2026 Midterms: Your Guide to full election coverage on DISH
The 2026 midterm elections will have a profound impact on American politics. Key races will determine the balance of power in congress for the next two years, and with close polling in a number of battleground districts, we won’t know anything until the votes begin getting tallied on Tuesday, November 3.
To keep you informed on 2026 midterm election results, the Election & News Multi-View on channel 201 will bring you up-to-the-minute coverage from all the major news networks, all in one place. Channels include FOX News, CNN, MS NOW, Newsmax, NewsNation, and CNBC. And if you have a Hopper 3 or Hopper Plus, Picture in Picture Multi-View allows you to pick and choose which channels you want to see.
To get you ready for election night, we put together this list of what coverage you can expect from all the top news channels available with DISH. Check out the details on 2026 midterm election coverage below. To watch the most news with DISH, add the News Pack. Not a DISH subscriber? Follow this link to find the best offer and subscribe to DISH today!
Local channels: ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC (all packages)
Local ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC stations are available in all DISH packages, though local channel availability varies by market. The networks' prime-time Election Night shows will air on these local stations. ABC, CBS, and NBC have announced their plans; FOX had not released a Nov. 3 broadcast schedule as of Oct. 30.
About the quotes: each "Release language" line is a short, exact excerpt from the network's announcement. The rest is summarized.
ABC
Program: ABC News Election Night: Vote 2026, anchored by David Muir. The broadcast "will air from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. ET on ABC".
Political team: Linsey Davis, Martha Raddatz, Jonathan Karl, Mary Bruce, Pierre Thomas, and Rachel Scott, among others.
On the ground: anchors, correspondents, and reporters from ABC News and ABC Owned Television Stations report from 11 key election states.
Before and after: World News Tonight with David Muir and Good Morning America provide election previews and follow-up coverage.
CBS
Release language: "'America Decides: Election 2026' Election Night Coverage Will Air Across Broadcast, Streaming, Digital and Social Platforms"
The prime-time America Decides: Election 2026 starts at 7PM ET, anchored by Tony Dokoupil and Norah O'Donnell. CBS's data-focused The Nerd Show (5PM ET) streams on CBS digital platforms.
NBC
Release language: "NBC News' 'Decision '26' coverage will feature 13 hours of continuous live programming on NBC beginning Tuesday, Nov. 3, at 5 p.m. ET".
Start time on your local station: NBC's coverage begins at 5PM ET, "with most stations joining at 6:30 p.m. ET," when prime-time coverage begins. Coverage runs through 6AM ET Wednesday, Nov. 4.
Anchors: Savannah Guthrie, Tom Llamas, Kristen Welker, and Hallie Jackson lead prime-time coverage from 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Ryan Nobles, Garrett Haake, and Brian Cheung join them.
Big Board: Steve Kornacki returns with a dual-screen setup featuring state maps, vote breakdowns, exit polls, and the balance of power in Congress.
Race calls: the NBC News Decision Desk.
Nov. 4: coverage continues with special editions of TODAY.
Cable news channels: America's Top 120 and up
Every channel in this section is included in America's Top 120, so it's also in America's Top 120+, America's Top 200, and America's Top 250.
FOX News Channel (America's Top 120 and up)
Release language: "Beginning at 6 PM/ET, FOX News Channel (FNC) will kick off November 3rd's election night coverage with FOX News Democracy 26".
Program: FOX News Democracy 26, co-anchored by Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum.
Panel and analysts: Dana Perino, Brit Hume, Harold Ford Jr., Bill Hemmer, Sandra Smith, Laura Ingraham, Jesse Watters, Sean Hannity, Harris Faulkner, Kayleigh McEnany, and Jessica Tarlov, among others.
Race calls: the FOX News Decision Desk.
Overnight: Trace Gallagher anchors late-night coverage. "Gallagher will then take over coverage through 4 AM/ET, when a special early edition of FOX & Friends First begins".
Before Election Day:
- Sun., Nov. 1: a two-hour Outnumbered and a Democracy 26 preview special. "Baier and MacCallum will host an election preview special entitled FOX News Democracy 26 from 3-4 PM/ET".
- Mon., Nov. 2: FOX News @ Night runs an extra hour.
On-air extras: expanded augmented-reality graphics, county-level vote-shift maps, and a balance-of-power tracker. More than 20 correspondents report from battleground states.
CNN (America's Top 120 and up)
Release language: "On Tuesday, November 3, CNN will provide audiences and subscribers comprehensive coverage of the 2026 midterm elections across platforms."
Flagship program: "CNN's Election Night in America special coverage begins at 4pET with Jake Tapper and Anderson Cooper co-anchoring live from Washington".
