US ELECTION: UK COVERAGE ACROSS BBC, ITV, CHANNEL 4 AND SKY

The United States goes to the polls on Tuesday 5 November. Here are the coverage plans for the BBC, ITV, Sky News and Channel 4.

BBC

The BBC’s overnight US election TV results programme will be broadcast from Washington DC – anchored by US Chief Presenters Caitríona Perry and Sumi Somaskanda, who will lead viewers through every twist and turn of events with their unrivalled knowledge and experience of the US political landscape.

Caitríona and Sumi will be joined in the studio by BBC US special correspondent Katty Kay, who will be providing extra insight and discussing the unfolding events; BBC News presenter Christian Fraser, who will be analysing the results with the special BBC US Election graphics touchscreen; and the BBC’s Social Media Investigations Correspondent Marianna Spring, who will be analysing what is unfolding on social media.

Clive Myrie will host the News at Ten from Washington DC outside the White House, before joining the results show and reporting from the White House for the first hours of the night. From 6am GMT BBC Breakfast will join forces with the results programme with Jon Kay joining Sumi and Caitríona in the studio.

ITV

Tom Bradby will once again lead the broadcast live from Washington DC, presenting Harris V Trump: The Results from 10.45pm on ITV1 and ITVX. He will be joined by Emmy and BAFTA award-winning correspondent Robert Moore, covering his sixth US presidential election.

Anushka Asthana, ITV News' Deputy Political Editor, will take charge of the election results as they come in, using the battleboard to help viewers understand the unfolding story. The broadcast will also feature live crosses to CNN every hour to ensure the latest results are available as soon as they are announced.

The programme will host a roster of experts and insiders to provide comprehensive analysis and insight. Former Trump spokeswoman Heather Nauert and former Obama/Biden advisor Adam Hodge will join the team, alongside election analyst Jessica Taylor from the Cook Political Report.

At 6am, ITV News will hand over to RTS Presenter of the Year Susanna Reid and Ed Balls live from Washington DC, for Good Morning Britain: America Decides, for a full election results special with correspondents around the US including RTS award-winning North America Correspondent Noel Phillips and Chief Correspondent Richard Gaisford.

SKY

US Election Night on Sky News will be led by chief presenter Mark Austin and lead world news presenter Yalda Hakim, joined in our Washington studios by US correspondent Mark Stone to bring audiences results throughout the 5th and into the 6th of November.

Austin, Hakim, and Stone are joined through the election build-up and aftermath by chief presenter Anna Botting and presenter Gillian Joseph as it becomes clearer who will lead America: Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump.

Alongside Stone is the rest of Sky’s comprehensive US reporting team with correspondents James Matthews and Martha Kelner who will be in the candidates’ home states of Florida and California as the results come in, having reported from the key swing states that will decide the outcome of the race. 

CHANNEL 4

Airing from 10:15pm on Tuesday 5th November in partnership with CNN, the eight-hour live programme is fronted by Channel 4 News anchor Krishnan Guru-Murthy, alongside the co-presenter of Global’s daily podcast The News Agents Emily Maitlis, both presenting from Washington DC. 

The duo will be reprising their roles from Channel 4’s critically acclaimed coverage of the 2024 UK general election, also produced by ITN Productions, which saw the broadcaster’s audience double in comparison to 2019.

The presenting team for America Decides will be joined by BBC and Channel 5 host Jeremy Vine in London, marking his Channel 4 election debut to front a ‘data hub’ providing infographics and the story behind the stats as all-important battleground state results are declared.