Some people wait all year for “Shark Week” on the Discovery Channel, but political junkies will be glued to the screen for “Debate Week” on BrooklynPaper.com and the Brooklyn Independent Television next week.
Starting on Monday night, and continuing all week, the powerhouse local media outlets will be airing a series of candidate debates on the eve of the Sept. 15 Democratic primary election.
“This is one-stop-shopping for anyone interested in making an informed decision in the primary,” said Brooklyn Paper Publisher Emeritus Ed Weintrob, who organized the candidates debates for the Community Newspaper Group in its collaboration with Brooklyn Independent Television on the BCAT TV Network.
All the major races will be cablecast on BCAT, which is channel 56 on Time Warner customers and channel 69 for Cablevision subscribers:
• City Council District 33 (currently held by David Yassky): Monday, Aug. 17.
• City Council District 39 (currently held by Bill DeBlasio): Tuesday, Aug. 18.
• City Council District 45 (currently held by Kendall Stewart): Wednesday, Aug. 19.
• Comptroller (featuring Yassky, John Liu, Melinda Katz and David Weprin): Thursday, Aug. 20.
• Public Advocate (featuring DeBlasio, Mark Green, Norman Siegel and Eric Gioia): Friday, Aug. 21 (repeated on Tuesday, Aug. 25).
All broadcasts will be at 9 pm. And all shows will be available online roughly 24 hours after its initial airing at www.bricartsmedia.org/BITspecials and the Community Newspaper Group’s new political Web site BoroPolitics.com.
It ain’t Lincoln vs. Douglas, but in the days after the debates were taped, several have made headlines, including the 39th Council debate, where leading candidates Brad Lander and Josh Skaller went at it over Atlantic Yards and the schooling of Skaller’s son, Wolf.
And in the 33rd Council race, the three perceived front-runners found themselves under constant fire from their longer-shot rivals. That debate nearly featured a moderator having to physically restrain candidate Ken Diamondstone in his relentless questioning of rival Jo Anne Simon.
It’s great TV and it’s great for democracy — and it’s all on BoroPolitics.com and the BCAT TV Network next week.