First Flake-Carmona live debate airs on 'Arizona Horizon' and C-SPAN Oct. 10

The first of three scheduled live debates between Arizona's candidates for the U.S. Senate airs from 5-6 p.m., Oct. 10, on "Arizona Horizon." C-SPAN also will carry the debate live nationally via satellite hookup. The show is a special hour-long broadcast of the Emmy Award-winning public affairs program hosted by Ted Simons and airing weeknights on Eight, Arizona PBS.

Simons will moderate the hour-long forum intended to highlight differences among candidates Rep. Jeff Flake (Republican), Richard Carmona (Democrat) and Marc Victor (Libertarian). The three U.S. Senate candidates are seeking the seat of retiring U.S. Senator Jon Kyl (Republican) of Arizona. The debate will take place in Eight's studios on the downtown campus of ASU. It is not open to the public, but will be covered by other media outlets.

In addition to airing at 5 p.m. on Eight HD (8.1 or Cox 1008), the "Arizona Horizon" debate will be broadcast at 10 p.m. on Eight HD and at 8 p.m. on Eight World (8.3 or Cox 88). The debate also will air live at 5 p.m. on C-SPAN (Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network), a private, non-profit company created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a public service.

The following week another live debate is set for three candidates seeking to represent Arizona's new ninth congressional district. The candidates are Vernon Parker (Republican), Kyrsten Sinema (Democrat) and Powell Gammill (Libertarian). "Arizona Horizon" host Simon will moderate this live half-hour debate scheduled for 5:30 p.m., Oct. 18. The debate also will be carried by C-SPAN; the time is to be determined. Here's a link to the C-SPAN website: c-span.org.

Eight's election coverage includes VOTE 2012, a comprehensive website designed to assist Arizona voters at azpbs.org/vote2012. The website focuses on ongoing debates and interviews with Arizona candidates by Simons – named “Best TV Host 2011” by Phoenix New Times. The website also offers information about local ballot propositions, voter registration, newly drawn redistricting maps, polling places and voter interviews, and it provides voters with a portal to PBS NewsHour’s interactive election tools and political coverage.

Eight, Arizona PBS is a trusted community resource. For over 50 years, the PBS station has focused on educating children, reporting in-depth on public affairs, fostering lifelong learning and celebrating arts and culture. Eight achieves its mission through the power of noncommercial television, the Internet, educational outreach and community-based initiatives. Its signal reaches 86 percent of the homes in Arizona. With more than 1 million viewers weekly, Eight consistently ranks among the most-viewed public television stations per capita in the country. For more information, visit azpbs.org. Eight is a member-supported service and the public media enterprise of Arizona State University.