight, right here.