ABC News will once again provide audiences with three hours of coverage across multiple platforms for the final 2020 presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. The debate will take place on Thursday, October 22nd.
What’s Happening:
- ABC News has announced three hours of special primetime coverage of the final 2020 presidential debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday, October 22 (8:00 – 11:00 pm ET) on the ABC Television Network.
- George Stephanopoulos will lead coverage from New York City joined by David Muir and Linsey Davis reporting on the latest developments on the state of the race, the election, the campaigns, the candidates, and the issues most critical to voters.
- Network coverage begins at 8:00 pm ET with a one-hour special, Trump vs. Biden: The Final Presidential Debate – A Special Edition of 20/20.
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
- Nate Silver
- Matthew Dowd
- Dan Abarams
- 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 to set a baseline to measure the debate’s effects.
- 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.
Podcast:
- 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 Friday, October 23.
- Start Here will cover all angles of the debate and feature expert reporting analysis from ABC News’ political team.
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, 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 Marci Gonzalez 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.