PRESS RELEASES from ABC News

November 2, 2011

ABC's Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos to Moderate Debate from 
Saint Anselm College with WMUR Anchor Josh McElveen Just Three Days 
Before "the First in the Nation" Primary 

Debate to Air in Primetime at 9:00 p.m., ET on the ABC Television Network

Excerpted Debate to Re-Air Sunday, January 8 on "This Week with Christiane Amanpour"

On SATURDAY, JANUARY 7, 2012 ABC News and WMUR-TV, ABC’s Hearst-owned affiliate in Manchester, NH, are joining forces to host a Republican presidential candidate debate in New Hampshire just days before the Granite State’s first in the nation primary -- a critical moment in the Republican nomination process. “ABC NEWS’ YOUR VOICE, YOUR VOTE: Republican Presidential Candidates Debate in New Hampshire” will be the only broadcast network debate in primetime before the primary, and will air from 9:00-11:00 p.m., ET from Saint Anselm College. The debate will air live nationally on the ABC Television Network and locally on WMUR-TV, and will be moderated by ABC’s Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos; they will be joined by WMUR-TV anchor Josh McElveen. 

The debate will also be available on ABCNEWS.com and WMUR.com. ABC News Radio, the nation’s largest commercial radio news organization, will carry it live on its stations. ABC News will re-air an excerpted version of the debate on Sunday, January 8 on “This Week with Christiane Amanpour.”

For more details on the debate, you can view the October 17 debate announcement here.

ABC News Media Relations:
David Ford


October 17, 2011

New Hampshire Primary: ABC News and WMUR to Hold Only Primetime Broadcast Network Debate

JUST THREE DAYS BEFORE “THE FIRST IN THE NATION” PRIMARY ABC NEWS AND WMUR-TV JOIN TOGETHER TO HOST A PRIMETIME REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE DEBATE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

ABC’s Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos to Moderate Debate from Saint Anselm College with WMUR Anchor Josh McElveen

Debate to Air in Primetime at 9:00 PM/ET on the ABC Television Network

Excerpted Debate to Re-Air the Following Morning on “This Week with Christiane Amanpour”

ABC News and WMUR-TV, ABC’s Hearst-owned affiliate in Manchester, NH, are joining forces once again to host a Republican presidential candidate debate in New Hampshire just days before the Granite State’s first in the nation primary — a critical moment in the Republican nomination process. It will be the only broadcast network debate in primetime before the primary and will take place on the Saturday night preceding the primary from 9:00-11:00pm/ET. The debate will air live nationally on the ABC Television Network and locally on WMUR-TV and will be moderated by ABC’s Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos; they will be joined by WMUR-TV anchor Josh McElveen.

The debate will stream live on ABCNEWS.com, Yahoo!, and WMUR.com. ABC News Radio, the nation’s largest commercial radio news organization, will carry it live on its stations. ABC News will re-air an excerpted version of the debate the following Sunday morning on “This Week with Christiane Amanpour.”

The candidates will be asked about the critical issues the country faces in front of a live audience at Saint Anselm College in Manchester. Eligibility criteria for a candidate’s participation will be posted on ABCNews.com later this week.

ABC News and WMUR-TV co-hosted back-to-back Democratic and Republican presidential debates in 2008 at the same critical point in the 2008 primary season and have enjoyed a long partnership covering “First in the Nation” politics in New Hampshire. In 2008, more than 9 million viewers across the country tuned in to watch the Democratic debate and 7.35 million for the Republican debate. The debates were also among the highest-rated programs in WMUR-TV history.

When the debate was announced in December, ABC News President Ben Sherwood said, “The days between Iowa and New Hampshire have often been make-or-break for candidates, and we look forward to putting the crucial questions of the day to the contenders for the Republican nomination. We are confident that voters in New Hampshire, and across the country, will be able to make even better decisions after watching this debate.”

“WMUR is proud of our history of partnering with ABC for presidential debates” said Jeff Bartlett, WMUR-TV President and General Manager. “We are looking forward to producing another informative debate just days before the First in the Nation Primary and again providing New Hampshire voters with a critical look at the field of candidates,” Bartlett continued.

About WMUR-TV & Hearst Television
WMUR-TV is the leading source of television news in New Hampshire, reaching more than one million people, and is the largest commercial television station in the state.  WMUR.com is the most viewed New Hampshire web site for local news.  An ABC affiliate, WMUR is owned by Hearst Television, Inc.

