Fox passes on Obama’s 100-days celebration
posted at 5:26 pm on April 27, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
Barack Obama wanted a media fest for his 100th day in office, but the media has grumbled about coughing up valuable prime-time real estate during sweeps week. One broadcaster has decided to RSVP in the negative, and it’s no big surprise which one:
For the first time since Barack Obama took office, a major broadcast network is refusing to grant the president’s request for primetime coverage.
Fox has issued a statement saying it will air regular programming (Lie to Me) Wednesday night instead of Obama’s 100-day news conference.
“The Fox Broadcasting Company will not air the Presidential News Conference on Wednesday, April 29 at 8:00 PM (ET),” Fox said in a statement. “Fox’s sister networks, Fox News Channel and the Fox Business Network, will air the press conference in its entirety. Fox will be alerting viewers with an onscreen graphic at the top of the 8:00 PM (ET) hour that the press conference is available on Fox News Channel and the Fox Business Network.”
ABC, CBS and NBC have issued statements saying they will carry the president’s telecast.
As James Hibberd notes, Fox has good business reasons for pulling the plug. Their news channel gets most of the attention from the news junkies, so putting the press conference makes less sense for Fox than it does for ABC and CBS, which don’t have a cable outlet option. One has to wonder why NBC doesn’t move their coverage to MS-NBC instead of pre-empting the press conference and splitting the declining audience for Obama pressers with the other two networks, but perhaps they are worried that most of their prime-time audience has no idea which channel MS-NBC is on.
Don’t expect the networks to keep playing along with Obama on prime-time pressers. They’ve been more than kind to him thus far in his presidency, and maybe during the summer they won’t mind bumping reruns, but he’s not special enough any longer to hold viewer interest. Splitting what little interest remains three ways won’t be much more attractive than splitting it four ways. The other broadcasters can use this event to feel superior to Fox for one night, and then use the precedent to take a pass on the future requests.
Blowback
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…but all the networks bleeding viewers and cash line up to drool on his shoes.
Vashta.Nerada on April 27, 2009 at 5:27 PM
So will they broadcast it or will they not?
radiofreevillage on April 27, 2009 at 5:28 PM
Really, it is the same show, with a more accurate title.
Vashta.Nerada on April 27, 2009 at 5:28 PM
The fact that they are airing “Lie to Me” instead is just beautiful.
bj1126 on April 27, 2009 at 5:28 PM
“Hey, isn’t that the channel with the loud obnoxious guy?”
“Which one?”
“All of them.”
Snowed In on April 27, 2009 at 5:28 PM
You guys are way too fast!
bj1126 on April 27, 2009 at 5:28 PM
Yeah!! At least one network with some common sense and the BALLS to act on it! I am tired of Obambi on the tv screen…
catlady on April 27, 2009 at 5:29 PM
How will anyone know the difference?
Daggett on April 27, 2009 at 5:29 PM
Genius!
No one can stomach too much of anything for too long. It will be a ratings bonanza for FOX.
ericdijon on April 27, 2009 at 5:29 PM
What is so magic about “the first 100 days”, anyway? All this is, is a wistful reliving of the Kennedy years by a kneepad media.
O’bama’s bigger than The Beatles now. Yeah, yeah, teah.
Del Dolemonte on April 27, 2009 at 5:31 PM
Or, alternatively, they are worried that their prime time audience will turn to MSNBC, and be so disgusted that they abandon both channels for good.
Vashta.Nerada on April 27, 2009 at 5:31 PM
It’s about time someone says NO to the Dear Leader unreality show.
Ratings are cratering anyway.
wildcat84 on April 27, 2009 at 5:31 PM
I “heart” FOXNews.
And can we all just enjoy a simple chuckle at the dismay this must have caused in the West Wing?
gopmom on April 27, 2009 at 5:31 PM
LOL… Yep, Fox has a business reason for its decision… It’s called American Idol. Of course, NBC (not so much because the channel sucks) will carry the presser in its entirety because it probably draws more than the entire NBC primetime lineup combined.
