Pa. Senate debate: Start time, how to watch and stream 2022 showdown between Fetterman and Oz

» DEBATE UPDATES: Oz and Fetterman face off on the economy, abortion, and other issues in only debate

John Fetterman and Mehmet Oz will face off on Tuesday in Harrisburg in the first and only debate in this year’s race for Pennsylvania Senate, during which each candidate will attempt to win over undecided voters ahead of the 2022 election on Nov. 8.

The debate will serve as many voters’ first time seeing the two candidates speak outside the context of the ads that have blanketed television and radio stations throughout the state. Currently, Fetterman is edging out Oz in most polls, but the race remains tight.

For Fetterman, the debate will also be the first time voters will see him speak at length following his stroke in May. He still has issues processing speech, and he will use closed captions at the debate in order to make sure he understands the questions posed. In a medical report released this month, Fetterman’s doctor said he “has no work restrictions and can work full duty in public office.”

Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon, has questioned Fetterman’s health throughout the campaign season, and released his own health records showing he was in “excellent health” last month.

As many as nine million people could be tuning in to the debate, broadcaster Nexstar Media Group, Inc. said in a statement. Here is what you need to know:

The debate between Fetterman and Oz is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. and will last for one hour.

It will take place in Harrisburg at the studios for abc27, an affiliate of ABC that serves the Susquehanna Valley. Dennis Owens, an abc27 anchor, will moderate the debate alongside Lisa Sylvester, an anchor for Pittsburgh-based NBC affiliate WPXI.

The debate will be telecast in 62 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties, as well as some parts of Ohio, New York, and Washington, D.C., Nexstar, which owns abc27, said in a statement. In the Philadelphia area, the debate will air live on PHL-17.

Nexstar’s NewsNation, which serves as the company’s cable news network, will also air the debate statewide. Pre-debate analysis from Leland Vittert starts on that station at 7 p.m. Chris Cuomo will handle post-debate analysis at 9 p.m. Check the NewsNation website to see what channel to tune in to, depending on your television provider.

If you have Verizon Fios TV as your cable provider, though, you may run into issues. Verizon blacked out all Nexstar Media Group-owned stations — which include all WPHL stations such as PHL17, as well as NewsNation — on its service on Oct. 15. The companies failed to reach a new distribution agreement earlier this month, leading to the blackout.

It is unclear when the channels might again be available to Fios subscribers. Verizon says that it will work to return the stations to customers as soon as possible.

You can also livestream the debate. In addition to watching it on PHL17′s website, the debate will be streamed on a number of other station’s websites, include New York’s WETM-TV, WPIX-TV, and WIBV-TV, as well as the Washington, D.C.-based WDVM-TV. All the Pennsylvania-based stations airing the debate will also carry it on their respective websites, Nexstar said.