A bit of controversy leading into the debate...

Democratic National Committee/New Hampshire Democratic Party

December 11, 2015

Joint Statement from DNC and NHDP on the Upcoming Democratic Debate in New Hampshire

WASHINGTON - Following WMUR's decision to not move negotiations forward with IBEW Local 1228 ahead of next Saturday's Democratic debate, Democratic National Committee Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley issued the following joint statement:
 
"The DNC and the NHDP are excited about next Saturday's Democratic presidential candidates debate in New Hampshire, and look forward to a spirited performance by all of our candidates. Regrettably, as a result of WMUR's unwillingness to move forward on scheduling negotiations between the Hearst Corporation and Production Department employees represented by IBEW Local 1228 prior to the debate, we will no longer include WMUR as a co-sponsor of the debate, and their talent will not be participating in any way. The right for workers to form and organize a union is a key principle of the Democratic Party, and is key to ensuring the economic safety of the American people by protecting their rights and benefits. It is the right to organize that made it possible for the middle class in America to grow over the past century, and it is as important today as it has ever been to keep our economic growth as a nation moving forward. We remain confident in our strong partnership with the ABC network and know that our Democratic candidates will have a robust debate, with a focus on the issues that matter most to hard working Americans across the country."
 
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New Hampshire Republican State Committee
December 11, 2015

NHGOP STATEMENT ON DEMOCRATS DROPPING WMUR AS DEBATE SPONSOR

Concord – New Hampshire Republican State Committee Chairman Jennifer Horn today released the following statement regarding WMUR being dropped as a sponsor of the New Hampshire Democrat presidential debate:
 
“For decades, WMUR has established itself as a trusted news source that has made an important impact on New Hampshire that extends well beyond its news broadcasts. The station has sponsored some of New Hampshire’s most important political debates and WMUR Political Director Josh McElveen has served as a fair and effective moderator. It is unfortunate that Hillary Clinton and her Democrat Party allies would try to impugn the integrity of this respected news organization by forcing WMUR out as a debate sponsor. This petty attack on New Hampshire’s largest television station threatens the traditions of our First-in-the-Nation primary and Governor Hassan should immediately denounce this outrageous behavior.”

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ABC News
November 24, 2015

ABC News Announces "Your Voice, Your Vote" 2016 Election Coverage Led by Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos

“World News Tonight” Anchor David Muir and Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz Moderate First and Only Democratic and Republican Presidential Candidate Debates in New Hampshire

ABC News’ Powerhouse Political Team Will Report and Provide Analysis on Debates, Conventions, Issues and the Race All the Way to Election Night

ABC News Digital Offers Original Video Series, Multiple Livestreams, Immersive Virtual Reality Experiences, Short Documentaries and Personalized Mobile Alerts

ABC News announces “Your Voice, Your Vote” coverage of the 2016 election led by Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos from now until Election Day, anchoring the network’s broadcasts from the debates, conventions and on Election Night. ABC News’ comprehensive reporting and analysis on the candidates, debates, caucuses, primaries, conventions and general election will air on ABC News programs including “Good Morning America,” “World News Tonight with David Muir,” “Nightline,” “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” and across ABCNews.com, ABC News Radio, ABC NewsOne and ABC News’ mobile and social platforms.

“Your Voice, Your Vote” special reports in primetime, “World News Tonight with David Muir” and “Good Morning America” will broadcast live from the Republican National Convention in Cleveland and the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. On Election Day ABC News will broadcast special programming from ABC News Election Headquarters in New York, with ABC News anchors and contributors reporting from swing states across the country and covering state by state results throughout the evening.  

ABC News will partner with ABC affiliate WMUR-TV (owned by Hearst Television), New Hampshire Union Leader and Saint Anselm College for the only presidential candidate debates in New Hampshire. The DNC sanctioned debate on Saturday, December 19th at 8 p.m., ET and the RNC sanctioned debate on Saturday, February 6 at 8 p.m., ET will both take place at Saint Anselm College in Manchester. Stephanopoulos will anchor coverage of the debates joined by ABC’s powerhouse Political team of reporters and analysts. “World News Tonight” Anchor David Muir, Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz and WMUR-TV Anchor Josh McElveen will moderate.  The Independent Journal/IJ.com will partner with ABC News for the GOP debate. Stephanopoulos will anchor “This Week” from New Hampshire the morning after each debate.

