Nexstar Media Inc. To Host Live Statewide Telecast of Debate Between Candidates for the Republican Nomination for Illinois Governor on May 24 At 7 P.M. CT
Exclusive Debate Coverage Across Illinois Will Reach More Than 6.3 million TV Households
CHICAGO, IL (May 12, 2022) – Nexstar Media Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: NXST), announced today that it will host a live multi-market telecast of a debate between the candidates for the Republican Party’s nomination for Governor of Illinois. “YOUR LOCAL ELECTION HEADQUARTERS: ILLINOIS GOP PRIMARY GOVERNOR DEBATE” will take place on Tuesday, May 24 at 7:00 p.m. CT, at the WGN-TV studios in Chicago, IL, and will be telecast throughout the state.
The one-hour debate will bring together potentially 6.3 million TV households across Illinois and will air live or on a tape-delayed basis on seven Nexstar television stations serving the state, including: WGN-TV (IND) in Chicago, WCIA-TV (CBS) in Champaign, WMBD-TV (CBS) in Peoria/Bloomington, WQRF-TV (FOX) in Rockford, WCIX-TV (MyNetworkTV) in Springfield/Decatur, WHBF-TV (CBS) in Rock Island-Moline, and KPLR-TV (CW) in St. Louis, MO. The debate will also air live on WGN Radio in Chicago.
In addition, Nexstar is working with television stations owned by Mission Broadcasting, Cunningham Broadcasting, and Allen Media to offer the debate on KLJB-TV (FOX) in Rock Island/Moline, IL, WAWV-TV (ABC) in Terre Haute, IN, WYZZ-TV (FOX) in Peoria/Bloomington, and WSIL-TV (ABC) in Carterville, IL.
Local viewers may also access a livestream of the debate online by visiting the website of their local station (see table below for more information).
The debate will be anchored by WGN-TV’s Micah Materre and Tahman Bradley, who will pose questions to the candidates focused on current local and regional issues impacting communities across the state. Candidates scheduled to participate in the live event include State Senator Darren Bailey, and businessmen Gary Rabine and Jesse Sullivan. Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin has also been invited to attend.
The primary election for Governor of Illinois is scheduled to take place on June 28, 2022. To register to vote, please visit https://ova.elections.il.gov/
Your Local Election Headquarters: Illinois GOP Primary Governor Debate
Tuesday, May 24, 2022
7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. CDT
The debate will be carried on the following Nexstar stations and websites:
| Station | Network | Market | Station Website | Social |
| WGN-TV | Independent | Chicago | WGNTV.com | @WGNNews |
| WGN Radio | Independent | Chicago | WGNradio.com | @WGNRadio |
| WCIA-TV | CBS | Champaign | WCIA.com | @WCIA3 |
| WMBD-TV | CBS | Peoria/Bloomington | ciproud.com | @WMBDNews |
| WQRF-TV | FOX | Rockford | mystateline.com | @MyStateline |
| WCIX-TV | MyNetworkTV | Springfield/Decatur | WCIA.com | @WCIA3 |
| WHBF-TV | CBS | Rock Island/Moline | ourquadcities.com | @Local4NewsWHBF |
| KPLR-TV | CW | St. Louis, MO | kplr11.com | @KPLR11 |
Other participating television stations and websites:
| KLJB-TV | FOX | Rock Island/Moline | OurQuadCities.com | @YourFox18 |
| WAWV-TV | ABC | Terre Haute, IN | mywabashvalley.com | @wtwonews |
| WYZZ-TV | FOX | Peoria/Bloomington | ciproud.com | @WMBDNews |
| WSIL-TV | ABC | Carterville | wsiltv.com | @WSILNews |
Note: In addition to the live television broadcast, viewers may also access a livestream of the debate on the WGN9+ streaming app on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and Apple TV.
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 283,000 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 75 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 www.nexstar.tv.
Contacts:
Chris Berg
Senior Director of Local Content Development
Nexstar Media Inc.
972/373-8800 or cberg@nexstar.tv
Gary Weitman
EVP & Chief Communications Officer
Nexstar Media Group, Inc.
972/373-8800 or gweitman@nexstar.tv
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