NBC’s Flip-Flop: Will Carry Debate

NBC, which last week cited its Olympics telecasts as the reason it wouldn’t join ABC and CBS in providing live coverage of the first presidential debate Sept. 25, unexpectedly changed its mind Tuesday.

In a decision that could cost the network millions of dollars in advertising revenue, NBC said it now will interrupt its prime-time Olympics telecasts to carry the 90-minute debate between George Bush and Michael Dukakis, then return to its Olympics program for an update and resumption of live coverage from Seoul, South Korea.

NBC originally had said it would tape the debate and air it at 2:05 a.m. EDT after its Sept. 25 Olympic telecasts ended. The prime-time portion of the day’s broadcast would have covered track, cycling, swimming, basketball and boxing events.

NBC President Robert C. Wright disclosed his network’s change of heart in a prepared statement but gave no specific reason for the change, saying only:

“There is no more important news story than selecting the President of the United States and there is no more important event than staging the 24th Olympiad. What to do? NBC has a rare opportunity to provide our viewers both--the debate and the Olympics. We shall do just that.”

The network previously had said that as long ago as July, 1987, it had warned those planning the debate that it would not preempt its Olympics coverage to carry debate coverage live in prime time.

In a brief interview Tuesday, NBC News President Michael Gartner said that he discussed the matter Monday morning with Wright, and the latter decided to reverse NBC’s position and show the first debate live.

“I thought it was a very gutsy, classy action, and he did it,” said Gartner, a former newspaper executive who became head of NBC News last month.

He said Wright’s decision could mean a potential revenue loss of $8 million from advertisers who had bought time as sponsors of the Olympics show on the night of Sept. 25, “which makes his decision all the more tough and gutsy.”

“It probably could have been,” Gartner said when asked why the decision wasn’t made until Monday, rather than last week when the date of the first debate was announced. “But I suppose we were wrapped up in other things.”

NBC paid $300 million for rights to air the Olympics, and is spending another $140 million for production facilities and production costs.