CBS News puts Kalshi prices alongside midterm polling

CBS News is adding real-time Kalshi prices to its midterm-election coverage alongside its own polling.

CBS announced the arrangement on Sept. 30. The network has described Kalshi as its official prediction-market sponsor, and said its coverage would combine CBS polling with data showing how traders are pricing possible election outcomes. Anthony Salvanto said presenting the two sources together would give viewers a broader picture: polls show how people feel, while markets reflect what traders think may happen.

The integration will be visible on election night. CBS News’ data-focused “ELECTION 2026: THE NERD SHOW” is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. Eastern on Nov. 3, featuring real-time results, vote breakdowns, exit polls, trends, VoteHub analysis and Kalshi data. The main “America Decides: Election 2026” broadcast follows at 7 p.m., with coverage continuing through Nov. 4 on CBS News 24/7 and CBS Mornings.

Kalshi lets users trade contracts tied to real-world outcomes, including elections. Contract prices run from $0 to $1 and are intended to represent the market’s implied likelihood of an outcome; a winning contract pays $1 and a losing one pays nothing.

The CBS partnership extends Kalshi’s presence in political media. Fortune reported that the company has similar arrangements with CNN and CNBC, while Truthout said it also has deals with Fox News and the Associated Press. Kalshi licenses vote counts and race calls from the AP.

The growing visibility comes as election wagering remains unpopular with much of the public. A Reuters/Ipsos survey of 4,506 adults conducted from Sept. 30 through Oct. 5 found that 60% opposed using prediction markets to wager on election results, compared with 13% in support and 24% who were unsure. Opposition included 69% of Democrats and 61% of Republicans. Kalshi challenged the survey as biased and said research should use neutral language, measure familiarity and report all responses.

Prediction-market activity has expanded sharply, though largely outside politics. Pew Research Center found that combined global monthly volume on Kalshi and Polymarket more than doubled from $26 billion in May to $53 billion in July, driven mostly by sports trading. Since the start of the year, politics-related trading averaged about $2 billion a month on Polymarket but remained below $300 million monthly on Kalshi.