Back in the olden days, learning who the next US president was going to be required huddling around a 4-inch TV set made of sticks and mud and literal rabbit ears. But today there are dozens of options available through what’s commonly called the “internet”. And if you’re wondering how to watch today’s coverage of the US election results using this newfangled technology, Gizmodo has you covered.
Illustration by Sam Woolley
Whether you prefer YouTube, Facebook, Twitter or even virtual reality, you’ll find links to coverage on all those platforms below. This of course won’t be entirely necessary as all your election streaming needs will be catered to by our friends over at Deadspin and Jezebel. The sites will be running a joint livestream from 11:00AM to 2:00PM AEDT.
The first polls close in some parts of Kentucky and Indiana at 10:00AM AEDT. And whether you support Trump or Clinton, (or Gary Johnson or Jill Stein because YOU’RE NOT MY REAL DAD AND YOU CAN’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO) today should be pretty interesting.
YouTube
There are plenty of different ways to watch the Election Day returns on YouTube:
- NBC News has a livestream of election night coverage on YouTube.
- PBS Newshour also has a livestream of the election results on YouTube.
- And C-SPAN has its own stream of the results on YouTube.
CNN
During the presidential debates you needed a US pay TV subscription to log into CNN’s apps on your iPad or your Roku. But starting today at 8:00AM AEDT, CNN is reportedly opening up all its avenues for streaming, even if you don’t have an old fashioned US pay TV subscription. They will all be available until 8:00PM AEDT. Hopefully we should know the winner by then. Please dear God, let us know the winner by then.
- You can watch CNN Go on your iPhone or iPad, Android and Windows Phone.
- You can fire up the CNN mobile apps for Kindle Fire and Windows 10.
- Or you can watch using the CNN app for Apple TV.
Twitter partnered with Bloomberg for coverage of the debates, but today they’re partnering with Buzzfeed News. Those cheating scamps. You can watch Twitter’s coverage at election.twitter.com.
- Facebook is partnering with ABC News for a livestream of today’s coverage.
- PBS Newshour will also have a Facebook livestream of returns starting at 12:00PM AEDT.
- CNN has Facebook Live streams which started bright and early at 1:00AM AEDT and will run until a winner is decided.
Websites
Most of the major US news outlets will also have livestreams of the election results on their homepages during prime time. There’s Reuters, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, CBS News, ABC News, NBC News, C-SPAN and plenty of others.
AltspaceVR – Virtual Reality
Much like the three presidential debates, AltspaceVR has partnered with NBC News for a virtual reality presentation of the election night results. If you own a Samsung Gear VR, HTC Vive or Oculus Rift, you can go to AltspaceVR to watch the debate, if that appeals to you.
No matter how you feel about Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, I think we’re all thankful that this is finally coming to an end. But there’s sure to be millions of people who will be angry that this 16-month reality show of an election didn’t end the way they wanted. With any luck, we’ll get through tonight without anyone losing their minds.
Depending on how things shake out, some Americans might be considering a move. Clinton supporters thinking about becoming expats, can follow this link for instructions on emigrating to Canada. Trump supporters thinking about moving to someplace closer to Donald’s vision of the perfect country will need to take a connecting flight through China to get into North Korea. There aren’t any direct flights to Pyongyang from the United States.
Godspeed, everyone.