Networks Firm Up Convention Lineups
Via NYT
Networks Firm Up Convention Lineups
By JACQUES STEINBERG
The cable news channels expect to offer many more hours than that, perhaps none more so than MSNBC, which is seeking to swamp the efforts of its principal competitors, CNN and Fox News, by showing 20 hours of live convention programming each of the four days that the conventions are in session. To put that figure in perspective, consider that much of the official party business is conducted over the course of about four hours a night.
For MSNBC, which has scheduled its marathon coverage from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. Eastern time, the challenge of having enough for Keith Olbermann, Chris Matthews and Joe Scarborough, among others, to discuss during all those hours would seem to be especially formidable. As television programs, conventions long ago made the transition from smoke-filled gatherings with more suspense than a “C.S.I.” episode to gleaming, ready-made infomercials where the audience knows the ending from the beginning.
(Among those to be featured on MSNBC is John Harwood, a CNBC correspondent who also reports for The New York Times, which pools some political newsgathering efforts with NBC.)
A Fox News spokeswoman, Dana Klinghoffer, refused to discuss the channel’s plans.
CNN, which saw its ratings surge on nights like Super Tuesday, has yet to resolve how much of the conventions it will present, said David Bohrman, who directs the coverage in his capacity as Washington bureau chief. It has also not decided which of its high-profile hosts — including Larry King, Anderson Cooper, Wolf Blitzer and Campbell Brown — will travel to the convention cities to anchor the channel’s coverage from a desk on the convention floor, Mr. Borhman said.
While he said he wanted to see a more detailed convention schedule before committing resources, he appeared confident CNN would not devote as many hours to the task as MSNBC.
“We’ll find a nice mix in our regular daytime programming, get a sense of what else is happening in the world, and be in the conventions when they’re really in session,” he said. “The conventions will clearly be the centerpiece of the week. But the rest of the world continues.”
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