FOX News Sets Criteria for Republican Presidential Primary Debate

FOX NEWS channel (FNC) announced today that it will present two Republican presidential primary debates on Thursday, January 28th live from the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines, Iowa.

The criteria for inclusion in the debates will factor in both national polls, as well as those based in Iowa and New Hampshire conducted and released prior to Tuesday, January 26th at 5PM/ET. The primetime debate will feature candidates that place in the top six spots nationally, or place within the top five in Iowa or New Hampshire.

The earlier debate will be presented at 7PM/ET and will be moderated by America's Newsroom co-anchors Bill Hemmer and Martha MacCallum. The primetime debate will begin at 9PM/ET, moderated by Special Report anchor Bret Baier, THE KELLY FILE anchor Megyn Kelly and FOX NEWS SUNDAY host Chris Wallace.

Fox News announced the entry criteria as follows:

• In order to qualify for the primetime debate, candidates must place in the top six spots nationally in an average of the five most recent national polls, or place within the top five in Iowa or New Hampshire in an average of the five most recent Iowa or New Hampshire polls recognized by FOX News.

• In order to qualify for the early debate, candidates must register at least one percent in ONE of the five most recent national polls recognized by FOX News.

Such polling must be conducted by major nationally and state recognized organizations that use standard methodological techniques (i.e., live interviewers, include both landlines and cellphones, and employ either random digit-dial or registration-based sampling methodologies).

FOX NEWS channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing news service dedicated to delivering breaking news as well as political and business news. A top five cable network, FNC has been the most-watched news channel in the country for 14 years and according to a Suffolk University/USA Today poll, is the most trusted television news source in the country. Owned by 21st Century Fox, FNC is available in more than 90 million homes and dominates the cable news landscape, routinely notching the top ten programs in the genre.

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