WHITE HOUSE - NETWORKS LIKELY TO TURN DOWN OBAMA PRIMETIME REQUEST

NETWORKS LIKELY TO TURN DOWN OBAMA PRIMETIME REQUEST

After losing some $30 million from advertisers while they covered President Obama's three primetime news conferences in recent months, the major television networks are likely to follow Fox's lead and turn down the White House when it asks them to preempt a primetime time period any time soon, the Hollywood Reporter reported today (Friday), citing several unnamed network executives. "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," one network exec told the trade publication.

08/05/2009