J
Joseph_Gallant
Guest
Today (June 30th), NASA announced their the first manned space shuttle flight since the Columbia disaster will be launched (assuming there are no further delays) at 3:51 P.M. EDT on Wednesday, July 13th.
I would suspect that being the first launch since the Columbia crash, the launch will not just be seen on CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC, but the "big there" broadcast networks as well.
And with the recent shake-up in network news anchors, it gets interesting.
Although NBC's coverage will probably get anchored by Brian Williams, I would personally prefer that NBC/MSNBC space correspondent Jay Barbree anchor the NBC coverage. Barbree is the only broadcast journalist who has covered every U.S. manned space launch (until NBC sold-off it's radio network in 1988, he was NBC radio's anchor for space coverage), and in my opinion would be a better choice than Williams. But Williams is a "star", and that may put him in the chair. But if Williams does anchor, I think Barbree should co-anchor. His knowledge of space would be a real asset.
On the other hand, Barbree may end up sharing the MSNBC anchor desk with Chris Matthews, who seems to be getting a lot of special-event anchoring assignments at that network.
Had the "memogate" scandal not occured, Dan Rather would have been in the anchor chair for CBS for the launch. While Bob Schieffer is the interim anchor of the "Evening News", I don't know if he'll be going to the Cape. Two other possibilities for CBS News who would make much more sense to anchor the launch are either network space consultant Bill Harwood or correspondent Peter King (who does most of his work on radio). The latter has anchored quite a few shuttle launches for CBS Radio.
ABC's Peter Jennings is still recovering from cancer. Hopefully, he'll be well enough to anchor the launch coverage. If he isn't, I don't know where ABC can turn to. I don't think there's really any other correspondents there with Jennings' space experience and interest. I would think ABC probably wishes Hugh Downs hadn't retired; he too has a lot of knowledge of space exploration (didn't he and Jennings co-anchor ABC's coverage of John Glenn's return to space in 1998??) and would have been an ideal choice.
One other note: I would suspect that in the Eastern and Central time zones, ABC's "General Hospital" and CBS' "Guiding Light" will probably both be pre-empted on July 13th, with live coverage on these two networks (and NBC, which doesn't feed network programming between 3 and 4 P.M. EDT) likely running from 3 to 4:30 P.M. EDT. While the launch is set for 3:51, it will take almost ten minutes for the shuttle to achieve orbit; after the shuttle goes into orbit, the networks will want to show replays of the launch and interview VIP's and people on nearby beaches who saw the launch.
I would suspect that being the first launch since the Columbia crash, the launch will not just be seen on CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC, but the "big there" broadcast networks as well.
And with the recent shake-up in network news anchors, it gets interesting.
Although NBC's coverage will probably get anchored by Brian Williams, I would personally prefer that NBC/MSNBC space correspondent Jay Barbree anchor the NBC coverage. Barbree is the only broadcast journalist who has covered every U.S. manned space launch (until NBC sold-off it's radio network in 1988, he was NBC radio's anchor for space coverage), and in my opinion would be a better choice than Williams. But Williams is a "star", and that may put him in the chair. But if Williams does anchor, I think Barbree should co-anchor. His knowledge of space would be a real asset.
On the other hand, Barbree may end up sharing the MSNBC anchor desk with Chris Matthews, who seems to be getting a lot of special-event anchoring assignments at that network.
Had the "memogate" scandal not occured, Dan Rather would have been in the anchor chair for CBS for the launch. While Bob Schieffer is the interim anchor of the "Evening News", I don't know if he'll be going to the Cape. Two other possibilities for CBS News who would make much more sense to anchor the launch are either network space consultant Bill Harwood or correspondent Peter King (who does most of his work on radio). The latter has anchored quite a few shuttle launches for CBS Radio.
ABC's Peter Jennings is still recovering from cancer. Hopefully, he'll be well enough to anchor the launch coverage. If he isn't, I don't know where ABC can turn to. I don't think there's really any other correspondents there with Jennings' space experience and interest. I would think ABC probably wishes Hugh Downs hadn't retired; he too has a lot of knowledge of space exploration (didn't he and Jennings co-anchor ABC's coverage of John Glenn's return to space in 1998??) and would have been an ideal choice.
One other note: I would suspect that in the Eastern and Central time zones, ABC's "General Hospital" and CBS' "Guiding Light" will probably both be pre-empted on July 13th, with live coverage on these two networks (and NBC, which doesn't feed network programming between 3 and 4 P.M. EDT) likely running from 3 to 4:30 P.M. EDT. While the launch is set for 3:51, it will take almost ten minutes for the shuttle to achieve orbit; after the shuttle goes into orbit, the networks will want to show replays of the launch and interview VIP's and people on nearby beaches who saw the launch.