Political and public affairs network C-SPAN will simulcast its 20-hour marathon coverage of Election Night news and results on YouTube for free, The Desk has learned.
On Monday, a spokesperson for C-SPAN confirmed the multiplex, non-profit cable network will continue its tradition of offering a free simulcast of its main channel on YouTube during large events by bringing its robust coverage of national and key state and local races to the streaming platform.
Cable and satellite customers can access additional streams via the C-SPAN website and app, including streaming simulcasts of C-SPAN 2 and C-SPAN 3, which will feature progressive and conservative perspectives from popular YouTube political commentators.
C-SPAN’s main channel will offer commercial-free coverage of midterm election results via its own team of correspondents and reports along with live look-ins from regional Spectrum News channels and local TV broadcasters who participated in C-SPAN’s “Road to the Capitol” initiative over the summer.
On YouTube, streaming coverage will be split into two parts, with the first 10-hour feed starting at 4 p.m. Eastern Time (1 p.m. Pacific Time) and then relaunching under a new feed at 2 a.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday (11 p.m. Pacific Time on Tuesday). A spokesperson said the split feeds is due to a limitation on YouTube’s end, which caps free live streams at 10 hours.
Streamers who prefer to stick with one channel for all 20 hours can watch C-SPAN and its other two networks with a subscription to YouTube TV, Hulu with Live TV or DIRECTV. Subscribers of cable or satellite services that offer at least one C-SPAN channel can also watch coverage by logging into the C-SPAN website, phone app or smart TV app with their pay TV credentials.
