Getty Biden and Harris
President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will be sworn into office today as part of the Inauguration events of 2021. The events begin around 10:30 a.m. Eastern with an Inauguration ceremony (although many TV stations’ coverage starts earlier than that) and then will last all day until Tom Hanks hosts a 90-minute Inauguration event called “Celebrating America” later tonight at 8:30 p.m. Eastern. Here’s a look at what time everything is taking place, along with what TV channels you can tune into to watch the events live.
TV Channels Offering Inauguration Coverage & Times
To find what channel any of the stations below are 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 number a station is on in your region.
ABC‘s coverage is scheduled to begin with Good Morning America‘s coverage at 7 a.m. Eastern. The network will then offer coverage from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern for seven hours, followed by The Inauguration of Joseph R. Biden – an ABC News Special which begins at 8 p.m. Eastern.
CBS’ coverage will air from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern. At 8 p.m. Eastern you can then watch a 30-minute special before Celebrating America begins at 8:30 p.m. Eastern.
NBC‘s coverage will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern, providing live coverage of the Inauguration. Then Celebrating America with Tom Hanks will air starting at 8:30 p.m. Eastern.
Fox’s coverage is a little different than many other major stations. It will cover Inauguration ceremony events from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern, but does not currently have the Celebrating America event on its schedule.
PBS is airing PBS News Hour coverage of the Inauguration all day starting at 10:30 a.m. Eastern. The station will then cover Celebrating America from 8 to 10 p.m. Eastern.
CNN is hosting the longest wall-to-wall coverage of all the networks. CNN’s coverage began January 19 at 4 p.m. Eastern and continues until January 21 at 4 a.m. Eastern.
MSNBC‘s coverage begins at 9 a.m. Eastern, and the network will also cover Celebrating America starting at 8:30 p.m. Eastern. You can watch Brian Williams discuss the day’s events on The 11th Hour at 11 p.m. Eastern.
According to the Biden Inaugural website, you can also watch coverage on the following stations or streaming sites:
- Amazon Prime Video
- Microsoft Bing
- NewsNOW from Fox
- AT&T U-verse (Channel 212/1212 in SD/HD)
- AT&T DIRECTV (Channel 201)
Please note that the times in this section are for Eastern time zones. The Biden Inaugural website noted that in the Pacific time zone, the evening’s Tom Hanks celebration might not air on TV live, but rather might air at 8:30 p.m. Pacific. However, you’ll need to check your local stations to be sure. If you’re watching online tonight, like on the YouTube stream in the section below, then the airing will be live (thus if you’re on the West Coast watching in the YouTube stream below, it will be 5:30 p.m. Pacific since it starts live at 8:30 p.m. Eastern.)
The Schedule for Today
A lot is happening today that you won’t want to miss.
According to the Biden Inaugural schedule from the Presidential Inauguration Committee (PIC) and KIRO7, the events of the day will start out with Biden and Harris being sworn into office in front of the U.S. Capitol building at around 12 p.m. Eastern. Biden will then deliver his inaugural address, followed by a benediction.
After the inauguration swearing-in ceremony, there will be a Pass in Review on the East front. Then there will be a Wreath Laying Ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery at approximately 2:30-3 p.m. Eastern.
After this, a Presidential Escort to the White House will take place from 3:15-3:30 p.m. Eastern. A Virtual Parade Across America will then be held.
At 8:30 p.m. Eastern, the 90-minute prime-time program hosted by Tom Hanks begins.
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