Washington, DC (July 8, 2016) — PBS NewsHour will combine forces with NPR News to co-produce and broadcast joint, live, prime time coverage of the 2016 Republican National Convention July 18 – 21 in Cleveland and the 2016 Democratic National Convention July 25 – 28 in Philadelphia on PBS and NPR stations and across PBS NewsHour, PBS, NPR and member stations’ digital sites. The partnership between PBS NewsHour and NPR is a first-time collaboration for the two organizations at the conventions and will offer the most in-depth coverage to be found on television, radio and digital.
Prime time coverage starts on local PBS and NPR stations at 8pm EDT each night of the conventions and is scheduled through 11pm. Coverage will be co-anchored by Gwen Ifilland Judy Woodruff.
At both conventions, NPR host Rachel Martin will serve as the podium reporter with NPR’s Susan Davis as the floor reporter. At the RNC convention, Lisa Desjardins will join Davis on the convention floor, with additional reporting outside the convention hall byJohn Yang. At the DNC convention, Yang will join Davis on the convention floor. In addition to guest interviews to be announced, Ifill and Woodruff will be joined by NPR’sMara Liasson, Ron Elving and Domenico Montanaro, among others, and NewsHour regular contributors including syndicated columnist Mark Shields, New York Timescolumnist David Brooks and Cook Political Report’s Amy Walter.
Gavel-to-gavel coverage will extend to the digital and social platforms for PBS NewsHour, NPR, and PBS. PBS NewsHour will produce round-the-clock convention coverage by providing live video, a live blog, a broad range of analysis, reporting inside and outside the event space in both cities and social media updates for our diverse audiences.
During the conventions, PBS NewsHour’s nightly newscast will be anchored on location by Ifill and Woodruff, with Hari Sreenivasan providing additional reporting in Washington.
Sreenivasan will preview each convention on PBS NewsHour Weekend leading up to the start of events on Monday.
Washington Week with Gwen Ifill will host live-audience special editions at 8pm EDT from Cleveland on July 15 and Philadelphia on July 22, in advance of the Republican and Democratic national political conventions in each city including a second half hour,Washington Week EXTRA.
About PBS NewsHour
PBS NewsHour is seen by over four million weekly viewers and is also available online, via public radio in select markets, and via podcast. PBS NewsHour is a production of NewsHour Productions LLC, a wholly-owned non-profit subsidiary of WETA Washington, D.C., in association with WNET in New York. Major funding for PBS NewsHour is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, PBS and public television viewers. Major corporate funding is provided by BNSF, Lincoln Financial Group, MD Anderson Cancer Center, XQ Institute, and 23andMe, with additional support from Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, the J. Paul Getty Trust, the S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Lemelson Foundation, National Science Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Ford Foundation, Skoll Foundation, Friends of the NewsHour and others. More information on PBS NewsHour is available at www.pbs.org/newshour. On social media, visit NewsHour on Facebook or follow @NewsHour on Twitter.
About NPR
NPR connects to audiences on the air, online, and in person. More than 26 million radio listeners tune in to NPR each week and more than 30 million unique visitors access NPR.org each month making NPR one of the most trusted sources of news and insights on life and the arts. NPR shares compelling stories, audio and photos with millions of social media users on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube and Snapchat; NPR News and NPR One apps, online streaming, podcasts, iTunes radio and connected car dashboards help meet audiences where they are. NPR’s live events bring to the stage two-way conversations between NPR hosts and the audience in collaboration with the public radio Member Station community. This robust access to public service journalism makes NPR an indispensable resource in the media landscape.
About WETA, Washington, DC
WETA Washington, D.C., is one of the largest producing stations of new content for public television in the United States. WETA productions and co-productions include PBS NewsHour, Washington Week with Gwen Ifill, The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize, The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song and documentaries by filmmaker Ken Burns and scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Sharon Percy Rockefeller is president and CEO. The WETA studios and administrative offices are located in Arlington, Virginia. More information on WETA and its programs and services is available at www.weta.org.
About PBS Election 2016
PBS Election 2016 is a year-long, cross-platform initiative that brings together PBS’ news, public affairs, documentary and digital programming to create a comprehensive look at the 2016 election cycle. Acclaimed series PBS NEWSHOUR, FRONTLINE and WASHINGTON WEEK, as well as new and returning series and specials such as THE CONTENDERS – 16 FOR ’16 and AMERICA BY THE NUMBERS, will cover breaking news, provide context for political issues and explore behind-the-scenes stories of the candidates and the election process. PBS Election 2016 also includes a partnership with NPR in which the two organizations will share information across broadcast, radio and digital platforms.
