Intentional, or just cosmic karma, the irony is just too rich.

But I do think this was a line in the sand, rather than an overtly political snub. Networks are trying to build audience loyalty to their shows. The president, on the other hand, is trying to reassure the American people and rebuild confidence in the economy. Contrary to what skimming this thread might lead one to believe, President Obama is extremely popular with the overwhelming majority of voters. But the nets can’t use him to sell candy bars. So why not reject the request outright in favor of cold hard cash?

…FCC regulations, a yet to be appointed copyright tsar, union negotiations, production tax credits….

Networks (and their parent companies) aren’t just granting the president a generous favor. They’re trying to curry favor with the administration as well. And they ought to be careful about grumbling too loudly when serving the public interest, especially in the midst of the worst economic crisis of our time.

From Here: http://www.mcall.com/entertainment/sns-ap-us-tv-obama,0,5332805.story?track=rss

I think you must have read that wrong. FNC has the most viewers amongst the cable news nets, and FOX broadcast has the least viewers amongst the English broadcast nets, but FOX has had more viewers than FNC in each of these so far.

Furthermore, in the AP article I read yesterday, it was reported that the Fox News Channel has more viewership during these sort of briefs. So it seems very logical (and smart) to turn down yet another primetime kerfuffle and stick with your scheduling because let’s face it, Obama is probably not going to get as many viewers as before. Obama conferences are not a “must see” or novelty because they happen every few weeks and contain nothing unknown before.

If anyone was doubting “Lie” returning for a second season, this should put that to rest. If FOX were going to get rid of it, they’d have happily taken the crap that was served to them and used it as an excuse to bounce Tim Roth and company. Which they would probably do with a show like “Prison Break” or “Terminator.” But since Obama would never dream of scheduling a pointless “Aren’t I great?” celebration for a low-viewership night such as Friday, I applaud them for putting their foot down.

Fox and Fox News are two separate companies under 1 umbrella. They have different managements and different objectives.

Let’s take a look at walmart. Walmart has a US branch and a Walmart International branch. What the international branch does is different than what the US branch does. They do what every they have to to be profitable. What the US branch believes isn’t always going to work on the international level, so the international branch does its own thing. They are the same in name only.

Fox and Fox news are the same thing. They are both trying to be profitable. For FOX they finish 4th in the viewers and the demo when obama speaks. With Lie to Me they are giving a new show some stability finally and will probably get over a 2 demo and 8 million viewers. Plus with a speech there is no guarantee it’ll in at 9 pm and they do not want to delay their star show in American Idol.

So hopefully this crash course in separate business subsidiaries help yall understand a little bit.

It was a logical business decision end of.

The point of this press conference ISN’T to talk about the flu pandemic and the economic crisis. It was scheduled DAYS ago because it marks his “First 100 Days in Office” and is merely a political opportunity to exploit what else is going on.

And no offense, but if you were actually a conservative, you’d probably know that fact….LOL.

Actually no. Not every Presidential press conference is televised by the broadcast networks, regardless of the President. Or did you not notice how many times Bush spoke in prime time that weren’t covered by the major networks?

Obama is taking every opportunity to get on TV and tell us how much he’s achieved and how wonderful he is. The point of this press conference isn’t to talk about the “swine flu” or his inexplicable misjudgment about allowing a military “photo op” flyover in New York City yesterday (which scared the hell out of everyone) — it’s to commemorate his “100 days in office” and how much he’s accomplished. This was slotted in days (if not weeks) ago for that very reason.

It’s basically going to be yet another hour-long infomercial with ample tele-promptering. I don’t blame Fox at all — in fact, if he continues with his prime-time press conferences, Fox won’t be the last network to ditch his endless blabberings about “change and hope” and endless spending which will drive this country into debt for generations.

This is just newsworthy because its the first time it’s happened to Obama.”

“Err, FOX (and the other networks) didn’t carry a George W. Bush address during November sweeps – a month after 9/11, for crying out loud (despite the White House requesting coverage). And that wasn’t the only time.”

Thanks for injecting some reality here. I know this happened a couple times in the past, but I didn’t know these network rejections were so common, for lack of a better word.

I might add that this is “newsworthy” not only because it’s the first time it’s happened to Obama, but because it’s the first time a network was so overly politicized for making the choice to decline the POTUS press time. Anti-Fox-News types have another chance to spew hate at something, anything, named FOX. That’s why I think FOX broadcast decision makers are making a gutsy move here – they know they’ll be politicized, and they still made a business decision.

Err, FOX (and the other networks) didn’t carry a George W. Bush address during November sweeps – a month after 9/11, for crying out loud (despite the White House requesting coverage). And that wasn’t the only time.

This is a business decision, not politics.

If this had scheduled for a sweeps Monday, ABC (because of Dancing With The Stars) would probably have been the ones to tell the White House to shove it where the sun doesn’t shine.

And although its political, and I disagree politically with Fox, I do agree with them not airing the conference. However, if this were a Republican president, they so would’ve aired it. None of you can deny that.

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Every post-Reagan president has had at least one request for network coverage of a primetime news conference rejected.

This is just newsworthy because its the first time it’s happened to Obama.

on another note, why isn’t american idol going for 2 hours this week — two performances from each singer — they had enough trouble with 7 performances, now there are 10. Why rush the number one show in america and it also does get higher ratings when it does go to the 9-10 hour.

T.V. is for meant for entertainment purposes. There are specific channels out there for education and news.
To quote Stan Marsh, “I go to school to learn, I go to movies (and watch TV) to be entertained, I wasn’t entertained, I want my money back.”