TV networks spending less time on Obama inaugural coverage

TV networks spending less time on Obama inaugural coverage

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President Barack Obama takes the oath of office from U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts as first lady Michelle Obama holds the bible.

So much for wall-to-wall coverage.

Most TV networks will be devoting significantly less time to Barack Obama’s second Presidential inuaguration then they did four years ago, with some slashing their coverage by nearly 40%.

The difference is startling.

Four years ago, ABC seemed almost like C-SPAN. Its coverage began with “Good Morning America,” ran all afternoon and spread across primetime with two specials: “The Neighborhood Ball: An Inauguration Celebration,” followed by “A Moment in History: The Inauguration of Barack Obama.”

NBC and CBS were not quite as ambitious, but they also devoted chunks of their precious primetime to inauguration hoopla. NBC aired a special edition of “Dateline,” and CBS broadcast “Change and Challenge: The Inauguration of Barack Obama.”

This year, the national network coverage more or less wraps up at 3 p.m. when regular programming resumes.

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WABC/Ch.7 will show an episode of “Katie”, WCBS is offering “Dr. Phil” and WNBC/Ch.4 will transition from the inauguration to “Steve Harvey.”

At night, it will business as usual, which means a two-hour “The Biggest Loser” on NBC, a two-hour edition of “The Bachelor” on ABC and the regular Monday primetime comedies and “Hawaii Five-0” on CBS.

Four years ago, PBS is packed its evening with inaugural programming, including, “Dreams of Obama. A personal and political biography of Barack Obama.” This year? “Antiques Roadshow” and other standard fare.

Several network news officials declined to comment on the record about the change.

"Typically the Inauguration of a new President garners a bit more coverage than a second Inaugural because the country is getting ready for a new president, a new first family, a new cabinet, a new Vice President and others,” said one of the executives.

The news executive added: “In 2008 were were looking at an entirely different situation. It was history â€" the swearing in of the first African-American President. Also, historically the inaugural of any President’s second term has always warranted less coverage.”

Indeed, another news executive noted that, “The networks are all planning roughly the same level of coverage for the 2013 Inauguration as they did for Bill Clinton's second in 1997 and George W. Bush's second in 2005.”

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The cable news channels - CNN, Fox and MSNBC - will offer their usual super-saturated coverage.

But other cable channels are pulling back.

Four years ago, cable channels that focus primarily on entertainment, such as MTV and BET, carried the ceremony and offered special-related programming throughout the day. This year, they will not.

All the coverage â€" spread across about 17 channels - drew 37 million viewers four years ago. Fewer Americans are expected to tune in this year.