Tonight marks the first of two debates between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, taking place at CNN’s Atlanta studios. With no audience present, the debate will feature only the two candidates and moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash.
The debate will start at 9 p.m. ET and last 90 minutes viewers will be able to watch the 2024 presidential debate on multiple platforms. You can tune in on CNN, Max, CNN International, CNN en Español, CNN Max, CNN.com. It should be noted that CNN has offered all networks the ability to simulcast the event, so ABC, CBS, FOXNews, NBC, MSNBC, and streaming services, Peacock, CBSN, NBC News Now, ABC will all offer the debate live.
The Rules: The decision to exclude a live audience from the 2024 presidential debate seeks to reduce disruptions and ensure a focused dialogue. This move breaks with tradition, but both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have consented to the new regulations, including the muting of their microphones while the other is speaking.
A notable viewer from his residence just outside Tallahassee, Florida, roughly 265 miles from Atlanta, is Ted Turner, the founder of CNN. As the visionary who risked it all to launch a 24-hour news network in Georgia’s capital, he is probably filled with pride that the network he created is now hosting a presidential debate in one of its studios. Turner, the owner of several properties, presently lives in a vast Colonial Revival home in Florida, named Avalon Plantation, located on the outskirts of Tallahassee.
Under his guidance, CNN evolved into a global news source with bureaus worldwide, validating Turner’s belief that a network need not be based in New York or Los Angeles to succeed. Currently owned by Warner Brothers and Discovery Networks, CNN will go back to the future with a presidential debate being held at a television studio.
The last time presidential debates took place in a television studio was in 1960, with sessions held in September and October. Four televised debates occurred in TV studios between Vice President Richard Nixon and Senator John F. Kennedy. In one debate, Nixon was in a Los Angeles studio, and Kennedy was in New York. Yet, it is the first debate of the 1960 campaign, held at CBS’s Chicago station WBBM, that is most memorable to many.
I doubt that tonight’s debate at the CNN studio’s Atlanta between President Biden and former President Trump will have the gravity of the Nixon vs, Kenedy one but the election will likely be as close as the one in 1960. It is often remembered that at the time, those who listened to the radio believed Nixon had won, while those who watched the fresh-faced Kennedy on television declared him the victor.
