YouTube teams with ONE News for New Zealand election debates

YouTube has announced a new deal with New Zealand’s ONE News for an election debate centered on user contributed questions. The deal is similar to the CNN/YouTube debates held earlier this year, but with one significant difference: this debate comes later in the political process, and includes New Zealand’s current Prime Minister.

ONE News on Television New Zealand is New Zealand’s leading news service, with their 6pm bulletin having an audience share of 44%.

The ONE News YouTube Election Debate between Helen Clark and John Key will air live in New Zealand October 14, with each candidate answering questions submitted by users on YouTube New Zealand. Google describes the deal as a historic first, marking the first time the head of a national government and a challenger will face YouTube video questions in an official live TV debate.

The official debate channel can be found at nz.youtube.com/debate.

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