Obama's Stadium Acceptance At Convention Squeezes Networks

Major television networks are considering curtailing coverage of the Democratic National Convention after Monday's announcement that Barack Obama will accept his party's nomination in a Denver stadium.

According to several broadcast executives, the networks will still cover all the major speeches. But beyond that, all options are open as they look for savings to balance out the anticipated costs surrounding the stadium event. The acceptance event is an unexpected departure from the traditional convention hall format for which they have spent months planning.

Network executives expect Obama's relatively late-breaking decision to speak at Invesco Field at Mile High, a 76,000-seat football stadium, could add hundreds of thousands of dollars in costs to already cash-strapped news divisions. Each network has budgeted millions to cover the political conventions, but that spending is already accounted for in specific costs ranging from hotel rooms to staffing to building convention platforms.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[Daly]

Who needs em? O is the man that the networks love to hate; he is the news and to say that they will not cover the speech is noise. You can bet international coverage will be there and dang I've gotta get busy with the Spanish lessons because telemundo will no doubt be on hand too.

Networks are playing a game where they learned recently that outsourcing can and will affect them too there is a reason that we cannot easily view English language broadcast of other countries; protectionism by the liars, soon Murdock (worshipper of $) will dump the expensive blow dried and go the route of faster, younger, smarter I predict that Fox is a relic .

English language news from other sources are without overt agenda focusing on just the facts.

Remember the wringing of hands by the print media not getting to spin their Obama talking points with his decision to announce direct to his own website?

[AdobePhsyko]

The networks have PLENTY of money to cover Britney Spears and Paris Hiltons' Exploits.

[oldwiseone]

Let's see, they gained hundreds of millions of dollars from the candidates, but won't broadcast the major speech of the primary contest. Obviously they are worried mmore about money then they are if informing the public. Clearly they are run by conservatives, Fine. See ya....

[condew]

I don't buy it. These are the networks who could keep a reporter on Anna Nichole and all those other non-news "events" for weeks at a time, but when it comes to real news, they're broke? This doesn't pass the smell test.