NBC: Bush kept off network to promote MSNBC

NEW YORK — NBC News said it was a desire to promote MSNBC as a news destination that led to its decision Thursday not to carry President Bush’s news conference on NBC.

The call to keep Bush off the broadcast network was noteworthy not just because ABC and CBS pre-empted regularly scheduled programming to cover the president, but because NBC was airing another news division program at the time — the fourth hour of Today.

“We’re trying to make MSNBC the place to go for NBC News, and the strategy is working,” said Phil Griffin, NBC News senior vice president.

TV networks will generally clear time for a presidential speech if requested by the White House. There’s no hard-and-fast rule for news conferences.

In deciding to pre-empt entertainment programming, ABC noted that Bush hadn’t had a televised meeting with reporters since Dec. 20. “With all that’s on the agenda, including the country’s economic concerns, we were certain that live coverage was in the best interest of our viewers,” said ABC News spokeswoman Cathie Levine.
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In deciding to carry the session, CBS News spokeswoman Sandy Genelius said the White House had indicated Bush was prepared to address issues like the home mortgage crisis.

During Tuesday’s news conference, the president said that the country is not bound for a recession and rejected any new efforts to stimulate the economy.

Griffin said it made no difference that NBC was already carrying a news program at the time of the president’s 10 a.m. ET session. During that hour, Today aired a segment on Animal Planet’s Rhino Nights and tips for saving money. On the West Coast, where the news conference aired during the first Today hour, Ann Curry reported on it during news updates, he said.

Bush was carried live on NBC cable stations MSNBC and CNBC. That’s an option that ABC and CBS, without sister cable stations, does not have.

It would be wrong to pretend like it’s 1980 and viewers interested in the president didn’t have other options, Griffin said.

The corporate decision to pump up MSNBC was also why Tuesday’s presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama was carried on cable instead of the network, he said. With nearly 8 million viewers, it was the most-watched program in MSNBC’s history and will be rerun twice over the weekend.

Griffin, noting that the policy is “still evolving,” said it doesn’t mean that there will no longer be instances when NBC carries special news programming. They’ll be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, he said.

While MSNBC went wall-to-wall with election coverage in prime time on Super Tuesday, NBC carried a one-hour wrap-up. CBS had two hours that night and ABC devoted its entire three-hour prime-time schedule to the news.

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I’m appalled. For one thing, it’s hard enough to keep track of what this administration is up to as it is. When King George finally deigns to let the serfs see him actually answer, [hopefully] well thought-out questions i a setting he and his handlers don’t have total control over, of course it’s newsworthy! You never know what he might let slip. And these, ‘What, doesn’t EVERYBODY get their news on their Blackberry now?” type comments from NewYork-dwelling media spokesmodels is beneath contempt. Some of the most active and interested in their government’s doings are the elderly. My two great aunts are not only the most politically aware and well informed women I know, bar none, and in their 90s but they only just got cable at my insistence because I knew they wanted to watch EVERY debate this election season and over-the-air broadcast is just SO 80s! And what about the fact that the airwaves are the public’s domain, even if the FCC does somehow have the right to rake in cash from giant corporations so THEY can control them? I used to work at an NBC affiliate [in the 80s] and trust me, election time is like another licence to print money for not only the networks but their local affiliates. So do your public duty as they did in Edward R. Murrow’s day and think of news not as a division that MUST pull it’s own weight, but as your obligation and thanks be to God that you have such power, to tell the public the NEWS. NBC does get a small pass in that they allow the genius Keith Olbermann airtime on MSNBC to counteract the neocon Republican party organ propaganda that immenates from FOX.

Bush responsible for the death of over a million people, are you nuts? Just not true.

…and what Bush lies are you talking about? Again, Iraq’s WMD was not a lie … it was believed by former President Clinton and his top dogs, Mrs. Clinton, former VP Al Gore as well as all the major intelligence agencies (including Russia and France) believed Iraq DID have WMD.

So Bush did not lie. Get over it.

as far as NBC goes, NBC has gone so far left its no longer funny. Bad decision.