Will Media Deny Future WH Requests For Prime Airtime???

[monmouth]

www.hollywoodreporter.com

Obama drama
Nets take a stand against primetime pre-emptions

By John Consoli

May 7, 2009, 08:47 PM ET
By and large, they personally forked out for his campaign, they voted for him, and they know he is capable of boosting TV ratings just by making an appearance.

But executives at the Big Four broadcast networks are seething behind the scenes that President Obama has cost them about $30 million in cumulative ad revenue this year with his three primetime news conference pre-emptions.

Now top network execs quietly are hoping that Fox's well-publicized rejection of the president's April 29 presser will serve as precedent for denying future White House requests for prime airtime.

"We will continue to make our decisions on White House requests on a case-by-case basis, but the Fox decision gives us cover to reject a request if we feel that there is no urgent breaking news that is going to be discussed," said one network exec, who, like all, would not speak for attribution fearing repercussions from the administration.

"If the president wants to make it tough for your network, he can," the exec added.

Another network executive confided, "Nobody wants to take on the White House, so we'll have to tiptoe through this."

[whoneedstickets]

1. Use of publicly owned radio spectrum?

Is that the bargain? They get public airwaves we get civic responsibility? I say pull Fox's license.

[MADem]

2. Why not have the people buying ads sign an agreement that the

network can switch to some sort of "below the letterbox" print ad that appears for longer during the press conference?

For example, if a charmin commercial with the bears is preempted because of the press conference, the screen shrinks to a smaller letterbox while the conference is going on, and out hops the bears underneath the picture, with the cartoon toilet paper, silently prancing across the bottom of the screen with the logo for the product. "ABC's sponsor for tonight's press conference is...."

People have learned, thanks to the cable networks, to read a crawl AND listen/watch at the same time. Put that shit to work, and stop whining about it, I say.


Hey, it beats just griping, or saying "I won't cover it." They sure put up with a shitload of Orange Alert interruptions for Dumbya, now, didn't they? And the minute they say they won't cover it, Obama will jerk their chain and make a big announcement "off-the-air." They'll look less relevant than ever.

[elleng]

3. Let them seethe.

:evilfrown:

[rocktivity]

4. They don't own the airwaves--they RENT them.

the American people are its landlords, and it's high time the lease was rewritten anyway.

:headbang:
rocktivity

[msongs]

5. depends on whether an even is really news or a PR event. Not being a tv watcher

it doesnt matter to me whether the exact same program is showed on every tv channel at the same time. but others may wish to have an escape outlet. A press conference by itself is not necessarily a news event. Witness Bush when he actually had one.

Msongs

[ProgressiveProfessor]

6. Of course...but remember that Bush did not always get air time when he asked for it too