Rumor 3: Both the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates will be debating at FAURumor Control: False

NBC and FAU might have prepared for the Democratic and Republican debates, but that doesn’t mean both parties will be attending. The GOP candidates are debating as planned tonight, but the Democrats probably won’t be dropping by on Jan. 27, NBC executives.

Now, NBC is enforcing a rigid deadline tonight for Democrats, says Phil Alongi, head of NBC’s political programming.

“If we don’t get any indication [from the Democratic National Committee] by tomorrow night, we’ll break down our equipment and ship out on Friday,” says Alongi. “We’ll assume it’s not happening.”

Although this uncertainty reached an apex this week, reports of Democrats not attending stretch as far back as last August. That’s when the DNC stripped Florida of its party delegates for scheduling an unsanctioned early presidential primary vote on Jan. 29.

The committee also barred candidates from participating in FAU’s primary debates until further notice, adds Alongi. He doesn’t expect a sudden change of heart, but he says NBC is well-prepared for such a surprise.

It’s actually a simple last-minute adjustment for NBC’s production team, says NBC Technical Production Manager David Powell. They’d only need to remove two of the five podiums on the Kaye Performing Arts Auditorium’s stage, since Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards would be the only presidential candidates in attendance.

Further reflecting Alongi’s doubts of a Democratic turn-out are the 400 press passes only valid for tonight’s GOP debate.

And so far, NBC isn’t planning to air coverage of the primary debates past Thursday, says Alongi. But what will be broadcasted is extensive – local affiliate NBC 5 (West Palm Beach) will preempt primetime programming and broadcast the debate live from 9 to 11 p.m. That’s in addition to cable channel MSNBC, which plans to air it live to the rest of the country. Meanwhile, Telemundo will air the debates at midnight after Spanish dubbing, followed by an MSNBC rebroadcast at 1 a.m.