What’s Happening:
- ABC News announced they will present 3-hours of primetime coverage of the first 2020 presidential debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden.
- George Stephanopoulos will lead coverage from New York City joined by David Muir (World News Tonight) and Linsey Davis (ABC News Live Prime).
- A one-hour special, Trump vs. Biden: The Main Event – A Special Edition of 20/20, kicks off coverage at 8:00 pm on ABC on September 29.
- The program will set the stage for a critical night for both candidates, reporting on the latest developments from the campaign trail, the stakes for both campaigns, and the most important issues to voters across the country.
- Following the debate, ABC News’ political team will provide context and analysis.
- Coverage airs Tuesday, September 29 (8:00 – 11:00 pm ET) on the ABC Television Network.
- ABC News Live will begin coverage at 7:00 pm ET on the network’s streaming news channel.
The ABC News Political Team:
- Reporting on the latest developments in the race and the candidates, and the issues most important to Americans are:
- Jonathan Karl
- Mary Bruce
- Byron Pitts
- Martha Raddatz
- Pierre Thomas
- Cecilia Vega
- Tom Llamas
- Terry Moran
- Rachel Scott
- Nate Silver
- Matthew Dowd
- Contributors Chris Christie, Yvette Simpson, Rahm Emanuel, and Sara Fagen will provide analysis on the debate and campaigns.
ABC News Live:
- ABC News Live will kick off debate coverage at 7:00 pm ET on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis taking a deep dive into the most important issues at stake in this election.
- ABC News Live will then simulcast the debate, and immediately after, ABC News’ political roundtable will add context and analysis.
- Earlier in the day, Diane Macedo will anchor ABC News Live Update at 9:00 am ET and 11:00 am ET.
- She’ll also appear on Your Voice Your Vote: The Breakdown along with Terry Moran, which will preview the debate and provide analysis the following day. Audiences can tune in at 3:00 pm ET.
Digital:
- ABC News will have comprehensive digital coverage of the debate on ABCNews.com, the ABC News mobile app, and Apple News.
- New digital video brands Examined will explore voting in a pandemic, and Notified will publish content comparing Trump and Biden’s stances on issues, including COVID-19, healthcare, the economy, climate change, and racial injustice.
FiveThirtyEight
- FiveThirtyEight will preview the debate on the FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast and survey voters before and after the debate for an Ipsos survey.
- During the debate, the entire FiveThirtyEight politics team will be live-blogging.
- After the event, the team will publish a post-debate episode of the Politics podcast, an analysis piece written Silver, and a post-debate Ipsos poll that looks at who voters think won the debate and how the debate changed (or didn’t change) the race.
Podcasts:
- ABC News’ daily podcast Start Here, hosted by Brad Mielke, will preview what’s to come on debate morning and post a special edition on September 30.
- Start Here will cover all angles of the debate and feature expert reporting analysis from ABC News’ political team.
- Powerhouse Politics podcast, hosted by Johnathan Karl and Political Director Rick Klein, will release a special edition on September 30, providing an overview and analysis of the night.
ABC News Radio:
- ABC News Radio will offer 3 hours of live, anchored coverage the night of the debate, including a one-hour pre-show, followed by the debate and live post-debate analysis.
- Correspondent Aaron Katersky will anchor coverage with reporting and analysis by Karen Travers, Steve Roberts, Klein, MaryAlice Parks, FiveThirtyEight’s Galen Druke, and others from ABC’s and FiveThirtyEight’s political teams.
- ABC News Radio will also offer multiple one-minute Status Reports throughout the night.
ABC NewsOne:
- ABC NewsOne, the affiliate news service of ABC News, will provide full coverage with Alex Presha reporting from the site of the debate and analysis from Klein.
- NewsOne provides news content and services for more than 200 ABC affiliates and international news partners.
Marc Burstein is the Senior Executive Producer of ABC News Special Events, David Sloan is the Senior Executive Producer of Network Primetime Content.