The Nominee: Roadblock Tonight

The White House asked the broadcast networks to cover President Bush’s Supreme Court nomination at 9 p.m., and they didn’t hesitate (at least not for long). Brian Williams will anchor a special report on NBC; Charlie Gibson will anchor on ABC; and John Roberts will anchor on CBS; Shep Smith will anchor on the Fox broadcast network. ABC’s coverage will last about 15 minutes; we’ll see if any of the networks goes for a full half-hour. Cable coverage:

> Brit Hume will host a half-hour of coverage on FNC, followed by 30 minutes of H&C and an hour of Greta.

> Larry King will get instant reaction to the announcement at 9pm, followed by NewsNight at 10. WHAC notes that 360 will repeat tonight, rather than Paula Zahn Now.

> Since Chris Matthews is on vacation this week, Dan Abrams is getting a lot of face time. After hosting The Abrams Report, he’ll host Hardball; then at 9, he’ll sit on Tucker Carlson’s ‘Situation’ panel. MSNBC will air a second live edition of the Situation at 11pm.

> Also: ABC had an apparent scoop around 5pm: “Judge Edith Clement…is not President Bush’s choice for the high court,” a source told the network…