Nexstar Media Inc. To Host Live Statewide Telecasts of Two Debates Between the Democratic and Republican Candidates for Governor of Illinois
Debates Will Take Place on October 6 and October 18 in Central Illinois and Chicago
Live Statewide Debate Coverage Will be Available to all 12+ Million Residents of Illinois Across the 10 TV Markets
IRVING, TX (September 23, 2022) – Nexstar Media Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: NXST), announced today that it will host two multi-market live telecasts of debates between the major party candidates running for Governor of Illinois, Democrat J. B. Pritzker and Republican Darren Bailey. The first debate, “YOUR LOCAL ELECTION HEADQUARTERS: ILLINOIS GOVERNOR’S DEBATE,” will take place on Thursday, October 6, 2022, at 7:00 p.m. CT, at the Illinois State University campus in Normal, IL. The second debate will originate from the studios of WGN-TV in Chicago, and will take place on Tuesday, October 18, 2022, at 7:00 p.m. CT. Both debates will be broadcast across the entire state of Illinois.
Produced by WMBD-TV in Peoria and WGN-TV in Chicago, the hour-long debates will be available via broadcast or digital live stream in every county of the state, potentially bringing together more than six million viewers across Illinois. The debate will air on local Nexstar television stations in eight markets serving Illinois, including WGN-TV in Chicago, WHBF-TV in Moline, WQRF-TV in Rockford, WMBD-TV in Peoria, WCIA-TV in Champaign, KPLR-TV in St. Louis (MO), WTWO-TV in Terre Haute (IN), and WEHT-TV in Evansville (IN). Nexstar is partnering with Gray Television’s WGEM-TV in Quincy and Allen Media’s WSIL-TV in Carterville to make the debate available in all Illinois television markets. In addition, radio stations throughout the state will be provided free access to the debate. WGLT (89.1 FM) in Normal and WCBU (89.9 FM) in Peoria intend to carry the debates in their respective markets. WGN Radio (720 AM) in Chicago will carry the second debate on October 18.
The first debate on October 6 from Illinois State University will be moderated by WGN-TV News anchor Tahman Bradley and WCIA-TV News anchor Jennifer Roscoe. The second debate on October 18 from WGN-TV will be moderated by WGN-TV News anchors Micah Materre and Tahman Bradley. The moderators will pose questions to each candidate, including several submitted from voters in advance, focused on topics important to viewers at home.
The election for Illinois Governor will take place on Tuesday, November 8, 2022. Voters must register to vote by Tuesday, October 11, by mail and Sunday, October 23, online. To register to vote, please visit: https://ova.elections.il.gov . For more information regarding the upcoming elections, including early voting dates, polling locations and voter identification requirements please visit:
https://www.elections.il.gov/.
CLICK HERE FOR THE MEDIA GUIDELINES.
The Illinois Governor’s Debate will be carried on the following stations and websites:
| Station | Network | Market | Station Website | Social: Facebook |
| WGN-TV | – | Chicago, IL | wgntv.com | @WGNTV |
| KPLR | CW | St. Louis, MO | kplr11.com | @KPLR11 |
| WCIA | CBS | Champaign, IL
Springfield, IL Decatur, IL |
wcia.com | @WCIA3News |
| WHBF | CBS | Davenport, IA
Rock Island, IL Moline, IL |
ourquadcities.com | @WHBFTV |
| WEHT | ABC | Evansville, IL | tristatehomepage.com | @eyewitnessnewslocal |
| WMBD | CBS | Peoria, IL
Bloomington, IL |
ciproud.com | @WMBDNews |
| WQRF | Fox | Rockford, IL | mystateline.com | @MyEyewitnessNews |
| WTWO | NBC | Terre Haute, IN | mywabashvalley.com | @WTWOTV |
| WGEM | NBC | Quincy, IL
Hannibal, MO Keokuk, IA |
wgem.com | @WGEMNews |
| WSIL | ABC | Harrisburg, IL
Cape Girardo, MO Paducah, KY |
wsiltv.com | @wsilnews3 |
About Nexstar Media Group, Inc.
Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: NXST) is a leading diversified media company that produces and distributes engaging local and national news, sports and entertainment content, including 290,000 hours of original video content each year. Nexstar owns America’s largest local broadcasting group comprised of top network affiliates, with 200 owned or partner stations in 116 U.S. markets reaching 212 million people. Nexstar’s television assets also include NewsNation, America’s fastest-growing national news and entertainment cable network reaching 70 million television homes, popular entertainment multicast networks Antenna TV and Rewind TV, and a 31.3% ownership stake in TV Food Network. The Company’s portfolio of digital assets, including The Hill and BestReviews, are collectively a Top 10 U.S. digital news and information property. In addition to delivering exceptional content and service to our communities, Nexstar provides premium multiplatform advertising opportunities at scale for businesses and brands seeking to leverage the strong consumer engagement of our compelling content offering. For more information, please visit Nexstar.tv.
Contacts:
Chris Berg
Senior Director of Local Content Development
Nexstar Media Inc.
972/373-8800 or cberg@nexstar.tv
Click here for the PDF version of the release.