As the heavily covered presidential primaries ended last week, the networks have moved on to planning for the next big events — the Democratic convention in August and the Republican convention in September.
The New York Times’ Jacques Steinberg reports the broadcast networks will air approximately three hours of live, prime time coverage, similar to what they did last year in 2004 (although now in high definition).
Earlier this week, Politico’s Michael Calderone reported on the major coverage plans of MSNBC for the Democratic convention. The network is planning to broadcast from 6amET-2amET: 20 hours of live, continuous coverage each day.
CNN and FNC have not announced their plans yet, but CNN Washington bureau chief David Bohrman tells Steinberg his network’s coverage will not be as extreme as MSNBC’s. “We’ll find a nice mix in our regular daytime programming, get a sense of what else is happening in the world, and be in the conventions when they’re really in session,” he says. “The conventions will clearly be the centerpiece of the week. But the rest of the world continues.”