Hurricane Isaac is expected to make landfall overnight tonight on the Gulf Coast, and you can bet that cable news channels are planning special live programming to cover it. Weather Channel, CNN and Fox News Channel will be live overnight in the hours normally reserved for repeats.
Weather will have live coverage throughout the night, with Reynolds Wolf and Jim Cantore in New Orleans, Mike Seidel in Alabama and Paul Goodloe and Eric Fisher in Mississippi. Locations are subject to change, if Isaac’s path changes.
Fox News will be live from 1-4 AM, with Gregg Jarrett and Jamie Colby anchoring. The network is sending “Fox & Friends First” anchor Anna Kooiman to Baton Rouge, joining Elizabeth Prann, Jonathan Serrie and Casey Stegall in New Orleans. Steve Harrigan is in Biloxi, MS, Rick Leventhal is in Dauphin Island, AL, and Phil Keating is in Mobile, AL.
CNN will have a live edition of “Piers Morgan Tonight at midnight (it was already planned for the RNC), and will add live coverage from 1-4 AM. “Early Start,” which normally begins at 5 AM, will start even earlier at 4 AM tomorrow.
Update: MSNBC will be live til 1 AM with live coverage of the RNC and Isaac. An overnight decision will be made soon.
Update AM: MSNBC ended up replaying its primetime programming through 3 AM, and rerunning the RNC speeches beginning at 3. It broke into programming twice an hour with Hurricane Isaac updates.
We’ll update with more information as we get it.