ABC NEWS ANNOUNCES DEMOCRATIC DEBATE DATE AND TIME, QUALIFYING CANDIDATES AND COVERAGE

The Prime-Time Event in Partnership With Univision Will Air Thursday, Sept. 12 (8:00-11:00 p.m. EDT), From Texas Southern University

ABC News Live Will Announce Podium Order of Candidates Today at 3:30 p.m. EDT

ABC News today announced the Democratic Debate will air Thursday, Sept. 12 (8:00-11:00 p.m. EDT), on ABC and Univision. ABC News is partnering with Univision on the debate sanctioned by the Democratic National Committee at Texas Southern University's Health & PE Center in Houston.

The following 10 candidates have qualified to participate in the debate. The podium order will be announced today at 3:30 p.m. EDT during "The Briefing Room" on ABC News Live. The debate format will be one minute and 15 seconds for direct responses to questions, and 45 seconds for responses and rebuttals. Candidates will have the opportunity to deliver opening statements, but there will be no closing statements.

· Former Vice President Joe Biden

· New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker

· South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg

· Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Juli�n Castro

· California Sen. Kamala Harris

· Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar

· Former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke

· Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders

· Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren

· Entrepreneur Andrew Yang

Chief anchor George Stephanopoulos, "World News Tonight" anchor and managing editor David Muir, ABC News correspondent Linsey Davis and Univision anchor Jorge Ramos will moderate the debate.

Beginning Tuesday, Sept. 10, Muir will anchor "World News Tonight with David Muir" from Houston. Stephanopoulos will anchor "Good Morning America" from Houston beginning Wednesday, Sept. 11, and anchor Byron Pitts will anchor "Nightline" from Houston on Thursday, Sept. 12, following the debate.

ABC News' powerhouse political team, including Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz, Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl, Senior White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega, Chief National Affairs Correspondent and "World News Tonight" weekend anchor Tom Llamas, senior congressional correspondent Mary Bruce, Senior National Correspondent Terry Moran, Political Analyst Cokie Roberts, Special Correspondent Matthew Dowd, FiveThirtyEight Editor-in-Chief Nate Silver, Reporter Rachel Scott and Contributors Yvette Simpson, Heidi Heitkamp, Rahm Emanuel and Chris Christie will be on the ground in Houston reporting the latest developments from the campaign trail and candidates, and providing analysis before and after the debate.

In the lead up to the debates, "Nightline" will feature candidate profiles and travel across the country to speak directly with voters exploring the issues they care about during this election cycle. On Wednesday, Sept. 11, "Nightline" will kick off a series that puts a spotlight on some of the leading 2020 Democratic presidential candidates before their political ambitions - interviewing friends, family, former classmates and faculty, and others who knew the candidates during their formative years.

ABC News will provide comprehensive coverage and analysis of the debate beginning Monday, Sept. 9, on ABC News Live, the network's 24/7 breaking news and live events streaming channel; ABCNews.com; GoodMorningAmerica.com; and FiveThirtyEight. Additional digital, mobile and social media coverage includes the following:

· ABC News Live will present the live, one-hour preshow before the debate; and post-debate coverage and analysis with ABC News' powerhouse political team.

· "The Briefing Room," ABC News Live's daily politics program led by senior Washington reporter Devin Dwyer, will begin broadcasting from Houston on Wednesday, Sept. 11 at 3:30 p.m. ET, and will have a special one-hour broadcast on Thursday, Sept. 12.

· "The Debrief," the daily news program anchored by ABC News Live anchor and correspondent Kimberly Brooks, will broadcast live, Sept. 12 at 11:00 a.m. EDT, from Houston.

· Social media newscast "On Location" will take audiences behind the scenes before the debate from Houston, and will have a recap and post-debate analysis on Sept. 13 - exclusively for Facebook Watch.

· FiveThirtyEight will have a special episode of the "FiveThirtyEight Politics" podcast, recorded from Houston, after the debate. FiveThirtyEight will also live blog the debate.

ABC News Radio will provide coverage of the Democratic Debate anchored by correspondent Aaron Katersky in Houston. ABC News Radio will broadcast the debate in its entirety followed by post-debate analysis. In the hour leading up to the debate, ABC News Radio will offer affiliates an exclusive one-hour program, "Preview to the Democratic Debate." It will provide four one-minute status reports each hour throughout the debate and the following morning. Host Brad Mielke will host the award-winning podcast "Start Here" from Houston on Thursday, Sept. 12, and Friday, Sept. 13; and a special edition of the "Powerhouse Politics" podcast featuring Karl and ABC News political director Rick Klein will tape in Houston the week of the debate.

HOW TO WATCH THE DEBATE: The ABC News Democratic Debate will air live nationally on ABC and Univision (with a Spanish translation) and locally on KTRK-TV. ABC News will livestream the debate on ABC News Live - the network's 24/7 breaking news and live events streaming channel - Roku, Hulu, AppleTV, Amazon Fire TV, YouTube, Apple News, Facebook, Twitter, and the ABC News, Good Morning America and FiveThirtyEight websites and mobile phone apps. Univision News will also livestream the debate on all of its digital platforms including Facebook, YouTube and Periscope.