How to watch the Republican Presidential Debates
Brace yourself for 15 consecutive months of presidential debates, starting with tonight's Fox News and Facebook-hosted 2016 Republican Primary Debate.
You can catch the back-and-forth between Donald Trump, Jeb Bush and eight other top-tier candidates when this evening's Presidential Debate begins at 9pm ET (6pm PT, 2am BST).
That's actually not the first presidential debate you can watch online, though. There is also a second-tier debate happening three hours before, for seven candidates with lower poll numbers.
Both debates can be live streamed, just in case you can't get to a television set in time for the verbal sparring. However, only the right credentials will let you watch it online in realtime.
Here's how to watch the Fox News GOP debate, and what's happening tonight and thereafter.
How to watch the Presidential Debate online
Fox News is known as America's conservative cable news channel, but the right wing-leaning network is actually fairly progressive when it comes to online live streaming technology.
Eight years ago, Fox News began live streaming extra hours of programming, dubbed Strategy Room, with webcam-like quality and a makeshift table. Discussions were frank and unrushed.
It has since morphed into mirroring the cable channel and contrasts with MSNBC and CNN, which are just getting their online programming acts together. MSNBC in particular has a smaller, buggier video player.
Of course, now that it's called Fox News Live and is a broadcast-level video service, it requires an authenticated cable subscription username and password. It's not unlike HBO Go.
The good news is that it currently supports 279 cable and satellite providers, including Time Warner, Comcast, DirecTV, Charter, Verizon Fios. Even Sony's PlayStation Vue is represented.
Fox News and Fox News Business have reliable, high-quality video players that live stream everything from the two TV networks, to the website and also an app for iOS and Android. The web browser version even includes an hour-long buffer, so that you can rewind a program, even if you haven't started watching it yet.
While Facebook is co-hosting this event, it's merely providing analytics, user questions and online reaction, not live streaming the debate to the social network. Sorry, cord cutters.
Presidential Debate time and schedule
Flipping through all of the cable news channels, it feels as if the Presidential Debate coverage has already begun, but the August 6 forum official start time is 5pm ET (3pm PT, 10pm BST).
That's when the seven candidates, who haven't garnered enough attention in the national polls, can get some more air time and name recognition in front of an audience – albeit a smaller one.
The first debate features former HP executive Carly Fiorina, former Texas Governor Rick Perry, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, current Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, current South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, former New York Governor George Pataki and former Maryland Governor and late-comer Jim Gilmore.
Some have criticized this GOP debate structure because it marginalizes key Republican Presidential candidates, like Jindal, a current governor and the first Indian American governor in the US, and Fiorina, the only female candidate running for the GOP nomination.
This first debate is slated to last one hour, with Fox News hosting an online pre-show starting at 6pm ET (3pm PT, 11 BST). Expect highlights and analysis of the first debate from commentators, along with expectations of the what the channel is calling its "Primetime Debate."
The official "Primetime Debate" starts at 9pm ET (6pm PT, 2am BST) and is scheduled to last two hours, with another 11pm ET (8pm PT, 4am BST) online post-debate show to wrap things up.
The roster of ten (in order of current poll numbers) consists of real estate mogul Donald Trump, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, current Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, surgeon Ben Carson, current Texas Senator Ted Cruz, current Florida Senator Marco Rubio, current Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, current New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and current Ohio governor John Kasich.
How to watch the Democratic Presidential Debates
What about the Democrats, you ask? They'll have several debates, too, but so far a Democratic Presidential Debate schedule hasn't been completely set.
The first debate for the Democrats is supposed to happen in Iowa, the first state in the nation to vote in primaries (really, a "caucus"), and is supposed to happen in either August or September.
That schedule from there on out follows the primary roadmap, with future debates happening five more times, in New Hampshire, South Carolina, Nevada in 2015. In 2016, it's back to Iowa and one more not-yet-announced state for the final Democratic debate.
There are fewer scheduled debate for the Democrats (so far) and there are fewer declared candidates. Former First Lady, New York Senator and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has the most name recognition, but there are others.
Expect to see on stage former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, current Vermont Senator and declared Independent Bernie Sanders, former Virginia Senator Jim Webb and current Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee. Current Vice President Joe Biden is rumored to be running for President.
The next Presidential debate and schedule
This isn't the last Republican Presidential debate – far from it. There are going to be 12 GOP-sanctioned debates, including tonight's Fox News debate. Most, if not all, debates should be live streamed, unlike previous years.
Next up is a CNN-hosted debate at the Reagan Library, in Simi Valley, Calif. on September 16. Business cable networks get into the fray with a smaller CNBC debate in Boulder, Colorado on October 28 and a Fox Business debate in Wisconsin sometime in November.
CNN has the final debate of 2015 on December 15 in Nevada, and then it's back to Fox News in Iowa for a January debate. Three Republican debates happen in February in New Hampshire (ABC) and South Carolina (CBS), Houston, Texas (NBC). Fox, CNN and one unscheduled debate round out the GOP commissioned schedule.
Tired of debates yet? That's okay. History has shown that the post-convention 2016 Presidential Debates are limited to three. There's also typically one Vice Presidential Debate, too. That's it.
It's not like the old days. In 1858, then former Congressman Abraham Lincoln and and Senator Stephen A. Douglas debated seven times in their run for senate, according to the Commission for Presidential Debates. Those debates were decidedly NOT live streamed on the internet.
As more debates happen, we'll update this page in real time to let you know when and where you can watch the Presidential Debates online, even if it takes 22 updates, one for every debate scheduled.
from www.techradar.com/
