Katty Kay and Andrew Neil will host the BBC’s US Election 2020 results night programme as the race to become President of the United States reaches its dramatic conclusion.
On US Election night – 3 November – BBC News will be reporting the race as it unfolds with live results and expert analysis from London and the US.
Katty Kay and Andrew Neil will be leading the BBC US Election 2020 programme on BBC One, BBC News channel, BBC World News and BBC iPlayer from 11.30pm GMT/6.30pm ET.
Katty will be broadcasting from Washington, with Andrew providing interviews and analysis from London. Katty and Andrew have both played major roles in the BBC’s US election coverage in the past, co-hosting the results night coverage together in 2016.
Jon Sopel and Clive Myrie will be with the Trump and Biden campaigns on election night, with BBC reporters including Emily Maitlis and Nick Bryant in the crucial battleground states and a panel of expert political strategists assessing how the night unfolded, how the campaign was lost and the impact the US electorate’s decision will have on the years ahead.
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 night.
Katty Kay said: “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. When trustworthy information is hard to come by, we at the BBC are committed to fairly and accurately reporting events, whatever happens.”
Andrew Neil added: “This has been a presidential campaign like no other in the long history of America’s democracy. And not just because it’s being fought in the midst of a pandemic. In many ways it’s turned into a referendum on Donald Trump. Do you want to continue with four more years of the Trump rollercoaster? Or would you prefer a return to something approaching normal with mainstream Democrat Joe Biden? That’s the choice Americans must make on 3 November.”
BBC Head of Newsgathering, Jonathan Munro also said: “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 over the next three weeks. On election night, Katty and Andrew will bring an incredible level of experience, knowledge and authority from both sides of the Atlantic.”
Radio 4 and the BBC World Service will simulcast their election night programming hosted by Jamie Coomarasamy in Michigan, Nuala McGovern in northern California and Ros Atkins and Philippa Thomas anchoring from London.
BBC Radio 5 Live’s Drive presenter, Anna Foster, will lead the station’s results night coverage and simulcast Radio 4 and BBC World Service in the early hours.
Audiences will be able to follow all the action on the BBC News website’s dedicated US Election live page for all the latest updates in the run up to the election, on results day itself and after. There will also be live maps tracking results for the presidential, Senate and House of Representatives races.
On Wednesday morning coverage will see Laura Trevelyan taking over in Washington, and Matthew Amroliwala and Reeta Chakrabarti in London from 9am GMT, running through to 1pm GMT on BBC One and continuing thereafter on the BBC News Channel, BBC World News and BBC iPlayer with Jane O’Brien in Washington and Lucy Hockings in London.
Katty Kay and Christian Fraser will be providing further analysis at 8pm GMT.
In the run up to the election, other highlights across the BBC’s US coverage include live coverage of the final presidential debate on Friday 23 October on the BBC News Channel and BBC World News.
Katty Kay and Christian Fraser will also be providing coverage of the campaign on the BBC News Channel and BBC World News Monday to Thursday at 9pm throughout the campaign.
There will also be special televised episodes of Americast with Emily Maitlis and Jon Sopel on the BBC News channel and BBC World News, as well as on Radio 4 every Friday evening at 11pm GMT.