A joint session of Congress is meeting today to formally count the electoral votes and certify Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential election. This procedural affair typically garners little attention in an election cycle, but the vote count this year will be marred by partisan politics as a number of Republicans are expected to object to the counts. Those objections will not change the results of the election—the states have already certified it—but it could hold up the process by forcing the House and Senate to debate the objections. Meanwhile, pro-Trump protesters are expected to gather in Washington, D.C., to protest the results and Biden’s victory.
The joint session of Congress is expected to begin today (January 6, 2021) at 1 p.m. ET. If you’re a cable cord cutter who wants to watch the vote count and TV news coverage on a phone, computer, or smart TV, I’ve rounded up a few ways to do that.
Watch the PBS live stream
PBS NewsHour will offer free coverage of the vote count on its YouTube page (also embedded below).
Watch the live stream on C-SPAN
C-SPAN will stream the joint session beginning at 12:35 ET. Find it here.
Stream coverage on cable news
Major cable news networks, including CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News will all offer coverage of the vote count and protests. If you have login credentials from a pay-TV operator, you can usually stream these channels live from their websites. They’re also available on the following standalone streaming services:
- YouTube TV (CNN, MSNBC, Fox News)
- FuboTV (MSNBC, Fox News)
- Hulu With Live TV (CNN, MSNBC, Fox News)
- Sling TV (CNN, MSNBC, Fox News)
Stream coverage on a broadcast network
The news divisions of major broadcast networks have their own streaming services, and some are free. You can try ABC News Live, NBC News Now, or CBSN. You might also try Locast, a nonprofit streaming service that lets you stream broadcast networks for free.
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