DEC. 16, 2015 – NBC News and YouTube will join forces to present the final Democratic presidential debate before the first primary and caucus votes are cast.

The NBC News—YouTube Democratic Candidates Debate, hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus Institute, will take place on Sunday, January 17, 2016 at the state-of-the-art Gaillard Center in Charleston, South Carolina. “NBC Nightly News” anchor Lester Holt will serve as moderator, joined by other NBC News political reporters and analysts for surrounding coverage. The event is sanctioned by the Democratic National Committee and the South Carolina Democratic Party.

The debate will air live on the NBC network from 9-11pm ET and stream live on all NBC News digital platforms, NBC owned station and affiliate websites, and the NBC News YouTube channel. Both the on air broadcast and digital stream will incorporate questions from the YouTube community and Google Trends data.

South Carolina is home to the “First in the South” primary, with this debate being the first of 2016 and the fourth of six DNC-sanctioned events.

Further details about format, qualifying criteria, and media credentialing will be announced in the coming weeks.

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ABOUT NBC NEWS

NBC News is a global leader in news across all broadcast and digital platforms. Its leading and award-winning television news broadcasts include NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, TODAY, Meet the Press and Dateline, as well as primetime specials and breaking news reports. The rapidly-growing NBC News Digital Group provides continuous content to consumers wherever they are, whenever they want it. NBC News also operates Peacock Productions, an award-winning in-house production company, and the NBC NewsChannel affiliate news service. NBC News is part of the NBCUniversal News Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is owned by Comcast Corporation. For more information about NBCUniversal, please visit www.NBCUniversal.com.

ABOUT YOUTUBE

Launched in May 2005, YouTube allows billions of people to discover, watch and share originally-created videos. YouTube provides a forum for people to connect, inform, and inspire others across the globe and acts as a distribution platform for original content creators and advertisers large and small. YouTube is a Google company.