Illinidiva on April 27, 2009 at 5:32 PM
It would be hilarious if the ratings for “Lie To Me” shot through the roof on this one occasion.
Daggett on April 27, 2009 at 5:32 PM
Thanks Fox, bho is on the tube several times a day, and you not giving him prime time makes me know why I watch your channel. I would not watch him, he gets muted. I get all I need to know at HA, MM.
L
letget on April 27, 2009 at 5:32 PM
It’s not Dear Leader. Do not demean him by suggesting he take someone else’s nickname. It is Our Historic President! Didn’t you get the memo?
bj1126 on April 27, 2009 at 5:33 PM
Wait… Maybe they ARE going to air The One after all, isn’t that what he’s going to do?
I can imagine the calls to Fox from the Imperial White Palace are sounding like… “But we WON the election…”
That seems to be the ONLY answer they have when cornered.
wildcat84 on April 27, 2009 at 5:33 PM
Wish I was a Nielsen family, if only for one night.
Wethal on April 27, 2009 at 5:34 PM
Heh.
I don’t care if other networks feel superior to FOX this night so long as they follow its lead next time. This constant campaigning is disgusting.
Esthier on April 27, 2009 at 5:34 PM
I bet TOTUS is pissed……….
……… that teleprompter really likes “Lie to Me“.
It reminds him of work…….
Seven Percent Solution on April 27, 2009 at 5:34 PM
Bow down before Zod!
eforhan on April 27, 2009 at 5:34 PM
Out foxed again, Fox’s ratings will dominate in that time slot.
The other networks will have to share the viewer for that sad sack POS.
TheSitRep on April 27, 2009 at 5:34 PM
Wow a major network refusing to air the biggest celebrity ego that has ever existed. Finally, a network remembered that they are a business and can’t be giving away hundreds of million of dollars and stay in business. This must mean that his (Obamas) numbers are awful. Wonder what he’s going to do to Fox in retaliation.
Tommy_G on April 27, 2009 at 5:34 PM
I’m sure there will be no problems the next time Fox stations need to renew their broadcast license.
Mark1971 on April 27, 2009 at 5:36 PM
i think other networks will be quietly envious that FOX is making such a brilliantly shrewd move. nice work FOX!
cpr on April 27, 2009 at 5:36 PM
I’ll turn Lie to me on my TV just to boost Fox’s ratings that night. I don’t want to see or hear what TOTUS has to say.
Brat4life on April 27, 2009 at 5:37 PM
“My approval ratings would be higher if it wasn’t for Fox News…….I won Fox news, remember” Obama
deidre on April 27, 2009 at 5:37 PM
LOL!
Sanjoboy on April 27, 2009 at 5:37 PM
They won’t get any of the newspaper and television bailout money in TARP XII.
Vashta.Nerada on April 27, 2009 at 5:37 PM
About as relevant as the MSM’s trumpeting during the Bush administration of the 1000th death a serviceman in Iraq, or the 2000th, etc. As one military commenter stated, every death is an equally tragic loss. They don’t look for “milestones.”
Wethal on April 27, 2009 at 5:37 PM
Whoa…
ABC airs a LOST re-cap last week, so they can move the series through “sweeps week”…and now they’re gonna air this media love-fest???
I swear, if I wasn’t so invested in that show, Id boycott it.
JetBoy on April 27, 2009 at 5:38 PM
Obama has already done more prime time shows in 100 days it seems than Bush AND Clinton did in 16 years….
Certainly FAR more than in the same period. If the Feds want to argue that the broadcast networks should air the President, they can with respect to certain emergencies, etc.
But to argue that it can happen FREQUENTLY (as in more than once a month) and on demand, they are arguing that the broadcasters are obligated to become “All El Presidente, ALL THE TIME” which would never pass constitutional muster
wildcat84 on April 27, 2009 at 5:38 PM
I think NBC was going to run a rerun of “Law and Order.” No big revenue loss there.
