ABC NEWS ANNOUNCES DATE FOR PRIMETIME IOWA REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE CO-SPONSORED BY ABC5/WOI-DT AND THE REPUBLICAN PARTY OF IOWA

Debate to Air Saturday, December 10 in Primetime from 9:00-11:00 p.m., ET/PT Nationally on the ABC Television Network and Locally on ABC5/WOI-DT

Excerpted Debate to Re-Air the Following Morning on "This Week with Christiane Amanpour"

Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos to Moderate from Des Moines, Iowa

ABC News' Republican presidential candidate debate in Iowa with ABC5/WOI-DT and the Republican Party of Iowa will take place on SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10. This debate, to be moderated by ABC News anchors Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos, will be held at a critical moment in the Republican nomination process - less than a month before the state's "first-in-the-nation" caucuses.

The debate will air in primetime from 9:00-11:00 p.m., ET/PT nationally on the ABC Television Network, locally on ABC5/WOI-DT, and will air on ABCNews.com and Yahoo.com. It will be the only broadcast network debate in primetime before the caucuses. ABC News will re-air an excerpted version of the debate the following Sunday morning on "This Week with Christiane Amanpour."

The candidates will be asked about the critical issues the country faces in front of a live audience on the campus of Drake University in Des Moines. The debate was initially announced on March 24.

Iowa and New Hampshire have long been make-or-break contests for candidates, and ABC News will be putting the crucial questions of the day to the contenders in both key states during two primetime debates. ABC News previously announced it will host a primetime debate in New Hampshire the Saturday before the Granite State's "first in the nation" primary.

About ABC5/WOI-DT

ABC5 News, serving Central Iowa from the state capitol city of Des Moines, has a long tradition of producing robust coverage of the Iowa caucuses and related events such as the Iowa Straw Poll. Its partnership with ABC News in recent election cycles has provided viewers the most comprehensive and incisive political coverage available. Sponsoring, hosting and/or broadcasting political debates along with exclusive one-on-one candidate interviews are an integral part of ABC5's news and public service commitment. ABC5 News coverage is also available at www.myabc5.com, on mobile platforms at m.myabc5.com and as a free iPhone/iPad application.

About ABC News

ABC News is responsible for all of the ABC Television Network's news programming on a variety of platforms -- television, radio and the Internet. Its flagship program is "ABC World News with Diane Sawyer," with other programs including "Good Morning America," "Nightline," "Primetime," "20/20" and the Sunday morning political affairs program, "This Week with Christiane Amanpour." With an average television and radio audience of 180 million people in a given month, ABC News surpasses the competition. More than 2,400 affiliate stations broadcast ABC News Radio's global news coverage. In addition, ABC News NOW is a 24-hour news and information network currently available to 44 million users across cable, broadband and mobile platforms. NewsOne, the affiliate news service of ABC News, provides live and packaged news, sports, and weather reports, as well as footage of news events, to 200 ABC affiliates and more than 30 domestic and international clients.