by Thinus Ferreira
With Americans going to the voting booth on Tuesday in the 2020 American presidential election, here are the coverage plans of the various international TV news channels, including their programming times, the anchors, correspondents and commentators they will be using - including Omarosa Manigault Newman!
BBC WORLD NEWS (DStv 400 / StarSat 256)
Katty Kay and Andrew Neil who co-hosted the 2016 American presidential election will present the BBC's coverage under the themed banner of US Election 2020.
BBC World News will be reporting the race as it unfolds with live results and expert analysis from London and the United States.
Katty Kay and Andrew Neil will start the BBC US Election 2020 programme from 01:30 (SAST South African standard time) on Wednesday morning.
Katty Kay will be broadcasting from Washington, with Andrew Neil providing interviews and analysis from London.
Jon Sopel and Clive Myrie will be with the Donald Trump and Joe Biden campaigns during the course of Tuesday and into election night, with BBC reporters including Emily Maitlis and Nick Bryant in the crucial battleground states. A panel of expert political strategists will be assessing how the night is unfolding.
BBC US Election 2020 will feature big-screen graphic analysis from Christian Fraser, and Tina Daheley will also be bringing audiences news bulletins throughout the course of Tuesday and Wednesday.
On Wednesday morning BBC coverage will see Laura Trevelyan taking over in Washington, and Matthew Amroliwala and Reeta Chakrabarti in London from 11:00 SAST, running through to 15:00 on Wednesday afternoon; and from then on anchored by Jane O’Brien in Washington and Lucy Hockings in London. Katty Kay and Christian Fraser will be providing further analysis from 22:00 on Wednesday night.
"The 2020 US election cycle has been endlessly surprising, which is fitting for a year that’s been anything but normal. It will be a hard-fought contest right to the end, and I’m excited to bring global BBC audiences the story on election night and in the days after," says Katty Kay.
Jonathan Munro, the BBC's head of newsgathering, says "The US Presidential election is one of the world’s most important political events, and always has a big impact on politics across the world. Our goal is to make sure that we provide our audiences with the complete picture".
CNN INTERNATIONAL (DStv 401)
On CNN International Wolf Blitzer, Dana Bash, Anderson Cooper, Abby Phillip and Jake Tapper will lead coverage from the CNN Election Center on Tuesday 3 November and into Wednesday under the themed banner of Election Night in America.
CNN's Election Night in America coverage will officially start on Tuesday night at 23:00 (SAST).
Chris Cuomo and Don Lemon will anchor CNN's late-night coverage into Wednesday morning. CNN correspondents Jim Acosta and Kaitlan Collins will be live from the Donald Trump campaign headquarters while Arlette Saenz and Jeff Zeleny will be reporting live from the Joe Biden campaign headquarters.
Also in CNN's Election Center will be its chief national correspondent John King who will report live from the CNN Magic Wall, as well as CNN political director David Chalian who will cover exit polls.
CNN's senior White House correspondent Pamela Brown will be at the voting desk reporting updates from voting locations across the United States. Senior political analyst Mark Preston will provide analysis throughout Tuesday and Wednesday.
CNN's chief political analyst Gloria Borger, host and commentator Van Jones, and senior political commentators David Axelrod and Rick Santorum will do coverage from the analyst desk.
Senior legal analyst Lauren Coates and CNN contributor Ben Ginsberg will provide legal analysis.
SKY NEWS (DStv 402 / StarSat 258)
Sky News will start its rolling coverage on Tuesday night under its themed banner of America Decides from midnight (00:00 SAST) and into Wednesday.
Dermot Murnaghan who will anchor Sky News' coverage will be joined by the US correspondent Cordelia Lynch, as well as Omarosa Manigault Newman (former Donald Trump aide), as well as Kim Darroch (former British ambassador to the US).
Sky News says that its America Decides coverage will include live results, expert analysis, special guests and a bespoke augmented reality studio allowing viewers to visualise the "Race to the White House" like never before.
AL JAZEERA (DStv 406 / StarSat 257)
Al Jazeera says that the TV news channel will have comprehensive coverage of the 2020 US Election with anchors and
correspondents reporting from the White House and on-the-ground in key
battleground states across that country.
Al Jazeera's special, extended coverage under the themed banner of America Decides will kick off on Tuesday night 3 November from midnight (00:00 SAST) and into Wednesday morning as polls in America begin to close and results start to come in.
"We’ll have correspondents
at the party headquarters of both Donald Trump and Joe Biden, and across the
US in locations such as Washington D.C., Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania,
Minnesota, New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles – speaking to voters about
the issues that matter to them, and how they voted."
Al Jazeera says that the latest results and
expert analysis will come from its Doha and Washington D.C. broadcast centres,
with international reaction from Al Jazeera English’s extensive network of
reporting teams around the world.
