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Court Wars Declared Tonight at 9 - Will the Nets Carry It?

D

dampier

Bush will announce his Supreme Court nominee tonight at 9pm, once again screwing up the networks primetime schedule. Will this be another no-show for networks trying to make their money on reality TV or leftovers? Why does this president announce Supreme Court nominees during primetime when others do it during banker's hours.

Pundits are now popping their caffeine pills and preparing to "analyze" the choice, and tonight will launch the Summer of Court Wars, depending on who Bush picks. Only the next hurricane or another missing white woman will drag the news channels away from the summer battle. And, Scarborough will now have to cancel his revealing expose on satanic influences and witchcraft danger posed by Harry Potter which was originally scheduled for tonight.
 
The buzzing pundits have already descended. Judge Edith Brown Clement is the favorite. WH Press Spokesman is asking the nets to carry the thing live in its entirety.

... was the favorite...

Breaking News from ABCNEWS.com:

SOURCE TELLS ABC NEWS JUDGE EDITH CLEMENT IS NOT PRESIDENT BUSH'S CHOICE FOR SUPREME COURT

<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by dampier on 07/19/05 08:57 PM.</FONT></P>
 
I may be wrong, but I don't recall a President ever announcing the naming of a Supreme Court nominee in an elaborate TV (or radio) speech. In fact, hasn't the procedure traditionally been to announce the nominee in a written statement??

Here's how the broadcast networks could alter their primetime schedules to show it (assuming the announcement remains at 9 P.M. EDT):

ABC: They could simply pre-empt reruns of "According To Jim" (9 P.M. EDT/8 CDT), and if needed, "Rodney" (9:30 EDT/8:30 CDT) in the Eastern and Central time zones.

CBS: They could pre-empt a rerun of "NCIS" (8 P.M. EDT/7 CDT) in the Eastern and Central time zones, move "Big Brother 6" (normally seen at 9 EDT/8 CDT) up to 8 EDT/7 CDT, and air coverage from 9 to 10 EDT/8 to 9 CDT.

Fox: Although I don't know if Fox's broadcast network would carry the announcement (they may leave it for sister network Fox News Channel), they could simply pre-empt "House" (normally seen at 9 P.M. EDT/8 CDT) in the Eastern and Central time zones, and simulcast Fox News Channel coverage during that hour.

NBC: They could pre-empt a rerun of "Law and Order: SVU" (normally seen at 10 P.M. EDT/9 CDT) in the Eastern and Central time zones, move "I Want To Be A Hilton" back to 10 EDT/9 CDT, and run an hour of live coverage from 9-10 P.M. EDT.

Given all the intense debate on both sides concerning potential replacement justices on the Supreme Court, even if the President's announcement is only a few minutes long, I think the story is big enough for ABC, CBS and NBC to devote a full hour to the announcement, and broadcasting plenty of analysis after the announcement is made.

Even if ABC, CBS, and NBC do air the announcement live, I think some non-O&O affiliates on the West Coast may decide not to carry the announcement live for another reason: 9 P.M. EDT is 6 P.M. PDT, and I think some TV stations might decide to stick with their high-profit local early-evening newscasts instead of carrying network coverage of the Bush announcement, opting to just pass it along as a "Breaking News" item a few minutes into the newscast.

At this writing (1:30 P.M. EDT, July 19th), the ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC websites are still indicating that they will carry their regular prime-time schedules this evening. However, given that word on tonight's announcement came out less than half an hour before I wrote this message, it is indeed possible that the "big three" may indeed carry the announcement live and will revise their homepages later this afternoon to reflect possible live coverage.

The cable news channels, of course, will probably be "All Court Nominee X, All The Time" for the rest of the day and evening---unless Hurricane Emily suddenly changes course and makes a direct hit on south Texas.

One "wild-card": Could the time of the announcement be changed as to minimize disruption (or, were it to be made at 7:30 P.M. EDT, completely eliminate disruption) to the broadcast networks' prime-time schedules??
 
> I may be wrong, but I don't recall a President ever
> announcing the naming of a Supreme Court nominee in an
> elaborate TV (or radio) speech. In fact, hasn't the
> procedure traditionally been to announce the nominee in a
> written statement??

Reagan made at least a radio statement when Burger retired and Rehnquist was kicked upstairs to take his place, but I don't recall him or any of his successors doing the same for a nominee.
 
> > I may be wrong, but I don't recall a President ever
> > announcing the naming of a Supreme Court nominee in an
> > elaborate TV (or radio) speech. In fact, hasn't the
> > procedure traditionally been to announce the nominee in a
> > written statement??
>
> Reagan made at least a radio statement when Burger retired
> and Rehnquist was kicked upstairs to take his place, but I
> don't recall him or any of his successors doing the same for
> a nominee.
>

Bush the first brought Clarence Thomas to Kennebunkport to introduce him on TV as the replacement for Thurgood Marshall on a summer afternoon in 1991.

ixnay
 
> NBC says it will carry the announcement tonight.
>

Brian Williams on NBC, Charlie Gibson on ABC, John Roberts on CBS and Shep Smith on FOX will lead their networks tonight in prime time, coast to coast.
 
