The only way Fox will air President Obama's prime time address next Wednesday will be if he joins the glee club. No, seriously, if the Prez could sing or dance with the kids at McKinley High School on the new Fox series, Glee, he'd have a better chance of getting air time than he does as the Commander in Chief. Fox is not expected to show President Obama's address to Congress. Fox has already shown an unwillingness to interrupt prime time for President Obama. Back in March, the network chose not to air a press conference. To be honest, Obama has been on TV a lot more than President George W. Bush. All that prime time real estate is expensive, and the networks have squawked about how often Obama has requested the air time.
Well, next Wednesday night, Fox apparently will not grant the request. Instead, the network will stick with its plan to air the debut of So You Think You Can Dance at 8 PM, followed by the eagerly awaited second episode of Glee. Yes, it will be the second show. The premiere of Glee officially occurred on May 19, a sort of advance look at the season premiere.
Anyway, Fox does have a fall back position. It can show Obama's speech -- an address about health care to a joint session of Congress -- on the Fox News channel. You know, I believe that it's important for the networks to cooperate with the President when it comes to addressing the public. but maybe somebody in the Obama administration should be aware of what's going on with TV.
Here's a thought: Kal Penn. Kal left House last season to go work at the White House. Let's give him the job of advising the President when it's a good time to ask for TV time. That'll solve the problem.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
9-04-2009 @ 10:14AM
Adam said...
Honestly, it doesn't matter a bit. Independents are sick of the primetime speeches, so probably won't watch, conservatives blindly hate the guy, and liberals blindly follow the guy, so no one will likely change their opinions based on this speech. "Glee", on the other hand, will probably be awesome, so bring it on.
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10-13-2009 @ 6:47PM
JamesFR3 said...
I'm an independent and I will watch it. It is health care we are talking about people. Have we degraded that far as human beings when we care more about a T.V. show? Shameful.
9-04-2009 @ 11:46AM
Fullman said...
JamesFR3, his past news conferences have proven that he'll just repeat the same platform that he's been saying for weeks or months.
Unless there's something new, which even the networks are doubting at this point, it's absolutely nothing important enough that needs to interrupt the network's more expensive blocks of time and handed off to the White House for free.
9-04-2009 @ 12:02PM
Adam said...
@ Fullman
Exactly!! What he's gonna say is "listen closely this time since you guys obviously didn't get it last time." There won't be anything new, and I can't say I fault him for rehashing what he said almost a month ago b/c his message has been totally misconstrued or flat out misunderstood by the majority of Americans. But one of his aides should stress to him that the people who don't get it DON'T WANT TO GET IT, and his supporters DON'T CARE WHAT HE'S SAYING, so its basically a useless speech.
@James
I'm glad you're sticking it out as a independent, but the numbers don't lie
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0909/26713.html
People are sick of these monthly speeches, and I can't say I blame them. I have and continue to support President Obama, but I have no interest in these incessant speeches. This little thing called the internet makes them utterly useless and I fear he's venturing into the boy who cried wolf territory.
9-04-2009 @ 12:35PM
John said...
How about the President stick to the news channels. That way people can watch the address if they want.
For those who don't have cable, there's PBS...
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9-04-2009 @ 11:00AM
Scott said...
Last year the President seemed to have a grudge against "Lie to Me". Now it's "Glee". Couldn't he pick crappier shows to pre-empt? I'll be watching "Glee".
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9-04-2009 @ 11:16AM
svrkevi said...
Sorry Obama but I gotta side with Fox....I'll just watch the speech online, but if your not tough about what you're going to do...then eh
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9-04-2009 @ 11:26AM
trekker437 said...
Admittedly I have yet to watch Glee, however, it's ratings will be through the roof since lets face it, people are tired of seeing Obama on tv. If that is the only network airing a new episode of a tv series, the options for viewers will be limited and ratings will skyrocket.
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9-04-2009 @ 11:32AM
James said...
I thought I heard Obama was moving his speech up to 8pm to make it more "friendly" to Fox.
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9-04-2009 @ 11:39AM
h0sti1e17 said...
I am watching Glee, and recording Top Model, thank you FOX, you may cancel our shows early...but at least you don't take the shows on the air to his speeches. A perfect solution would be each network takes a turn airing his speeches, ABC this one, NBC next one, ect. This way each network airs one maybe 2 a year, and people who don't have cable or internet can still watch if they choose. The president looks the same on Fox, ABC, NBC so it doesn't matter what channel is on.
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9-04-2009 @ 11:48AM
lmike14 said...
I'll probably skip this speech on health care but I'll be sure to catch the next two or three. Isn't this like the fourth speech he's given on this topic alone?
Obama's been on prime time more than Fox has aired some of its own series.
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9-04-2009 @ 1:23PM
Tim said...
I'll be curious to see what kind of ratings this generates. It's an interesting strategy. Has one network ever not shown a presidential prime-time address before? Always in the past you didn't have a choice of what to watch on the big 4. Now if you have a choice between 2 things... if people don't want to watch the president they'll turn to the only other channel NOT showing him. Why is it necessary that all the major public channels show him. One or at most two, should cover it.
Very curious if this actually increases the viewership of 'Glee'
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9-04-2009 @ 1:32PM
JW said...
I still don't understand why it even matters if the president's speeches are on the local networks. Most people have CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News; if the people want to watch it, they will find a way to watch it. I could careless either way, I don't plan on watching the President's speech because I am tired of hearing about the same stuff on the regular news and I don't plan on watching Glee either, just as bad as High School Musical.
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9-04-2009 @ 2:19PM
mdk said...
Glee? (chortle) Standard chick fare with standard cast of 30 year old "high school students". Just Fox's knock-off of High School Musical. So fethtive!
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9-04-2009 @ 2:32PM
Scott said...
Ah, how enlightened. "People sing. Must be for chicks & homos." Hope you're happy in your cave.
9-04-2009 @ 3:23PM
Eric said...
It's pretty obvious you've never seen Glee.
9-04-2009 @ 2:32PM
unc69dmo said...
You Go, FOX ...continue to contribute to the dumbing down of America....... and showing your big Elephant azz.....
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9-04-2009 @ 10:00PM
Owloo said...
I have had enough of Obama and I want my GLEE
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9-05-2009 @ 12:30AM
CherrySlurpees said...
Halle-freakin-lujah! I've never been a fan of pre-empting...be it the President or baseball. I want my TV...I catch up the next morning by watching the morning shows and using the Interwebs.
I, too, feel that Presidential addresses should be used sparingly. If one expects the general public to value what you have to say, make sure what you're saying isn't the FOURTH time you're saying it.
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9-05-2009 @ 3:21AM
rightmom said...
Why am I not surprised that once again you spin the story to slam Fox? Never mind that ABC gave Obama his infomercial with no opposing point of view or that all of the networks with the exception of Fox are in the tank for Obama. While you may believe that the networks
should "cooperate" with Obama, many of us believe he should answer the questions we asked at the townhall meetings (and I attended of my own free will without pay or as part of a group). Questions like if the bill is so great, why won't he and the Dems agree to participate
in the same plan they want to force me into when instead the Dems voted multiple times against such an amendment introduced by Republicans that would have required this. Or whether or not taxpayer funded abortions are part of the bill (again Dems voted multiple times against an amendment introduced by Republicans that would have eliminated such a proposal). But of course we should just all be good little soldiers and cooperate as you suggested.
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