Network Execs "Seething Behind The Scenes" Over Obama Press Conferences

[babylonsister]

Consider the source, but it sounds logical. Money talks.


Obama drama
Nets take a stand against primetime pre-emptions

By John Consoli

May 7, 2009, 08:47 PM ET


By and large, they personally forked out for his campaign, they voted for him, and they know he is capable of boosting TV ratings just by making an appearance.

But executives at the Big Four broadcast networks are seething behind the scenes that President Obama has cost them about $30 million in cumulative ad revenue this year with his three primetime news conference pre-emptions.

Now top network execs quietly are hoping that Fox's well-publicized rejection of the president's April 29 presser will serve as precedent for denying future White House requests for prime airtime.

"We will continue to make our decisions on White House requests on a case-by-case basis, but the Fox decision gives us cover to reject a request if we feel that there is no urgent breaking news that is going to be discussed," said one network exec, who, like all, would not speak for attribution fearing repercussions from the administration.

"If the president wants to make it tough for your network, he can," the exec added.

Another network executive confided, "Nobody wants to take on the White House, so we'll have to tiptoe through this."

Although Obama's post-election visits to NBC's "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" and CBS' "60 Minutes" served as major ratings boosts, the love affair between the networks and the Democrat darling actually might be cooling: There are too many demands, and too much money is at stake.

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http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i4e17d68abb9787337186a5038618057a?pn=1

[BlooInBloo]

1. Get over it, you whiny ass titty babies.

[bdamomma]

29. they never said anything when bushie was on almost every other day

spewing BS.

[Skinner]

2. $30 million?

I wonder how much $$ the Obama campaign spent on TV advertising over the last two years? I bet it's a lot more than that.

[onenote]

7. yes, but

the but being twofold: first, much of the ad time that Obama (and other candidates) purchased was paid for at the "lowest unit rate" under the FCC's rules and thus produced less revenue for the networks than selling that time to a commercial advertiser may have produced; and second, its not as if Obama or any other politician is going to threaten to not advertise on the networks if they don't run presidential news conferences.

That being said, I feel strongly that the networks should be covering presidential news conferences.

[Pisces]

3. the networks can F off. I prefer HBO and Showtime

[Demeter]

4. Considering That the Airwaves Are Public Property That Networks Lease, NOT OWN

they can stick it in their ear.

[Mme. Defarge]

16. Damn straight! n/t

[ananda]

5. Instead of whining like stupid crybabies, the networks should..

.. sit down and figure out a way to rotate
coverage so that only one of them is
broadcasting a press conference at a time.

Give me a break!

[Ian David]

6. The answer is Product Placement.

President Obama needs to find ways to incorporate the talking points of his speeches seamlessly into the regular prime-time sitcoms.

Or he could make walk-on appearances, like when Nancy Reagan was on Diffren't Strokes.

Or maybe a little computer-generated President Obama could occasionally pop-up in the corner of the screen, and one of his talking points would be in a speech bubble.

[babylonsister]

10. Bwhahaha! I can see it now; the president just pops up in the midst

of Survivor! :rofl:

[ellacott]

13. Or he could open a can of Pepsi during his press conference

[Ian David]

15. Pepsi, Viagra, Doritos... all can be easily integrated into The President's speech.

"A stimulus package is like 36-hour Cialis. You take it now. It works later. But it if it causes sudden blindness, call your doctor."

[chollybocker]

18. ...or "It's time for Americans to stand together and cut the mustard."

"This message was brought to you by French's Golden."

[onetwo]

31. Like the MS Word paperclip

Ha ha

[Peacetrain]

8. Having to deal with all the problems this President had to take on

The networks need to step up a little. Once we start settling some of this issues down, and getting this mess under control, things will get back to normal.

[Cha]

23. Yeah, they really do...need

to get them some National Service on.

[jaxx]

9. WoW a whole 30m..........tough shit.

[Uncle Joe]

11. Take their broadcasting license away for interfering with the President's First Amendment Rights

to communicate with the nation.

[derby378]

12. And where would the majority of that $30m have come from, anyway?

My guess is that the lion's share would come from drug manufacturers, spending their cash not to maintain their staff or promote research, but to broadcast TV ads with dancing water balloons or Sally Field playing Twister or married couples walking through secluded groves before bathing in matching tubs stuck out in a cornfield.

[Cha]

21. Everytime we turn around..there's

some damn drug being pushed on tv and now they have kids hawking drugs on the tube.

[Fire1]

14. There's a cost for transparency. Suck it up.

[question everything]

17. I doubt that there will be additional events like that

One was the State of the Union-type event that they would carry anyway (but perhaps not, if Senators ignore him because twitting is more important for their future).

The next - we are still in a crisis. These are different time and it was right for Obama to explain why and how he chooses his actions.

The last was the 100 days that the networks have been highlighted since... well, Day One.

[kimmylavin]

19. Oh, for Pete's sake!

The President is trying to reach the greatest number of people that he can.
How else is he going to do it in this culture? Newspapers? Radio?

[Cha]

20. The corporatemedia won't

relay the facts(they're hooked on manipulation and manufacturing drama) so one of the best ways for the Obama Team to get their message out is through these prime time press conferences.

No doubt the president will negotiate something to get what he wants and pacify the "networks".

I guess ol bush didn't have enough for them to sweat?

[bottomtheweaver]

22. Time to crack the damn whip.

Or at least shake it in their faces. Maybe they'd like to have their monopolies broken up again under new anti-trust legislation? It wouldn't be difficult.

[rucky]

24. How do the lead-in & lead-out shows do?

compared to when there's no press conference?

[Jennicut]

25. These Greedy SOBS need to learn to deal. Hearing how the country is doing by the Prez

is far more important then their ad revenue dollars. I am "seething" that these idiots are even complaining.

[MadBadger]

34. I'll play devil's advocate here

The networks are not making money. They are in pretty bad shape as it is. The way they make money is off of ad revenue. They do lose a lot of money off of these press conferences.

[Jennicut]

36. LOL. Sorry but rich network executives complaining does not make me cry for them.

In fact I think candidates running for Prez should automatically have some hours allotted to them of free airtime. It would help get some money out of politics.

[butterfly77]

26. If the media wasn't lying their asses off..

and not putting their spin on every issue maybe he wouldn't have to have as many press conferences to knock down their lies. Keep on with the press conferences Mr.President I love them. Its sooooo good to have a president that keeps us informed.

[CreekDog]

27. Freedom ain't free

not that those asses would know. :eyes:

[Blue_Tires]

28. god damn...you would think Obama was cutting into the

Super Bowl-Game 7 of the World Series, NHL and NBA Finals-The Road to the Final Four-Final Round of all four golf majors-Indy 500-Daytona-Series Finale of Lost, Desperate Housewifes or whatever the hell people watch in prime time these days...

[Skidmore]

30. The press conferences will continue until the media learns to report

the truth in its entirity.

[symbolman]

32. Dear Networks..

Those Airwaves belong to US, and we want to hear from our President, so go grab your crying towels while we take away your license.. How does Zero Income sound, that's what many of us are making, how about you broadcasting from a Fridge box on a street corner?

They should be on suicide watch at the Hague for pimping the very fake war that broke the economy, along with the Traitors who created it.

Period.

[depakid]

33. 25 years of deregulation has made them not only made them arrogant

but laughable.

Let's just hope that the FCC is paying attention. These folks have had a free ride at the nation's expense for far too long.

[Supersedeas]

35. Use of PUBLIC airways to serve the public interest/public good--no so much a priority to Net Execs