The first Presidential Debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump happens tonight at 9:00 P.M. EST, live from Hofstra University. The Democratic and Republican nominees will debate each other while Lester Holt, anchor for Dateline NBC, moderates the questions. The debate is going to be must-watch television, as the polls show a very tight race in addition to the fact that its the first time that Donald and Hillary have shared a stage in a long, long time.
It’s estimated that an audience the size of the Super Bowl–around 100 million people–will tune into the 90-minute debate. The added bonus is that there won’t be any commercial breaks, so at least you won’t have to sit through a ton of ads. The downside is that there’s a serious potential for mudslinging the likes of which we haven’t seen before, depending on whether or not Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton decide to throw down.
You’ll have a ton of different ways of tuning into the first Presidential Debates, so in typical democratic fashion we’ll give you all the options and let you choose.
Presidential Debate Viewing Details
Date: September 26, 2016
Time: 9:00 P.M. EST – 10:30 P.M. EST
TV Channels: NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, WCNY, CSPAN, CSPAN2, CNBC, FOX News, MSNBC, FOX Business, Bloomberg, BBC World
Location: Hofstra University | Hampstead, NY
Moderators: Lester Holt
How To Live Stream The Presidential Debate On Your Mobile Phone
The Presidential Debate is going to be on most news channels in the United States (ABC, NBC, CS, FOX, etc.) which means that you’ll have plenty of options to watch the debate live. In fact, the hardest part about figuring out how to watch the debate will be deciding on which platform you’ll use. YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook will be showing their own broadcasts in addition to live streaming the debate from a mobile app from networks like NBC or ABC.
YouTube: Networks like NBC News, PBS, Fox News, the Washington Post, Bloomberg and Telemundo will be offering free live streams on YouTube. The upside here is that you won’t need a cable subscription log-in to watch the debates. We’ve taken the liberty of embedding the NBC, PBS and Washington Post YouTube videos below.
NBC YouTube Debate Live Stream
PBS YouTube Live Stream
Washington Post YouTube Live Stream
Twitter: Bloomberg is offering a free live stream of their coverage on Twitter, via the Twitter app or their website. Expect quality streams with the added bonus of not needing a password to watch. Coverage begins at 8:30 PM EST. The upside here is that you won’t need a cable subscription log-in to watch the debates.
Facebook: ABC News was the first site to announce that they’d be live streaming the debates through their Facebook page. It’s a safe bet that other sites might be following suit, but as far as we can see ABC is the only one doing it officially. The upside here is that you won’t need a cable subscription log-in to watch the debates.
Official News Network Apps: If you’d prefer to live stream the Trump vs. Clinton Presidential Debates via the network’s official apps, you’ll also be able to do that too. Nearly every single news network will live stream the first Presidential Debate, but keep in mind you’ll only be able to watch these live streams if you have a cable subscription log-in (username and password). If you’ve cut the cord and don’t have cable television, you could always ask a friend or family member for their information.
- CBS: Free streams of the Presidential Debates will be via CBSN and will be available via CBSNews.com. There is also an iPhone app and Android app to watch the live streams.
- ABC: ABC is already offering a free stream via their Facebook page, but if you’re a paying TV customer and want to watch the debate on their own app, you can log-in and watch Trump vs. Hillary on their iPhone or Android app.
- NBC: In addition to their official YouTube debate live stream, the National Broadcasting Company will be allowing paid TV customers the opportunity to tune into their broadcast via the NBC News app. You can download the NBC News app for the iPhone or Android.
- FOX News: There is no way that FOX News was going to miss out on the 1st Presidential Debate, so on top of their own FOX News Presidential Debate YouTube live stream (which isn’t embeddable), they’re also allowing people the opportunity to watch the debate on their own app. If you’re a paying TV customer and want to watch the debates on FOX News, check out their iPhone or Android apps.
How To Live Stream Presidential Debates On Your Computer
Watching the Presidential Debate live stream will be a breeze if you’re trying to tune in on your computer. You’ll have many more options than you will candidates, which is great and awful at the same time.
YouTube: Networks like NBC News, PBS, Fox News, the Washington Post, Bloomberg and Telemundo will be offering free live streams on YouTube. The upside here is that you won’t need a cable subscription log-in to watch the debates. You can check out the embedded videos in the section above.
Twitter: In addition to airing the Bloomberg coverage of the debates live from the Twitter app, the Twitter website itself will also be hosting the live stream at debates.twitter.com.
ABC Live: ABC allows paying TV customers to live stream their content, so if you’ve got a cable subscription, head on over to ABC.go.com/watch-live and enter your information there.
NBC News: NBC.com/live is a great resource for watching whatever’s on NBC, which will be the debates tonight. The only catch is that you’ll need to log-in with a cable subscription.