Where to watch the Republican National Convention live online

The election season is getting into high gear with this week’s Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., where Mitt Romney is expected to become the party’s official presidential candidate. News networks will have a close eye on the event, but real political junkies will watch the entire event unfold live online, where numerous websites are providing live streams, video chats and fact-checking commentary.

The convention officially started Monday, but most of the scheduled program was postponed because of Hurricane Isaac. The convention is scheduled to end on Thursday, and an updated schedule of the program is available on the GOP’s website,

Check out our ultimate guide to following the RNC online:

  • The Republican National Committee partnered with YouTube to provide an official live stream of the convention on its YouTube page. The Republicans are for the first time using Google+ Hangouts to add some group video interactivity to the event.
  • Politico.com is going to stream more than 70 hours of live coverage from Tampa, Fla.
  • The Wall Street Journal is providing live video of the convention both on YouTube (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) as well as through its WSJ Live apps on the iPad, on Android devices and various Smart TV platforms.
  • ABC News will provide a live stream of the convention on YouTube as well. And the ABC News iPad app promises three simultaneous live streams of the event, which you apparently can watch all at the same time.
  • CBS News will host live streams of the convention’s press briefings. Check CBSNews.com for details.
  • Fox News will have multiple live streams from the convention center.
  • CNN will stream key speeches and moments of the convention on its site.
  • PBS Newshour will have a total of five live streams of the event.
  • The Sunlight Foundation will provide a fact-checked live stream as part of its Sunlight Live project.
  • Occupy Tampa will be live streaming protests against the Republican National Convention.
  • Twitter is providing curated tweets on its RNC micro-site.

We will update this list as other streams, sites and apps become available, so check back frequently throughout this week.



GigaOM