Wethal on April 27, 2009 at 5:39 PM
I have a special channel on my TV just for Obama, the ‘OFF’ channel.
Skandia Recluse on April 27, 2009 at 5:39 PM
99% of America would respond with, “What the hell is MSNBC?”
amerpundit on April 27, 2009 at 5:39 PM
Good … one less channel for his filthy lies and propaganda to air on.
darwin on April 27, 2009 at 5:39 PM
Fox didn’t get to choose what show Obama would be running against. So can we now just admit there’s a God, and that He has a sense of humor?
Immolate on April 27, 2009 at 5:41 PM
I like that “Lie to me” show. In fact, I’d like to see a “lie expert” comment on both Barry and his dorky errand boy Gibbs.
anniekc on April 27, 2009 at 5:42 PM
Wethal on April 27, 2009 at 5:43 PM
Are you serious? We’ll be missing Lost for this? I was so annoyed when watching that recap last week. It’s been great this season.
Esthier on April 27, 2009 at 5:44 PM
Fox could show “Battle Field Earth” during Obama’s deal and wipe the floor with all the other networks combined.
TheSitRep on April 27, 2009 at 5:46 PM
I seem to remember the networks refusing to air some of Bush’s new conferences. And isn’t this sweeps period?
If CBS doesn’t air regular programming I’ll check out Fox’s show – even though I have 4 TiVos.
Gawd, could we go ONE DAY without seeing the nitwit in chief on TV? Just one day is all I ask for.
Has he spent even one day in the White House?
darwin-t on April 27, 2009 at 5:48 PM
wildcat84 on April 27, 2009 at 5:48 PM
IT’S 100 DAYS!!
Any other president and the fawning press wouldn’t give a “rats azz”. It’s a little embarrassing to see the press treat Obama like this is some major achievement. I mean, weren’t there 43 presidents that came before him? What’s next, is the Obama Press Agency going to say “What a big boy, you are!”
pjean on April 27, 2009 at 5:48 PM
Well, like I said…ABC put that recap show in there to push the show into sweeps.
OK, the show is on at 9pm (Eastern, here) so if this little “to do” is over before then, and it better be…we’ll be OK.
JetBoy on April 27, 2009 at 5:50 PM
The only way I could sit through a one-hour show featuring Obama is if it was “100 Days of Obama – The Blooper Reels”. A ratings bonanza for a gutsy network.
sherry on April 27, 2009 at 5:51 PM
As I mentioned in another section, this really does not surprise me. I cannot recall when Fox ever preempted regularly scheduled programming . . . unless it’s something major like the State of the Union.
eaglescout1998 on April 27, 2009 at 5:51 PM
Says you. That’d be beyond the pale.
Snowed In on April 27, 2009 at 5:52 PM
You don’t remember Obama paying Fox to delay the World Series?
Snowed In on April 27, 2009 at 5:53 PM
NBC is pretty much the bitch in relation to MSNBC.
Speedwagon82 on April 27, 2009 at 5:53 PM
Keeping Lie To Me on instead of broadcasting Barry’s “I Luv Me” presser is just too perfect, and expect the usual Moonbats to go apesh*t over this, making it into some Rupert Murdoch conspiracy.
William Teach on April 27, 2009 at 5:57 PM
True, but Obama is demanding free air time (for the third time since he was sworn in.)
Wethal on April 27, 2009 at 5:57 PM
Yeah,they’ll feel superior until they get the ratings and find that everyone tuned into FOX.
GarandFan on April 27, 2009 at 5:59 PM
MSNBC is so far behind the others in my liberal neck of the woods, that it’s 80 channels above fox news buried in with a bunch of other channels I don’t ever even think of looking for . . . CNN and CNBC are right next to Fox.
PastorJon on April 27, 2009 at 5:59 PM
Yeah, the World Series thing was my first real inkling of this guy’s unbelievable hubris.
