By: Nick Gambino
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are going toe to toe tonight in the first Presidential Debate of 2016. It’s expected to be one of the most viewed debates in history.
First the details. It starts at 9PM EST. They’ll be taking the stage at Hofstra University in New York. It’ll run for 90 minutes with no commercials throughout the debate.
Here’s how and where to watch it tonight. We’ll start with where to watch it on regular old-fashioned television.
TV
Because of the importance of the debate most major TV networks will be airing it. You can catch it on CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox, Fox News, C-SPAN, MSNBC, CNN, PBS NewsHour and Univision.
Again each one of those channels will air it at 9PM sharp EST.
Now let’s get to the method a lot of you will use to watch it: streaming.
Streaming
In the digital age we don’t need to all gather into the family room and huddle around a single TV to see what the prospective presidents have to say on important issues. Instead we have the luxury of watching it on a tiny device that fits right in our pocket.
A number of the major social media platforms are getting in on the action.
Facebook struck a deal with ABC News to air their coverage of the debate through Facebook Live. Seeing as though Facebook Live wasn’t around during the last presidential debate in 2012, this will be a first. The Live stream will start 2 hours earlier at 7PM with a lead-in show, Strait Talk.
Twitter, hot off their deal to stream NFL games through their platform, will be streaming coverage at debates.twitter.com.
YouTube of course is a go-to option for those who want to stream the debate. Multiple news outlets will provide coverage through the video-streaming platform including PBS, NBC News, Fox News, Bloomberg, The Washington Post and Telemundo.
Snapchat, desperately vying for their piece of the non-shady pie, won’t be streaming live-coverage but are planning a Live Story as the event unfolds.
Other news outlet sites plan to host their own live stream. So check out any of the following: CNN, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, BuzzFeed, Politico and the Huffington Post.
Virtual Reality
In the year of VR it would be weird if there wasn’t some way to strap on your Samsung Gear VR or Oculus Rift and sit back to watch Clinton and Trump knock each about for an hour and a half.
NBC is partnering up with Altspace VR to host a virtual reality stream of the fight…er…debate.
To feel like you’re right there and can see the anger behind Trump’s eyes just download the Altspace VR app for Oculus Rift, Samsung VR or HTC Hive. Sorry Google Cardboard and other poor man’s VR headsets won’t work.
That should be all you need to know to tune into the historical debate. We’ll see you there tonight at 9PM EST on one of the 1,000 ways to watch it!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nick Gambino is a regular script writer and tech beat reporter for NewsWatch. He lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and daughter.
