Broadcast Nets Are Covering Final Jan. 6 Committee Hearing

Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as people try to storm the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC. Demonstrators breeched security and entered the Capitol as Congress debated the 2020 presidential election Electoral Vote Certification.
Supporters of former President Donald Trump and police clash at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. (Image credit: Brent Stirton/Getty Images)

Broadcast-network news operations will be giving special coverage to the January 6 hearing Monday (December 19), the final hearing before the special committee investigating the Capitol insurrection is dissolved as the current session of Congress ends.

The committee is expected to vote on possibly referring criminal charges to the Justice Department related to inciting the insurrection, potentially including against former President Donald Trump. It will also recap its findings to date and could present new evidence.

CBS News will air a special report on the network and CBS News Streaming at 1 p.m. (the scheduled start of the hearing) anchored by CBS Evening News anchor and managing editor Nora O'Donnell.

CBS' streaming coverage will begin at noon with live reports and uninterrupted streaming of the hearing will be available on CBSNews.com/hearings as well as on the network’s YouTube channel.

ABC News will provide live coverage of the hearing starting at 1 p.m. and hosted by ABC World News Tonight anchor David Muir. Coverage will also be streamed on ABC News Live and at ABCNews.com.

Over on NBC, Nightly News anchor Lester Holt will anchor a special report beginning at 12:30 on streaming platform NBC News Now and affiliated stations that air NBC News Daily. At 1 p.m., the network will air Special Report coverage of the hearing.

While Fox’s primary coverage will be on Fox News Channel, it is also offering that coverage to affiliates, anchored by Fox News chief Washington correspondent Mike Emanuel.

At press time, 15 minutes into the hearing, all the Washington network-affiliated and -owned stations were airing the hearing live except Fox-owned WTTG, which was airing the syndicated The Jennifer Hudson Show talker. ■

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.