Combo photo shows U.S. President Donald Trump (L) and his Democratic rival Joe Biden attending their respective events on different occasions. (Xinhua)

Both town hall events are employing health safety measures. The nominee and his interviewer will be 12 feet apart. The audience will be small and has been tested and will be masked.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 15  -- U.S. President Donald Trump and his Democratic rival Joe Biden will participate in competing town halls at the same time on Thursday night via different TV networks, making it difficult for American voters to watch both candidates live.

NBC announced on Wednesday it will air Trump's town hall event outdoors in Miami in the key swing state of Florida, at 8 p.m. Eastern Time, overlapping with an ABC forum for Biden in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which was arranged last week.

Both Trump and Biden were originally scheduled to face off on Thursday in Miami at the now-canceled second presidential debate. The Commission on Presidential Debates decided to stage the event virtually after Trump tested positive for coronavirus on Oct. 1. Trump immediately rejected the arrangement.

The president is almost certain to score a higher Nielsen rating than Biden, since the event will also air on NBC's sibling cable channels, MSNBC and CNBC, local media reported.

Biden and Trump's first debate in Cleveland at the end of September drew 73 million viewers. Neither town hall on Thursday is likely to come close to the number, given that the debate aired simultaneously across a dozen or more networks.