TV Networks frustrated by Obama’s repeated demand for airtime
Obama just cannot stop campaigning. First it was ESPN so he could share his March Madness picks, then he announced he would appear on Leno, and now he is demanding that all the major news networks shift around their primetime programming to make room for (another) address on Tuesday.
This guy sure is obsessed with his fame.
Networks are pulling their shows over to the side of the road to make room for the lights and sirens of president Barack Obama’s latest primetime address.
Obama will take to the air next Tuesday evening on four broadcast networks and bump the most popular series on television, Fox’s “American Idol.”
Fulfilling their scheduling civic duty is starting to seem increasingly cumbersome to broadcasters, however. Between a struggling economy and ratings sagging in midseason, every interruption costs networks advertising dollars and momentum.
“At a time when we’re struggling not only financially but to build audiences, this doesn’t help on either front,” one network executive said. “These repeated interruptions — and the rumor of even more to come — really make it difficult to build audience flow and loyalty. We will all lose one or two million dollars for this.”