Election Night 2026 TV Schedule: Start Times for CNN, NBC, Fox, CBS

NBC News starts its election night coverage at 5 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, and Fox News Channel follows at 6 p.m. ET, according to the networks’ own announcements. Both run through the night: NBC until 6 a.m. Wednesday, and Fox Business simulcasts Fox News until the same hour. Cable News Network (CNN) is first, at 4 p.m. ET, and CBS News starts its main coverage at 7 p.m. ET, according to their releases. The Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN) plans to go on the air at 4 p.m. ET, the trade site The Desk reports. The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) had not published their schedules on their press sites as of Saturday, Oct. 31. Below: each network’s start time, anchors and free streams, then an hour-by-hour guide that lines up the coverage with poll closings.

For a scoreboard, a state-by-state map and timestamped updates beside the broadcasts, use our Election Night 2026 live blog.

Election night start times by network

All times are Eastern Time. Daylight saving time ends on Nov. 1, two days earlier, so the clocks on election night are on standard time.

Network	Coverage starts (ET)	Anchors	Where to stream
NBC News	5 p.m. on NBC and Peacock; most NBC stations join at 6:30 p.m.; ends 6 a.m. Wed.	Savannah Guthrie, Tom Llamas, Kristen Welker, Hallie Jackson; overnight Craig Melvin and Kate Snow	NBC News Now (free), Peacock, NBCNews.com, NBC News app, YouTube
Fox News Channel	6 p.m.; Trace Gallagher anchors until 4 a.m.	Bret Baier, Martha MacCallum	FOX News App, FOX Nation, FOX News Digital
Fox Business	6 p.m. to 6 a.m. Wed., simulcasting Fox News	Same as Fox News	FOX News App
CNN	4 p.m. (Election Night in America); John Berman and Kate Bolduan lead from New York at 2 a.m.	Jake Tapper, Anderson Cooper	CNN.com, CNN apps, connected TV; streaming with an All Access subscription
CNN Office Hours special	7 p.m.	John Berman, Harry Enten	CNN’s YouTube channel, TikTok, All Access, cnn.com/officehours
CNN en Español	7 p.m. to midnight (Voto Latino)	Juan Carlos López, Gabi Frías	CNN en Español and its CNN Noticias free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channel
CBS News	7 p.m. on the CBS Television Network	Tony Dokoupil, Norah O’Donnell	CBS News 24/7, Paramount+, CBSNews.com, CBS News app, YouTube
C-SPAN	4 p.m., commercial-free (reported by The Desk)	Greta Brawner, Pedro Echevarria, Mimi Geerges, Peter Slen	Not stated in the report
ABC News, PBS News	Not yet announced	Not yet announced	Not yet announced

NBC calls its plan 13 hours of live broadcast coverage, the most it has offered for a midterm, and says its Decision Desk makes the network’s race calls. Fox News says its Decision Desk will call House, Senate and governor races and project which party controls each chamber of Congress. Fox’s release lists the FOX News App, FOX Nation and FOX News Digital for streaming but does not say which of them require a subscription. CNN says its full coverage streams with an All Access subscription, and CBS lists Paramount+ without saying whether that stream needs a paid plan.

How to watch for free

• Over the air: local NBC and Fox stations need only an antenna. NBC’s network coverage starts at 5 p.m. ET, though most stations join at 6:30 p.m.
• NBC News Now: NBC describes the channel as free and available on the popular streaming platforms, including Samsung TV Plus and the Roku Channel.
• NBC’s Big Board livestream: a camera on Steve Kornacki’s results board streams from 5:30 p.m. ET on NBCNews.com, the NBC News app, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook.
• CNN Office Hours: CNN says its 7 p.m. ET election night special with John Berman and Harry Enten streams on its YouTube channel and TikTok.
• CBS on social platforms: CBS lists YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok among the places its primetime coverage appears.
• Audio: FOX News Audio starts at 7 p.m. ET on FOX News Radio stations and in the FOX News App, with Jared Halpern and Jessica Rosenthal.

Peacock coverage also starts at 5 p.m. ET, with a multiview screen from 5:30 p.m. NBC’s release does not say whether that stream is included on Peacock’s free tier.

Hour-by-hour: coverage and poll closings

The first results usually appear within an hour of a state’s last polls closing. The table pairs each network start with the states that close at that hour. Closing times are for most of each state; several states split across time zones close an hour later in part of the state, as our story on what time polls close explains.

Time (ET)	What happens
4 p.m.	CNN coverage begins; C-SPAN coverage begins (reported)
5 p.m.	NBC News coverage begins on NBC and Peacock
5:30 p.m.	NBC’s Big Board livestream starts; Peacock multiview opens
6 p.m.	Polls close in most of Indiana and Kentucky; Fox News Channel and Fox Business begin
6:30 p.m.	Most NBC stations join the network coverage
7 p.m.	Polls close in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia; CBS News coverage, CNN Office Hours, CNN en Español and FOX News Audio begin
7:30 p.m.	Polls close in North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia
8 p.m.	Polls close in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Texas, 15 other states and the District of Columbia
8:30 p.m.	Polls close in Arkansas
9 p.m.	Polls close in Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Wisconsin and Wyoming
10 p.m.	Polls close in Idaho, Montana, Nevada and Utah
11 p.m.	Polls close in California, Oregon and Washington
Midnight	Polls close in Alaska and Hawaii
4 a.m. Wed.	Fox News hands off to an early edition of FOX & Friends First
6 a.m. Wed.	NBC’s broadcast coverage and the Fox Business simulcast end

Some races will not be decided on election night. States that process mail ballots before Election Day report faster, while others, such as Pennsylvania, cannot start until that morning. Our guide to when we will know the results goes state by state, and the 2026 midterm tracker lists every Senate and governor’s race with its closing time.

Before the night: specials on Nov. 1 and 2

Fox News has scheduled a preview hosted by Baier and MacCallum on Sunday, Nov. 1, from 3 to 4 p.m. ET, and an extra hour of FOX News @ Night on Monday, Nov. 2, until 1 a.m. ET. NBC says its election coverage runs across its digital platforms around the clock in the days before the vote.

Print the watch guide

Our free one-page Election Night Watch Guide lists the CNN, NBC, Fox and CBS start times next to the poll closings for each hour, so you know when to expect results from the states you follow. Keep it with the November 2026 calendar or a weekly planner for the week of the vote. If you have not voted yet, see what time polls close where you live.