WETA productions PBS News Hour, PBS News Weekend and Washington Week with The Atlantic offer thoughtful and trusted coverage of election events, key issues, the candidates, and election-related news.
In addition, PBS has announced a broad schedule of news, public affairs, and documentary coverage of the 2024 presidential election. We have collected all current programming information here, and will continue to update this page as new programs are announced.
Debates
PBS News Special: CBS Vice Presidential Debate Simulcast
Tuesday, October 1 from 9:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. on WETA PBS and WETA Metro, and live streamed on the PBS News Hour website and YouTube page.
PBS will provide live coverage and analysis of the debate between Governor Tim Walz and Senator JD Vance. The broadcast will begin with a simulcast of the debate, followed immediately by PBS News special coverage co-anchored by Amna Nawaz and Geoff Bennett, with reporting from White House correspondent Laura Barrón-López and Capitol Hill correspondent Lisa Desjardins, and expert analysis from additional guests.
Other Programming
FRONTLINE: Biden’s Decision
Premieres: Tuesday, August 6, 9:00pm
Behind Biden’s historic decision, decades of challenges and controversies, triumphs and tragedies. The inside story of Biden’s rise to the presidency, the personal and political forces that shaped him and led to his dramatic decision to step aside.
Counting the Vote: A Firing Line Special with Margaret Hoover
Premieres: Tuesday, August 27, 9:30pm
In this documentary, Margaret Hoover embarks on a journey to explore the varying voting systems across the United States. Her aim is to examine the states that have the most efficient and inclusive voting systems, while shedding light on states facing shortcomings and challenges in their voting process. Through personal stories and expert voices, Firing Line seeks to provide a comprehensive understanding of the most powerful tool in our democracy.
Crossroads: A Conversation with America – A PBS News Special
Premieres: Monday, September 23, 9:00pm
PBS News special correspondent Judy Woodruff and her team have traveled the United States in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election, asking Americans what divides — and unites — them. America at a Crossroads, which has appeared bi-weekly on the PBS News Hour, has also culminated in a town hall conversation hosted by Woodruff. The conversation that was months in the making aired Sept. 23.
FRONTLINE: The Choice 2024: Harris vs. Trump
Premieres: Tuesday, September 24, 9:00pm
Investigating the lives and characters of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump as they seek the presidency. In an historic election, those who know the candidates best reveal key moments that shape how they would lead America.
Independent Lens: One Person, One Vote?
Premieres: Monday, September 30, 10:00pm
At a time when many Americans question democratic institutions, One Person, One Vote? unveils the complexities of the Electoral College, the uniquely American and often misunderstood mechanism for electing a president. The documentary follows four presidential electors representing different parties in Colorado during the intense 2020 election.
American Experience: The American Vice President
Premieres: Monday, October 1, 8:00pm
What happens when the president is unable to serve due to death or incapacity? This film explores the fraught period between 1963 and 1976, when a grief-stricken, then scandal-stricken America was forced to confront the purpose of the vice president and the succession process through the evolution of the 25th Amendment.
FRONTLINE: The VP Choice: Vance vs. Walz
Premieres Tuesday, October 8, 10:00pm
Investigating the lives and views of JD Vance and Tim Walz as they run for vice president. In an historic election, those who know the candidates best reveal the influences and ideas they’d bring to the White House.
VOCES: Latino Vote 2024
Premieres: Tuesday, October 22, 10:00pm
VOCES: Latino Vote 2024 examines a range of election related issues that matter most to the politically diverse Latino community in battleground states (Pennsylvania, Nevada, Wisconsin and Arizona) and states with large Latino populations (California and Florida). The program will also examine the role that Latino evangelical pastors are playing in shaping community perspectives and the role that Spanish-language media will play in the 2024 election.
VOCES: Battleground Texas
Premieres Monday, October 28, 10:00pm
On the eve of the upcoming 2024 Presidential election, filmmaker Hector Galan takes viewers inside the largest Latino voter registration mobilization in Texas history, led by a new generation on the frontlines of one of the most crucial battleground states that neither political party can ignore.
