Univision Readies Republican Debate

Seven Republican presidential hopefuls have confirmed attendance to this Sunday’s Republican Forum hosted by Univision Communications and the University of Miami. The Forum, which will take place Dec. 9 at 7:00 p.m. at the University of Miami’s BankUnited Center, will be broadcast live on Univision’s television, radio and online platforms.

As of press time, the confirmed Republican candidates were Rudolph Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson. As happened during the Nov. 28 CNN/YouTube Republican debate, immigration is expected to be the hottest topic, more so given the nature of Univision’s mostly immigrant audience.

According to Nielsen’s ratings, Univision’s Sept. 9 Democratic Forum averaged 2.2 million viewers , who tuned in to see seven democratic candidates exchanging views in a sometimes-confusing debate, as the candidates were asked questions in Spanish, which were then translated into English and then translated back into Spanish for Univision’s mostly Spanish-speaking audiences.

The 90-minute Republican Forum will follow the exact same format as the Democratic debate. It will be moderated by Univision’s network news anchors Jorge Ramos and María Elena Salinas, and will be broadcast in primetime on the Univision Network, Radio Cadena Univision and online at Univision.com.