Look For The Nets To Air In Full

Bush understands this will be a controversal selection regardless of who he picks, so the unusual move of announcing his nominee in prime time is a means of trying to get public support behind him/her. The likely nominee, Edith Clement, was approved unanamiously by the Senate when she was promoted to the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal nearly four years ago.

The broadcast networks will certainly air the announcement, as this is a major decision and could very well change the direction and fabric of the high court.<P ID="signature">______________
Robert Charles Pickering
Lakeland, Florida</P>
 
Responses To The President's Announcement??

I would think that the Democratic Party would want television airtime to respond to the President's announcement.

I can even see other organizations asking for television airtime to respond to the President, including--but not limited to--the AFL/CIO, the National Council Of Churches, the National Organization For Women, among many other organizations all over the politcal spectrum.

If the Democrats ask for time for a televised response after the President's speech, they'll get it. But as for those other groups, probably not.
 
> Bush will announce his Supreme Court nominee tonight at 9pm,
> once again screwing up the networks primetime schedule.
> Will this be another no-show for networks trying to make
> their money on reality TV or leftovers? Why does this
> president announce Supreme Court nominees during primetime
> when others do it during banker's hours.

Quite simply he is not the one doing it, he is only the front man.
Those really running the show knows that this pisses people off and will generate more buzz about it.

If they really want to make it intresting have Fear Factor: Supreme Court Edition. I'd watch that over the monkey.<P ID="signature">______________
WCBS = We're Crazy Buffoons and Schmucks
<a href=http://chuck.spotteddogs.org/tv/>Spotted Dog TV Talk - for all your non-news TV Talk</a></P>
 
Re: Responses To The President's Announcement??

Their not entitled to it. I'm not sure the Democratic Party is either, as this announcement isn't an "address". What would they do, anyway? "We, the Democratic Party, would have nominated Laurence Tribe"?<P ID="signature">______________
Soon to set the world record for recieving Nigerian scam and phising e-mails!</P>
 
Re: Bush Nominates Judge John C. Roberts

> ABC broke it.

So why do we now need J. Fred Muggs to come on TV and blather?<P ID="signature">______________
WCBS = We're Crazy Buffoons and Schmucks
<a href=http://chuck.spotteddogs.org/tv/>Spotted Dog TV Talk - for all your non-news TV Talk</a></P>
 
Re: Bush Nominates Judge John C. Roberts

Well I saw the special report on ABC(Via KOMO-4/Seattle) tonight[July 19th] and it'll be interesting to see what happens between now and October.

As for how ABC got the scoop? Appearantly Gibson mentioned during the "World News Tonight" newscast that when word leaked out about Roberts, they called his home in Washington, D.C. and when Roberts answered the the phone[after the news was made official that he was picked by Bush], the response he gave them was "Oh, I've shouldn't have answered the phone."
 
Re: Bush Nominates Judge John C. Roberts

> Well I saw the special report on ABC(Via KOMO-4/Seattle)

Charles Gibson seemed out of his element tonight. He seemed to stumble through the very brief coverage ABC gave to the story before rushing back to the primetime. What was up with the closet-like studio too?

The cable news channels relied on the usual suspects. Larry King's CNN coverage was probably the best and most thoughtful. MSNBC stayed with Brian Williams for a bit who then personally handed things over to the dreadful Tucker Carlson in the scariest bow tie ever. Williams should never have to turn anything over to Carlson. "That man will continue our coverage on MSNBC, so grab your remotes," should be sufficient.

Then it was a nighty with the righty Tucker & Abrams and their Windows Desktop-like graphics. Air America's Rachel Maddow seems to be the new "other side" panelist. She does a reasonable job.

BTW, if anyone wondered why Tucker & MSNBC continue to win the news channel loser award, check out these news-timely topics he's covering this week:

Ebonics curriculum
'Situation' host Carlson and 'Outsider' Kellerman discuss merits of language

Nuking Mecca
One congressman says the U.S. should destroy Muslim holy sites if terrorists attack with nuclear weapons. MSNBC-TV's Tucker Carlson discusses the comments with MSNBC host Monica Crowley and Air America host Rachel Maddow.

Delivering while drunk
Should a woman have been arrested for delivering her baby while drunk? Are the French better than the British as French President Jacques Chirac claims? Max Kellerman, ESPN Radio Host, goes head-to-head with MSNBC-TV's Tucker Carlson.

Oh yeah, baby, I'm there for that!

On Fox, it was The Return of Ken Starr. For the left wing perspective, they spent a lot of time with Gang of 14 member Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), that wild-eyed liberal he is. :) Alan Colmes actually had more than five minutes of uninterrupted air time though.
 
Re: Bush Nominates Judge John C. Roberts

> As for how ABC got the scoop?

Maybe Karl Rove leaked it.<P ID="signature">______________
Robert Charles Pickering
Lakeland, Florida</P>
 
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