Nexstar Broadcasting has announced that it will host a live virtual Town Hall meeting, with eight US Representatives from upstate New York congressional districts.
The virtual town hall will air on Tuesday, April 28th, 2020, at 7pm ET, featuring U.S. Rep. Antonio Delgado (D-19), U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko (D-20), U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-21), U.S. Rep. Anthony Brindisi (D-22), U.S. Rep. Tom Reed (R-23), U.S. Rep. John Katko (R-24), U.S. Rep. Joe Morelle (D-25) and U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins (D-26), who will address the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic and take questions from viewers across upstate New York.
Due to restrictions on large gatherings, the representatives will remotely join the exclusive broadcast and livestream.
The one-hour virtual Town Hall will be hosted from the studios of WTEN-TV and WXXA-TV in Albany, NY, and bring together more than six million viewers in 49 counties across the state via live television broadcast and livestream video.
The exclusive live broadcast will air from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. ET, and the livestream will continue until 8:30 p.m. ET. Viewers will be invited to submit questions to the representatives via social media using the hashtag #NYCoronavirus. Viewers can also email questions to News@news10.com.
The television broadcast will be hosted by WTEN-TV/WXXA-TV anchor and political affairs reporter Tim Lake and will air exclusively on 15 Nexstar stations across upstate New York, including WTEN-TV (ABC) and WXXA-TV (FOX) in Albany, WIVB-TV (CBS) and WNLO-TV (CW) in Buffalo, WROC-TV (CBS) in Rochester, WSYR-TV (ABC) in Syracuse, WVNY-TV (ABC) and WFFF-TV (FOX) in Plattsburgh, WBGH-CD (NBC) and WIVT-TV (ABC) in Binghamton, WETM-TV (NBC) in Elmira, WUTR-TV (ABC), WFXV-TV (FOX) and WPNY-LP in Utica, and WWTI-TV (ABC) in Watertown. Local viewers may also access a livestream of the Town Hall online by visiting the website of their local Nexstar television station (see table below for list of participating stations and station website links).
The Town Hall will open with Mr. Lake providing a recap of the latest developments in the pandemic and posing questions to the representatives. The broadcast will then move to questions submitted by viewers around the state.
Viewers can pose a question to the representatives via a variety of social media platforms using the hashtag #NYCoronavirus, or by email to News@news10.com. Preference will be given to those questions submitted on social media as videos rather than texts.
“When viewers need critically important information and want to interact with their federal legislative leaders, they know they can turn to Nexstar’s local television stations as a trusted source of news,” said Tim Busch, President of Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc. “The unprecedented unique format of this Town Hall will bring together viewers across upstate New York, providing them with the latest information about the federal response to the coronavirus outbreak and giving them a chance to ask questions. We are proud to harness the combined resources of our local television stations throughout the great state of New York to bring this virtual Town Hall to life. We are grateful to each of these representatives for their participation and for allowing Nexstar Broadcasting’s vast New York market operations to deliver this special event to viewers across a significant footprint of the state.”
Stations Airing Virtual Town Hall
| Station | Network | Market | Station Website | Social |
| WTEN-TV | ABC | Albany | News10.com | @wten |
| WXXA-TV | FOX | Albany | News10.com | @wten |
| WIVB-TV | CBS | Buffalo | WIVB.com | @news4buffalo |
| WNLO-TV | CW | Buffalo | WVIB.com | @news4buffalo |
| WROC-TV | CBS | Rochester | RochesterFirst.com | @News_8 |
| WSYR-TV | ABC | Syracuse | LocalSYR.com | @NewsChannel9 |
| WVNY-TV | ABC | Plattsburgh | MyChamplainValley.com | @WVNYWFFF |
| WFFF-TV | FOX | Plattsburgh | MyChamplainValley.com | @WVNYWFFF |
| WBGH-CD | NBC | Binghamton | BinghamtonHomepage.com | @NewsChannel34 |
| WIVT-TV | ABC | Binghamton | BinghamtonHomepage.com | @NewsChannel34 |
| WETM-TV | NBC | Elmira | MyTwinTiers.com | @WETM18News |
| WUTR-TV | ABC | Utica | CNYHomepage.com | @cnyhomepage |
| WFXV-TV | FOX | Utica | CNYHomepage.com | @cnyhomepage |
| WPNY-LP | MyNet | Utica | CNYHomepage.co | @cnyhomepage |
| WWTI-TV | ABC | Watertown | informnny.com | @InformNNY |