ABC News Will Live-Stream the Presidential Debates on Facebook

ABC News has announced plans to bring what is sure to be a contentious series of presidential debates to Facebook Live, along with the vice presidential debate. The three upcoming presidential debates of the 2016 election season will not only be broadcasted on eight major TV networks, but on ABC’s Facebook page as well.

ABC had a similar partnership with Facebook during the Republican and Democratic conventions. Colby Smith, vice president of digital at ABC News, commented that the move was aimed at satisfying the “voracious appetite for live content” generated by this tumultuous election cycle, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The Facebook Live broadcast will also be preceded and succeeded by commentary from ABC News. A new show, Strait Talk, will lead up to the debate, while Nightline co-anchor Dan Harris will host the analysis segment following it, according to The Verge. The first presidential debate is slated for Monday, at Hofstra University, and will last 90 minutes.

This setup will allow viewers to comment and pose questions on Facebook, which will be incorporated into the coverage.

Although the presidential debates have been streamed online before, they’ve never aired on Facebook Live, which only debuted earlier this year. Mark Zuckerberg has emphasized a “video-first” growth strategy given the explosion of demand for video content which shows no signs of abating, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Facebook, which is a social media sponsor for the presidential debates, will also provide data and questions to moderators ahead of the debates.