Will this really only be the third time he has foisted himself on an uninterested public via free prime time air time? Seems like more than that . . .
califcon on April 27, 2009 at 6:00 PM
Enjoy the choices while you can, a year from now every station will show Obowa’s speeches and the chip in your tv set will let Skynet know whether or not you have tuned in as required.
Bishop on April 27, 2009 at 6:01 PM
Oh, I can so see what’s going to happen then. They’ll air Lost, but Obama will run long, so everyone who records the show will miss the last five or ten (hopefully not more) minutes that always show you some game changer.
This happens every time. I work at a company that compiles schedule information, and we try to work around it, but we can’t predict the future.
Esthier on April 27, 2009 at 6:02 PM
Well Ed, Fox usually likes for its network to not just deliver news about catastrophes that hit the US. SOmetimes they opt for the positive and uplifting stories as well.
I guess this one just didn’t fit the latter.
Besides, there’ll be enough mutual mastubatory effluvia on all the other cable channels…. which… means… SOS on those channels anyway.
44Magnum on April 27, 2009 at 6:03 PM
The mandatory change over to digital comes to mind.
/
thomasaur on April 27, 2009 at 6:05 PM
Better acting and a more realistic story line.
jdkchem on April 27, 2009 at 6:05 PM
Fox should run color bars instead.
Mark1971 on April 27, 2009 at 6:06 PM
Now that you mention it, I do remember reading about that. But I live in California. Obama’s infomercial didn’t air until after the game was over.
But I was actually referring to a network interrupting regularly scheduled programming for a breaking news event. The Big Three do this all the time, but I rarely — if ever — see it on Fox. Case in point: On 9/11, almost every channel was having news coverage. Our local Fox affiliate was airing a re-run of Judge Judy.
eaglescout1998 on April 27, 2009 at 6:06 PM
It,s about time Fox stood up for a change.I was begining to wonder about them.
thmcbb on April 27, 2009 at 6:07 PM
As long as there are tools who so willingly and deeply drink from the National Ritalin Tube the worthless pap that’s passed off as entertainment will continue to flow…
barton on April 27, 2009 at 6:09 PM
wonder how long it will be before HE tries some stunt to pressure the networks to air HIS face?
Hope he doesn’t take his anger out on TOTUS.
poppieseeds on April 27, 2009 at 6:09 PM
Bravo Fox . . . Obama is getting very tiresome, not to mention the fact that he’s screwing up prime time programing. The guy spends more time on television than a test pattern,
rplat on April 27, 2009 at 6:10 PM
When will Fox get the stones needed to not cover Obama prime time ego-festivals on either of their networks ?
It can’t come too soon.
Right_of_Attila on April 27, 2009 at 6:12 PM
I wonder if a Fox reporter will be on the list of “approved questioners.” Obama has included them so far (had to show he wasn’t afraid of them).
We can at least count on Tapper to come through with a good one, though, assuming he makes it on the One’s list.
Wethal on April 27, 2009 at 6:13 PM
I love NewsCorp.
Stickeehands on April 27, 2009 at 6:14 PM
It’s still technically news. It wouldn’t make sense for Fox New to leave it alone.
Esthier on April 27, 2009 at 6:14 PM
Good for them.
Terrye on April 27, 2009 at 6:18 PM
I imagine Shep will be pounding the table with his shoe.
RandyChandler on April 27, 2009 at 6:19 PM
… The guy spends more time on television than a test pattern,
rplat on April 27, 2009 at 6:10 PM
He’s quite a bit less interesting, though.
mr.blacksheep on April 27, 2009 at 6:21 PM
Dang, where are my glasses?
mr.blacksheep on April 27, 2009 at 6:21 PM
Everything is magical to the one in office. For the rest of us? Not so much.
We have a policy where I work. We only send out mass emails if the subject matter is newsworthy or important. That way when people DO get email from us they know it’s worth reading. If we bombarded them with every little thing people wanted us to send pretty soon no one would read mail from us at all. Maybe the administration needs to follow suit.
scalleywag on April 27, 2009 at 6:26 PM
Meh. It’s not that impressive a move by Fox. What’s the point of having a dedicated news entity if you’re going to pre-empt your own network programming to broadcast “news” – and I use the term loosely. It just makes sense.