The ABC News Political team including Anchor Diane Sawyer, Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl, Senior Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas, “World News Tonight” Saturday Anchor and Senior National Correspondent Cecilia Vega, “World News Tonight” Sunday Anchor Tom Llamas, Chief Business and Economic Correspondent Rebecca Jarvis, Correspondent David Wright, Congressional Correspondent Mary Bruce, Contributing Correspondent Devin Dwyer and Political Director Rick Klein, as well as Fusion's Jorge RamosAlicia Menendez and Mariana Atencio will report on the latest news and developments on the candidates, race and the election.  Chief Investigative Correspondent Brian Ross returns with the award-winning franchise "Money Trail." ABC News Political Analyst Cokie Roberts, Special Correspondent and Senior Strategic Advisor Matthew Dowd and Contributors Donna BrazileBill Kristol and LZ Granderson will provide analysis. 

ABC News will partner with FiveThirtyEight by integrating Founder and Editor-in-Chief Nate Silver and his team’s analysis into programming and featuring them on television and in ABC’s influential daily political rundown newsletter - The Note

ABC News continues to be the preeminent destination for 2016 election reporting, breaking news and analysis. ABC landed the first network interviews with presidential candidates on both sides of the aisle including Donald Trump, Jeb Bush, Carly Fiorina, Marco Rubio, John Kasich, Mike Huckabee, Martin O’Malley, Rick Santorum and Scott Walker. In addition, Hillary Clinton apologized to the American people for using email on a private server calling it a mistake in an interview on ABC.

ABC News Digital will offer a comprehensive blend of content leading up to the 2016 election, including original video series, up to five simultaneous livestreams, immersive Virtual Reality reporting, short documentaries and infographics that will break down the highlights from every major event and take viewers straight to the campaign trail so that they never miss a moment. In addition, ABCNews.com will launch a new election portal with explainers designed to help voters make sense of key issues.

ABC News’ digital platforms will offer access to a wide-range of live content from the candidates’ events, including GoStreams from ABC News’ digital journalists covering the campaigns in the field. ABC News’ journalists will provide live recaps and commentary in conjunction with the network coverage of each debate. ABC News’ mobile apps will feature personalized alerts, allowing users to receive updates on specific topics or candidates of interest. All of ABC News’ 2016 election content will be available across ABC News’ digital platforms, including ABCNews.com, ABC News’ mobile and tablet apps, and on Apple TV, Apple Watch, Android Wear, Roku and Xbox One.

ABC News Digital has delivered extensive coverage of the 2016 Presidential race thus far, capturing news-making moments from the Iowa State Fair and the first four Republican and two Democratic debates that have dominated the conversation online and across social.  

ABC News Radio will have extensive coverage of the 2016 campaign for more than 1,500 affiliates with reports from the campaign trail of all major candidates that will be highlighted regularly on Newscasts, Newscall and Status Reports. ABC News Radio will provide live anchored coverage of the ABC moderated debates and during each night of the Republican and Democratic conventions. In addition, ABC News Radio will provide a daily feature titled “Road to the White House.”

ABC NewsOne, the affiliate news service of ABC News, will provide coverage of the 2016 election for over 200 ABC affiliates and international partners.  ABC News correspondents will report on all aspects of the candidates and election. NewsOne will also provide live feeds of events, expert analysis from the ABC News Political team and digital content for affiliates throughout the campaign.

The following will file reports for ABC News Radio and ABC NewsOne: Radio Correspondents Aaron KaterskyAlex StoneJim RyanRyan Burrow, Mark Remillard andScott Goldberg; NewsOne Correspondents Brandi Hitt and Marci Gonzalez; Multi-Platform Reporters Karen TraversKenneth MotonStephanie RamosBazi Kanani, and Lana Zak; and Political Analysts Cokie Roberts, Steve Roberts and Trey Hardin; and Reporter and Digital Journalist Brad Mielke.

Marc Burstein is senior executive producer of ABC News Special Events.

– ABC –