I seem to have the Impeachment Hearings on at least ten channels on my TV. CBS could be running Let's Make a Deal and The Price is Right…and while the names of those shows do have a lot to do with what's being discussed in those hearings, I can't help but think America would be better served if those shows were on Channel 2 instead of Adam Schiff and Devin Nunes. Maybe they could compromise and air a hybrid with Schiff and Nunes playing Plinko.
The duplication of effort gives us a choice of which pundits to watch during the recess periods but I don't see why we need that much choice of analysts and no choice of hour-long, overproduced game shows or people sitting around tables dishing each other and everyone.
And y'know, I felt that way during the Watergate era, too. If I owned CBS, NBC or ABC — and we may yet see the day when they'll be worth so little I can buy 'em all — I'd go with regular programming. I'd occasionally put up a little chyron/super to remind people that the hearings are currently live over on PBS or other channels. If I controlled NBC, I'd be airing Today with Hoda and Jenna right now and an on-screen message would remind people they can tune to MSNBC. Interestingly, I just noticed regular programming on CNBC. A couple of financial experts (I suppose) are talking about the stock market, which is what they do on that channel. One just speculated on how the hearings might impact the almighty Dow Jones but otherwise, it's business-as-usual.
So is anyone disadvantaged if live transmission of the hearings is only available on, say, four channels? I don't think so and I wonder what the financial impact on the networks is. How much is this costing them?
As I recall, during Watergate there was some talk that they were all covering it in part because it discharged some F.C.C. obligation they had to air non-commercial programming in the public interest. I don't think that obligation exists today. I also recall that late in the hearings — i.e., when they really got interesting — ABC, CBS and NBC began rotating coverage. Each day, one would air the hearings and the other two would telecast what they usually telecast. This was in response to the moans of soap opera followers and it seemed like a fine decision.
The networks oughta think about how much they want to pre-empt shows someone loves for hearings about Donald Trump wrongdoing. There could be awful lot of those hearings ahead.