How many people will tune it just to see if TOTUS finally blows a circuit and leaves Obama fumbling like a kid giving a report on a book he never read?
landshark on April 27, 2009 at 6:29 PM
When it comes time for a state of the union address people will think it’s a rerun.
scalleywag on April 27, 2009 at 6:31 PM
That’s a reality show I’d pay to see.
wildcat84 on April 27, 2009 at 6:34 PM
One of the reasons it is easy for the Fox affiliates to not air the obasm orgasm fest is the fact that fox doesn’t have a national news show on the affiliates like the other 3 networks. It just has the local news shows. Whereas the other 3 networks have all that overhead in the News Division and they relish pre-empting the prime time entertainment empire to put their peeps on the tv to then masturbate to our chosen leader. Again, I quit watching network news about 2 decades ago. Once the old dinosaurs retired that dominated the nation back prior to cable retired, I never did get into any of their replacement talking heads. I think we can blame that anchor dude who went with the forged Bush military paperwork for me finally saying, enough already!!! I almost can’t even stand the Fox News Channel 6 pm program, too much Obama.
karenhasfreedom on April 27, 2009 at 6:42 PM
One less station carrying the teleprompter seance.
tarpon on April 27, 2009 at 6:42 PM
Fixed
jgapinoy on April 27, 2009 at 6:47 PM
Will finally check out “Lie to Me” instead of the non-stop Obamafest.
Branch Rickey on April 27, 2009 at 6:48 PM
.
+1. Amen!
JeffVader on April 27, 2009 at 6:53 PM
“The First 100 Whiffs”
Not suitable for Fox viewers.
fogw on April 27, 2009 at 6:53 PM
Alternate programming idea: One hour of Ed Morrissey recapping the best of “the one’s” obamateurisms.
Make up! We need some powder over here for Mr. Morrissey’s head, please. No, a little more please.
SKYFOX on April 27, 2009 at 6:57 PM
It’s also good business practice, @ $10 million dollars of ad revenue lost during that time period (which also affects the bottom lines of the affiliates).
I seem to recall that Fox is one of the few networks that is not losing money (or ratings share) right now?
2nd Ammendment Mother on April 27, 2009 at 6:58 PM
Lie to Me — on every channel!
Christian Conservative on April 27, 2009 at 7:00 PM
Brilliant move by Fox.
Key West Reader on April 27, 2009 at 7:01 PM
Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal is one of the few papers doing ok, too. Heh.
Wethal on April 27, 2009 at 7:02 PM
I want to see the ratings afterwards…let’s see just how popular the “one” is when the liberals do not control the “poll” results..
unseen on April 27, 2009 at 7:41 PM
maybe BHO will buzz NYC and LA for his 100day celebration?
unseen on April 27, 2009 at 7:42 PM
BRAVO FOX….
Good move by the network…
IntheNet on April 27, 2009 at 7:52 PM
Good for Fox. I’d say 80% of the country has had quite enough of looking at Obama’s mug and hearing that faux-black preacher oratory coming from the prompter.
ddrintn on April 27, 2009 at 7:56 PM
I’m tellin’ ya — I really, really want Obama to try to preempt the American Idol season finale. Rioting in the streets, baby!!! I’m pretty sure the yoots would demand his immediate impeachment.
aero on April 27, 2009 at 7:57 PM
Count me in the 80%. Thanks FOX
hillbilly on April 27, 2009 at 8:01 PM
I am a child of the 80′s. Of what used to be the big three, I took a liking to the late Peter Jennings.
eaglescout1998 on April 27, 2009 at 8:06 PM
My respect for Fox has grown ten-fold.
Birdseye on April 27, 2009 at 8:18 PM
I’d rather watch an hour worth of “This is a Test of The Emergency Broadcast System” than That One.
Caper29 on April 27, 2009 at 8:18 PM
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