RNC adds another debate for January to be hosted by Fox Business Network

WASHINGTON, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- The Republican National Committee on Tuesday announced another candidate debate to its lineup that will take place during presidential primaries in January, officials said.

The committee said the new debate will occur on Jan. 14 in North Charleston, S.C. The Fox Business Network will host and moderate the debate, although details on the moderators and candidate entry requirements are yet to be revealed.

RNC officials said the new debate will effectively replace another that had been scheduled for two days later at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va.

Republican presidential candidates have already participated in four debates so far, with the most recent on Nov. 10. The next is scheduled for Dec. 15 in Las Vegas and will be hosted and moderated by CNN.

By contrast, the Democratic National Committee has hosted just two debates to date. Its next scheduled event is Dec. 19 in Manchester, N.H., and will be hosted by ABC News.

January's will be the second hosted by Fox Business Network, which covered the November GOP event.

Including the newly scheduled event, there are seven GOP debates slated between January and April. Democrats have scheduled three in that same time span, which covers early party primaries and caucuses.

Fox Business Network's Nov. 10 debate drew a rating of 13.5 million viewers, which was a record draw for the eight-year-old news outlet. However, that number represented a decline from previous Republican and Democratic debates.

Fox News Channel's coverage of the first GOP debate on Aug. 6 was the most-watched, averaging 24 million viewers.

Tuesday's announcement came a month after the RNC said it would replace NBC News as the host of its Feb. 26 debate, claiming that the network tried to embarrass its candidates during a debate hosted by CNBC on Oct. 28. It remains unclear which network will host that event.