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Canadian TV coverage of the US elections

by Isabelle Carreau, posted Nov 4th 2008 8:00AM
CanadaIf you are not a Canadian, you probably didn't know we had federal elections in mid-October. However, Canadians know very well the U.S. election is going on right now and that the vote is today since we are neighbors and because American economy affects Canada's.

This past year, and especially since Obama and McCain really started to campaign a few weeks ago, the news airing on Canadian TV stations have all included some type of coverage and updates about the U.S. elections. Some of the 24-hour news stations even had special shows that lasted hours, for example, during the first presidential debate, to update us on the goings-on of the American election. So it's no surprise if that there is some sort of U.S. election coverage on Canadian TV channels tonight.

If you are Canadian and want to have the latest news on the election, I suggest you tune to one of the American stations. However, if you want to have comments as to how the results will affect Canada, etc., here are a few suggestions for you. And since we are a bilingual country, I'm offering you listings for French and English channels that are available coast to coast (it's possible you don't have access to all of these depending on your cable plan). All times are EST.

English coverage
  • CBC News World airs CBC News: Around the World - Analysis of the American Election at 7 p.m.
  • CTV News Net has Race to the White House from 9 to 10 p.m.
  • CTV airs Comedy Central's Indecision '08: America's Choice from 10 to 11 p.m.

French coverage
  • RDI will air Grands reportages - Obama ou McCain from 8 to 9 p.m.
  • Coverage on RDI will continue at 10 p.m. until midnight with Présidentielles américaines: La soirée.
  • LCN will cover the elections starting at 7 p.m.

Online TV guides do not clearly state if all of the 24-hour news stations will air other election specials. However, it wouldn't surprise me that they do considering how they covered past U.S. elections. So be sure to tune in CBC News World, CTV News Net, RDI and LCN for more coverage.

It's also a safe bet that all there will be special reports during commercial breaks and that the news airing on most Canadian stations at 10 p.m. will open with U.S. election coverage and results.

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6 Comments

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MrWeen

Because of this post many Americans are now thinking "Wow, I didn't know they had TV's in their igloos."

November 04 2008 at 9:32 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
viewdrix

InDecision 08 is on Comedy Network at the same time as CTV.

November 04 2008 at 6:15 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Craig

Oh Canada, you're so cute.

November 04 2008 at 1:24 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Craig's comment
The Deej

We're the designated driver of North America

November 04 2008 at 2:59 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
claudiusturner

I have a couple of questions as an American. How does the Canadian news coverage of the American election compare to their coverage of the Canadian election (I would really hope it would be less, but is it a lot less, or a little less).

Do you get many "red-neck" Canadians, showing up at polling places thinking they need to vote for the American Election? I would bet that if American news followed another countries election as much as Canada is following ours there would be some red-necks thinking they should (and had the right to) vote in their election.

November 04 2008 at 10:35 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to claudiusturner's comment
Isabelle Carreau

To answer your questions:

- Of course, Canada's coverage of the American election is a lot less when compared to Canada's election. When it was Canada's election, about 99,9% of the networks (minus specialized ones except for 24-hour news) aired special coverage all evening long.

I never heard of "red-neck" Canadians thinking they have to go vote for the American election because of the TV coverage.

We get a lot of coverage about US elections because the decision will affect us one way or another.

November 04 2008 at 11:00 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

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