Nexstar To Host Virtual Town Hall In Tampa Bay

Nexstar Broadcasting will host the COVID-19 Virtual Town Hall featuring Tampa Bay area local government leaders, a member of Florida’s State Senate, and two members of Florida’s delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday, May 12, at 7:30 p.m. ET.

The Town Hall will feature U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist (D-13), U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (D-14), Florida State Sen. Darryl Rouson (D-19), Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman, and Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, who will address the local, state, and federal response to the coronavirus pandemic. Due to restrictions on large gatherings, the group will remotely join the broadcast and livestream video.

The 30-minute virtual Town Hall will be televised live from the studios of Nexstar’s WFLA and bring together nearly two million viewers across the region via television broadcast and livestream video. The broadcast will air from 7:30 to 8 p.m., and be hosted by WFLA anchor Keith Cate. Viewers are invited to submit questions via social media using the hashtag #8onyourside. Viewers can also submit questions via [email protected].  Preference will be given to those questions submitted on social media as videos rather than texts.

The Town Hall will open with a review of the latest developments in the battle against the pandemic, after which Cate will pose questions to the group and invite discussion. Cate will also speak with U.S. Reps. Castor and Crist about the specific needs of their districts and feature questions posed by viewers.

“When viewers seek to obtain the most current and critically important information and an opportunity to engage with their elected representatives, they know they can turn to Nexstar’s local television stations to provide them the latest news and access to their legislative leaders,” said Tim Busch, president of Nexstar Broadcasting. “Nexstar Broadcasting, WFLA-TV and WFLA.com are proud to bring together our legislators for a live town hall, connecting with and informing the millions of viewers across the Tampa Bay region. We are grateful to U.S. Representatives Castor and Crist and our Tampa Bay local public leaders for their participation and for allowing Nexstar to serve as the host of this vitally important live event.”