Stream On Demand
The Choice 2024: Harris vs. Trump
FRONTLINE
Investigating the lives and characters of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump as they seek the presidency. In a historic election, those who know the candidates best reveal key moments that shape how they would lead America.
Crossroads: A conversation with America – A PBS News Special
PBS News Hour
PBS News special correspondent Judy Woodruff and her team have traveled the United States in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election, asking Americans what divides — and unites– them. America at a Crossroads, which has appeared bi-weekly on the PBS News Hour, has also culminated in a town hall conversation hosted by Woodruff. The conversation that was months in the making, aired Sept. 23.
One Person, One Vote?
Independent Lens
At a time when many Americans question democratic institutions, One Person, One Vote? unveils the complexities of the Electoral College, the uniquely American and often misunderstood mechanism for electing a president. The documentary follows four presidential electors representing different parties in Colorado during the intense 2020 election.
Biden's Decision
FRONTLINE
Behind President Joe Biden’s fateful decision are decades of challenges and controversies, triumphs and tragedies. FRONTLINE tells the inside story of Biden’s rise to the presidency, and the personal and political forces that shaped him and led to his dramatic decision to step aside.
Counting The Vote: A Firing Line Special with Margaret Hoover
Firing Line
In this one-hour documentary, Margaret Hoover embarks on a journey to explore voting systems across the United States. She examines methods to increase voter confidence and sheds light on states that face challenges in their vote count processes as the 2024 election approaches.
America at a Crossroads with Judy Woodruff
PBS News Hour
In "America at a Crossroads with Judy Woodruff," a PBS NewsHour special, the PBS NewsHour's Judy Woodruff traces the roots of our divisions, exploring recent American political history, how partisan divisions became more personal, the impact it’s having on the country’s ability to deal with real challenges and the implications for a coming election year.
Firing Line forum: Examining The Electoral College
Firing Line
Margaret Hoover moderates a forum at Hofstra U. on whether the Electoral College should be abolished. Save our States founder Trent England argues to keep it while the New York Times’ Jesse Wegman supports replacing it with a national popular vote.
The Fight Against Voter Suppression (A Brief History)
FRONTLINE
Reporter Alexis Johnson takes you on a graphical visual journey through a brief history of voting rights in America, and the impact voter disenfranchisement has had on Black voters in particular. This FRONTLINE Short Doc goes inside the fight over the right to vote, explores how the roots of voter suppression trace back to post-Civil War America, and examines what’s happening now.
Breaking The News
Independent Lens
Who decides which stories get told? A scrappy group of women and LGBTQ+ journalists buck the white male-dominated status quo, banding together to launch The 19th*, a digital news startup aiming to combat misinformation. A story of an America in flux, and the voices often left out of the narrative, the documentary Breaking the News shows change doesn’t come easy.
Women and the Vote
Women and the Vote
Filmed on Election Day 2020 in cemeteries across NY state, WOMEN AND THE VOTE is a mosaic on the past 100 years of women's political equality, the present moment, and the future. Interviews with visitors in The Bronx, Sleepy Hollow, Auburn, Rochester, and Buffalo intertwine with rich historical elements to generate connections between New York's suffragist legacy and contemporary voters.
Why Do We Have Political Parties?
Origin of Everything
John Adams warned us. George Washington begged us not to. Despite numerous warnings, here we are on the cusp of the 2020 election with two major parties locked in a perpetual struggle for power. Today Danielle looks at the emergence of the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans shortly after the United States's foundation and how these early parties evolved into the Two-Party System we know today.
Is The Electoral College Killing Democracy?
Above The Noise
There’s been 5 times in U.S. history where the guy who became president lost the popular vote, but won the electoral vote. And two of those times were just in the last 20 years. And with a new presidential election coming up, there’s lots of chatter about the value of the electoral college with critics asking is it time to get rid of the electoral college?
News and Public Affairs
PBS News Hour
News and Public Affairs
Washington Week with The Atlantic
News and Public Affairs
FRONTLINE
News and Public Affairs
Firing Line
News and Public Affairs
A Citizen's Guide to Preserving Democracy
News and Public Affairs
Above The Noise
News and Public Affairs
Amanpour and Company
News and Public Affairs