AMERICAN IDOL - TV EXECS WOULD LIKE OBAMA TO BAIL OUT OF PRIMETIME

TV EXECS WOULD LIKE OBAMA TO BAIL OUT OF PRIMETIME

At a time when the earnings of the television broadcast networks are plunging, the decision by President Obama to hold another news conference in primetime during a sweeps month is provoking anger among some network executives, TVWeek observed Wednesday. The president's news conference, set for next Tuesday at 8 00 p.m., will cause the networks to juggle their programs and in some cases eliminate episodes. TVWeek suggested that the news conference will particularly affect the domination of Fox's American Idol , which will air on Wednesday and Thursday next week instead of Tuesday and Wednesday. Idol will now face challenges from a CBS Survivor special on Wednesday and NCAA "March Madness" on Thursday. Moreover, as one industry insider told TVWeek , "Every time the president disrupts primetime, the networks lose another couple million dollars. ... In this economy, that's the last thing we need."

19/03/2009