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20/20
Air Date: Wednesday, October 07, 2020
Time Slot: 8:00 PM-9:00 PM EST on ABC
Episode Title: "Pence vs Harris: The Vice Presidential Debate - A Special Edition of 20/20"
[NOTE: The following article is a press release issued by the aforementioned network and/or company. Any errors, typos, etc. are attributed to the original author. The release is reproduced solely for the dissemination of the enclosed information.]

ABC NEWS ANNOUNCES THREE-HOUR SPECIAL PRIMETIME COVERAGE OF THE 2020 VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE ON WEDNESDAY, OCT. 7, ON ABC

One-Hour Primetime Special 'Pence vs. Harris: The Vice Presidential Debate' Kicks Off Network Coverage at 8:00 p.m. EDT

ABC News Live's Streaming Coverage Begins at 7:00 p.m. EDT Featuring ABC News' Powerhouse Political Team

ABC News today announced three hours of special primetime coverage of the 2020 vice presidential debate between Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris on Wednesday, Oct. 7 (8:00-11:00 p.m. EDT), on ABC. Chief anchor George Stephanopoulos will lead coverage from New York City joined by "World News Tonight" anchor David Muir and "ABC News Live Prime" anchor Linsey Davis. Network coverage begins at 8:00 p.m. EDT with a one-hour special, "Pence vs. Harris: The Vice Presidential Debate - A Special Edition of 20/20." ABC News' powerhouse political team will provide context and analysis following the debate. ABC News Live will begin coverage at 7:00 p.m. EDT previewing the debate on the network's streaming news channel.

ABC News' powerhouse political team reporting the latest on the race, campaigns and the issues includes senior congressional correspondent and lead campaign correspondent Mary Bruce and White House correspondent Rachel Scott reporting from Salt Lake City, "Nightline" anchor Byron Pitts, chief global affairs correspondent and "This Week" co-anchor Martha Raddatz, chief justice correspondent Pierre Thomas, chief White House correspondent and "This Week" co-anchor Jonathan Karl, senior White House correspondent Cecilia Vega, "World News Tonight" weekend anchor and chief national affairs correspondent Tom Llamas, senior national correspondent Terry Moran, FiveThirtyEight editor-in-chief Nate Silver, special correspondent Matthew Dowd and chief legal analyst Dan Abrams. Contributors Yvette Simpson, Rahm Emanuel, Kate Shaw and Sara Fagen will provide analysis on the debate and campaigns.

ABC News Live will kick off debate coverage at 7:00 p.m. EDT on "ABC News Live Prime" with anchor Linsey Davis taking a deep dive into the most important issues at stake in this election. ABC News Live will then simulcast the network's pre-debate special, the debate and the network's post-debate analysis, and immediately after, a roundtable will add additional context and analysis for streaming audiences. Earlier in the day, anchor Diane Macedo will anchor "ABC News Live Update" at 9:00 a.m. EDT and 11:00 a.m. EDT, and "Your Voice Your Vote: The Breakdown," ABC News Live's issues-oriented political program, airing at 3:00 p.m. EDT along with Moran, which will preview the debate and have complete wrap-up coverage the following day with reaction from voters on the issues that are important to them.

ABC News will have comprehensive digital coverage of the debate on ABCNews.com, the ABC News mobile app and Apple News with live updates, fact checks, key takeaways, breakout moments during the debate and post-debate analysis. Content includes an ISSUES VP video featuring where Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Kamala Harris stand on multiple issues.

FiveThirtyEight will preview the debate on the FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast and in its weekly politics chat. Working with the polling firm Ipsos, FiveThirtyEight will also survey voters both before and after the debate to gauge the debate's impact. After the event, the team will publish a post-debate episode of the Politics podcast 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.

ABC News Radio will offer three hours of live, anchored coverage the night of the debate, including a one-hour pre-show, followed by the debate and post-debate analysis. Correspondent Aaron Katersky will anchor coverage with reporting and analysis by correspondent Karen Travers, political analyst Steve Roberts, political director Rick Klein, deputy political director MaryAlice Parks, and others from ABC News' and FiveThirtyEight's powerhouse political teams. ABC News Radio will also offer multiple one-minute status reports throughout the night. "Start Here" will preview the debate morning of and do a recap the morning after.

ABC NewsOne, the affiliate news service of ABC News, will provide full coverage with multiplatform reporter Zohreen Shah 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 and David Sloan is the senior executive producer of network primetime content.

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