Election Day lead-in: coverage runs all day on Nov. 3. "Beginning at 12aET on November 3, Elex Michaelson will begin coverage from the West Coast".
- 3AM: Erica Hill
- 5AM: Audie Cornish
- 7AM: John Berman, Kate Bolduan, and Sara Sidner
- 10AM: Anderson Cooper
- 12PM: Wolf Blitzer and Erin Burnett
On-air team: "John King will be at the Magic Wall breaking down election results as ballots are counted". Also on the team:
- Dana Bash on Senate races
- Kaitlan Collins on White House reaction
- David Chalian and Kasie Hunt on voter polling and battleground states
- Erin Burnett anchoring a panel from Texas
- Tom Foreman on fact-checks
- Laura Coates on legal analysis
- More than 25 correspondents in key states
Overnight: "Following at 2aET, John Berman and Kate Bolduan will lead live coverage from New York City". Harry Enten and Mark Preston join them.
MS NOW (America's Top 120 and up)
Release language: "Marking the first midterm election as an independent news network, Rachel Maddow will lead coverage beginning at 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Nov. 3."
Program: "We The People" special coverage, led by Rachel Maddow. She's joined by Nicolle Wallace, Chris Hayes, Jen Psaki, Lawrence O'Donnell, Michael Steele, Symone Sanders Townsend, Ari Melber, Peter Alexander, and Stephanie Ruhle.
Election Day: special "We The People" editions of daytime shows, including Morning Joe and Deadline: White House.
Overnight and Nov. 4: "MS NOW's coverage will continue live into the early morning, with Jonathan Capehart, Eugene Daniels, and Jackie Alemany hosting beginning at 2 a.m. ET." A special Morning Joe follows, then continuing coverage from 11AM to 2PM ET.
Before Election Day:
- Sat., Oct. 31 and Sun., Nov. 1: Chris Jansing hosts a live hour at 4PM ET.
- Sun., Nov. 1: a "We The People" preview with Maddow at 7–9PM ET.
Extras:
- Ali Velshi at the Big Board.
- Reporters in 10 states.
- A three-hour Members Lounge live Q&A, starting at 8PM ET and open to everyone that night.
NewsNation (America's Top 120 and up)
Release language: "NewsNation today announced that it will present special live coverage of the 2026 Midterm Elections on Tuesday, November 3,, from 7 p.m. to midnight ET."
Program: Decision Desk 2026: Election Night in America, co-anchored by Chris Cuomo, Elizabeth Vargas, Leland Vittert, Katie Pavlich, and Chris Stirewalt.
Race calls: "The network will once again partner exclusively with election data provider Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ) for independent race call information on election night."
- A DDHQ data center at Georgetown's McCourt School tracks results in real time.
- Connell McShane works the Big Board in New York.
All-day coverage: "NewsNation's election coverage will begin at 6 a.m. ET, with a special edition of Morning in America". A special edition of The Hill airs from 6 to 7PM.
Overnight:
- 12–3AM: Nichole Berlie and Jesse Weber
- 3–6AM: Anna Kooiman and Hena Doba
Sunday, Nov. 1:
- A two-hour The Hill Sunday.
- "a special one-hour midterm election preview at 7 p.m. ET, hosted and produced by 2WAY's Mark Halperin, Larry O'Connor, and Kevin Walling"
Newsmax (America's Top 120 and up)
Newsmax is in America's Top 120 and up. Newsmax hasn't put out a formal election-night release. Its "Vote For America" page promises: "NEWSMAX will have live reports from Election headquarters and offer up-to-the-minute results and election calls." No anchors or times have been announced.
C-SPAN and C-SPAN2 (America's Top 120 and up)
C-SPAN and C-SPAN2 are in America's Top 120 and up.
Program: beginning at 4PM ET, C-SPAN delivers at least 20 continuous hours of live, commercial-free coverage, with reports from more than 30 locations across the country.
Approach: the network is billing its flagship channel's coverage as free of partisan pundits, with expert, nonpartisan analysis and full candidate speeches.
C-SPAN2: carries a live election show from The Young Turks, one of two YouTube creator livestreams C-SPAN is airing to present progressive and conservative perspectives.
Only in America's Top 250
Bloomberg TV (America's Top 250)
Bloomberg TV is in America's Top 250. Bloomberg's Election Night special programming starts at 7PM ET, led by anchors Joe Mathieu and Kailey Leinz from New York. They're joined by Rick Davis, Jeanne Sheehan Zaino, former Rep. Patrick McHenry, Adam Hodge, Tyler Kendall, and David Gura. Midterm segments are running on Balance of Power. Bloomberg News also runs a live results hub online.
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