How the Networks Plan to Cover the Last Presidential Debate

By Mark Joyella 

The last of three presidential debates between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton airs Wednesday, October 19, at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

While much of the polling shows Clinton with a lead nationally going into the debate, the final face-to-face meeting between the candidates still holds the potential for a race-changing moment.

Here’s how the broadcast and cable networks plan to cover the debate. Some plans have not been finalized, and we will update as we receive details from the networks:

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Fox News: Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace is moderating the debate, the first time a Fox News anchor has moderated a general election debate in the network’s 20-year history.

FNC shows will originate live from Las Vegas, including On the Record with Brit Hume at 7 p.m. ET. The O’Reilly Factor (from New York) will be followed by special debate coverage anchored by Bret Baier and Megyn Kelly. Kelly and Baier also co-anchor Special Report at 6 p.m. ET.

They will be joined by commentators, correspondents and analysts including Brit Hume, Dana Perino, Juan Williams and Tucker Carlson.

Coverage runs through 11 p.m. ET, followed by a special live edition of The Kelly File (11 p.m. ET) and Hannity (12-2 a.m. ET).

NBC/MSNBC: On NBC, Lester Holt, Savannah Guthrie, and Chuck Todd lead the network’s coverage from inside the debate hall in Las Vegas.

They will be joined by Tom Brokaw, and NBC News correspondents who will also be reporting for MSNBC: Kasie Hunt, Hallie Jackson, Chris Jansing, Steve Kornacki, Andrea Mitchell, Kelly O’Donnell, Joy Reid, Thomas Roberts, Stephanie Ruhle, Benjy Sarlin, Alex Seitz-Wald, Kate Snow, Jacob Soboroff, Katy Tur, and Kristen Welker in Las Vegas; and Tamron Hall, Craig Melvin, and Lawrence O’Donnell in New York.

MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, Brian Williams, and Chris Matthews anchor pre-debate coverage beginning at 8 p.m. ET, and post-debate coverage which runs through 2 a.m. ET.

CNN: Debate coverage includes live editions of Erin Burnett OutFront and Anderson Cooper 360 from Las Vegas, followed by the 90-minute debate and then analysis and reaction until 1 a.m. ET.

Dana Bash, Wolf Blitzer, Erin Burnett, Anderson Cooper and Jake Tapper host coverage, with more than 20 anchors, correspondents, analysts, reporters and commentators at the debate site.

ABC: George Stephanopoulos anchors ABC News coverage beginning at 9 p.m., joined by David Muir, Martha Raddatz, Jonathan Karl, Cecilia Vega, Tom Llamas, Byron Pitts, Cokie Roberts and Matthew Dowd.

ABC News Digital will begin at 8 p.m. ET, with Matthew Dowd and LZ Granderson, followed by debate coverage anchored by Dan Harris, Amna Nawaz and Granderson.

CNBC: Your Money, Your Vote: Presidential Debate begins at 9 p.m. ET, anchored by Carl Quintanilla and Kelly Evans from the NASDAQ in New York, with John Harwood and Michelle Caruso-Cabrera in Las Vegas.

Cu_QQ1LXgAE-Et7Univision: The debate will be carried live with Spanish translation on Univision stations and digital properties, and stream live in English on Facebook and YouTube.

Jorge Ramos and María Elena Salinas will anchor post-debate special coverage.

Univision will also activate its “Lie Detector” team in Miami during the debate, fact-checking candidates’ statements in real time, along with the expertise of a group of journalists from Central America, South America and Spain who the network says are “considered among the best fact-checkers in their countries.”

Fox Business: Neil Cavuto leads FBN coverage from the debate site beginning at 8 p.m. ET, joined by Lou Dobbs, Kennedy, Connell McShane and Blake Burman.

Maria Bartiromo anchors an election special from 6 to 7 p.m. ET, followed by a live edition of Lou Dobbs Tonight from Las Vegas.

PBS: PBS NewsHour will present special debate coverage from 9 to 11 p.m. ET, anchored by Judy Woodruff, with David Brooks, Mark Shields, and Amy Walter in studio, John Yang in Las Vegas and Lisa Desjardins in the newsroom.

C-SPAN: At 7:30 p.m. ET, C-SPAN will preview the format, rules and questions in tonight’s debate, followed at 8:30 by live coverage of remarks made in the debate hall by members of the Commission on Presidential Debates, the university president and debate moderator, Chris Wallace.

C-SPAN will carry the debate live, followed at 10:30 by reaction from listeners, and live coverage from inside the spin room C-SPAN2 (10:30 p.m. ET).

Telemundo: José Díaz-Balart leads Telemundo’s “Batalla Decisiva” (Decisive Battle) coverage, starting with the debate itself at 9 p.m. ET.

Post-debate coverage includes a team of ten analysts and correspondents providing reaction from around the country, and tech analysis via the Microsoft Pulse tool, which determines voters’ acceptance of various candidate statements–and to the debate overall.

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