Hearst Television Inc. owns 29 television stations and two radio stations, in geographically diverse U.S. markets. The Company’s television stations reach approximately 18% of U.S. TV households, making it one of the largest U.S. television station groups.  Hearst owns 13 ABC affiliated stations, and is the largest ABC affiliate group.  The Company owns 10 NBC affiliates, and is the second-largest NBC affiliate owner, and also owns two CBS affiliates.

About ABC News
ABC News is responsible for all of the ABC Television Network’s news programming on a variety of platforms: television, radio and the Internet.  Its flagship program is “World News with Diane Sawyer” with other programs including “Good Morning America,” “Nightline,” “Primetime,” “20/20,” and the Sunday morning political affairs program “This Week with Christiane Amanpour.” With an average television and radio audience of 180 million people in a given month, ABC News surpasses the competition.  More than 2,400 affiliate stations broadcast ABC News Radio’s global news coverage.  In addition, ABC News NOW is a 24-hour news and information network currently available to 44 million users across cable, broadband, and mobile platforms. NewsOne, the affiliate news service of ABC News, provides live and packaged news, sports, and weather reports, as well as footage of news events, to 200 ABC affiliates and more than 30 domestic and international clients.


December 15, 2010

ABC NEWS AND WMUR-TV TO HOST REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE DEBATE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

Debate to Air on ABC Between the Iowa Caucuses and New Hampshire's First in the Nation Primary

ABC News and WMUR-TV, ABC's Hearst-owned affiliate in Manchester, NH, are joining forces once again to host a Republican presidential primary debate in New Hampshire between the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary in 2012. This debate will be held at a critical moment in the Republican nomination process -- just as the primary season gets underway. The specific date and time of this debate will be determined once the dates for the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary have been determined by state officials. The debate will air locally on WMUR-TV, nationally on the ABC Television Network, and will be live-streamed on ABCNews.com and WMUR.com.

ABC News and WMUR-TV co-hosted back-to-back Democratic and Republican presidential debates in 2008 at the same time in the primary season, and have enjoyed a long partnership covering "First in the Nation" politics in New Hampshire. In 2008 more than 9 million viewers across the country tuned in to watch the Democratic debate, and 7.35 million for the Republican debate. The debates were also among the highest rated programs in WMUR-TV history.

"The days between Iowa and New Hampshire have often been make-or-break for candidates, and we look forward to putting the crucial questions of the day to the contenders for the Republican nomination," said incoming ABC News President Ben Sherwood. "We are confident that voters in New Hampshire, and across the country, will be able to make even better decisions after watching this debate."

"WMUR is proud of our history of partnering with ABC for presidential debates," said Jeff Bartlett, WMUR-TV President and General Manager. "We are looking forward to producing another informative debate just days before the First in the Nation Primary, and again providing New Hampshire voters with a critical look at the field of candidates," said Bartlett.

About WMUR-TV & Hearst Television
WMUR-TV is the leading source of television news in New Hampshire, reaching more than one million people, and is the largest commercial television station in the state. WMUR.com is the most viewed New Hampshire website for local news. An ABC affiliate, WMUR is owned by Hearst Television, Inc.

Hearst Television Inc. owns 29 television stations and two radio stations, in geographically diverse U.S. markets. The Company's television stations reach approximately 18% of U.S. TV households, making it one of the largest U.S. television station groups. Hearst owns 13 ABC affiliated stations, and is the largest ABC affiliate group. The Company owns 10 NBC affiliates, and is the second-largest NBC affiliate owner, and also owns two CBS affiliates.

About ABC News
ABC News is responsible for all of the ABC Television Network's news programming on a variety of platforms: television, radio and the Internet. Its flagship program is "ABC World News with Diane Sawyer" with other programs including "Good Morning America," "Nightline," "Primetime," "20/20," the Sunday morning political affairs program "This Week with Christiane Amanpour." With an average television and radio audience of 180 million people in a given month, ABC News surpasses the competition. More than 2,400 affiliate stations broadcast ABC News Radio's global news coverage. In addition, ABC News NOW is a 24-hour news and information network currently available to 44 million users across cable, broadband and mobile platforms. NewsOne, the affiliate news service of ABC News, provides live and packaged news, sports, and weather reports, as well as footage of news events, to 200 ABC affiliates and more than 30 domestic and international clients.


ABC News Media Relations:
David Ford