The one and only US vice presidential debate between Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican Mike Pence will take place Tuesday (Oct. 4) at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia (the state where Kaine served as both governor and senator, perhaps giving him a home field advantage).
Like the first presidential debate, the VP debate will start at 9pm US eastern time and last about 90 minutes with no commercial breaks. CBS News anchor Elaine Quijano will moderate, making her the first Asian-American moderator of a presidential or vice presidential debate.
In 2008, the VP debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin drew a record 70 million viewers. This one might not reach that level, but it should still garner a huge audience after last week’s presidential debate was watched by 84 million people on TV, the most ever for a presidential debate.
Kaine and Pence are in the somewhat tricky position of having to explain why they’d be fit to serve as president should something happen to their running mates, while also defending said running mates and acting as their surrogates. Typically, VP debates are uneventful (at least compared to their presidential counterparts), but it’s always a possibility that we get another “Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy” moment.
Here’s how to watch:
How to watch on TV
If you have a TV and pay for cable, you’ll have a litany of options. The VP debate will be broadcast on all four major US networks along with several cable news channels:
- ABC
- CBS
- NBC
- Fox
- C-SPAN
- MSNBC
- CNN
- Fox News
- Univision
- PBS
- CNBC
- Fox Business
NBC was the most-watched network during the first presidential debate, with over 18 million viewers. Fox News was the most-watched cable channel, with 11.4 million viewers. Tune in before 9pm US eastern time for pre-debate coverage, and, if you can stomach it, continue watching after the debate ends for endless post-debate commentary and analysis.
How to watch online
The presidential and vice presidential debates are perhaps the most widely accessible broadcasts in all of American television. That means that cord-cutters have a ton of options too.
Same as the presidential debates, the VP debate will stream online on these three platforms:
- Facebook (with ABC News coverage)
- Twitter (with Bloomberg coverage)
- YouTube (with coverage from PBS, Fox News, Telemundo, Bloomberg, NBC News, and Washington Post)
Check out Snapchat during the debate for a “Live story” from students, media, and volunteers at the debate. (Snapchat doesn’t livestream the actual debate, however.)
Other websites will have streams available as well. Some of them include:
- BuzzFeed
- CBS News
- CNN
- C-SPAN
- Daily Caller
- Fox News
- Huffington Post
- NBC
- PBS
- Politico
- Telemundo
- Wall Street Journal
- Univision
- Yahoo