Networks Fret Over Extent of Trial Coverage

Soap operas, talk shows and college basketball games, or history in the making?

That’s the juggling act executives at ABC, CBS and NBC will perform beginning today as the Senate trial of President Clinton gets underway at 10 a.m. PST. It’s a process that has been made more complex by the little advance notice the Senate has given about what days and hours the trial will be in session.

The three broadcast networks say that they will be live at key moments in the trial, such as opening statements for both sides and crucial votes. If witnesses end up being called and their testimony is open to TV cameras, many of them also likely will be shown live because of the potential that they could bring new information to the debate, said Bill Wheatley, executive vice president at NBC News.

Beyond that, with little information from the Senate about how the trial will roll out, the decisions will have to be made minute by minute, as news warrants. “We’ll be on the air until we decide it’s not newsworthy anymore,” said Marcy McGinnis, vice president for news coverage at CBS News. “These are very difficult decisions to make” for an outlet that “serves a myriad of different audiences.” When not on the air with the trial, she said, CBS News will be ready to switch to it at a moment’s notice.

The decisions are not as difficult for cable news networks CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC. “We plan to offer as much of the trial as we can air,” said John Moody, news editorial vice president at Fox News Channel. “Because nobody knows how this is going to turn out, all you have to do is turn on the camera and make sure you’re in focus.” Other outlets offering extensive gavel-to-gavel trial coverage include C-SPAN2, cable network Court TV and PBS. Los Angeles’ KCET, Channel 28, plans to broadcast all PBS trial coverage.

At the broadcast networks, cutting into regular programming is a costly decision. Soap operas draw a dedicated audience and, combined with other daytime fare, can bring in several million dollars a day in revenue, substantial sums at a time when networks are facing economic constraints. If the trial continues on Saturdays, it could run up against the children’s shows that local stations are required to carry, as well as lucrative network sports coverage. Local stations also have to worry about foregone revenue from non-network shows they carry, such as “Oprah.”

And the Senate trial? It will be harder to wedge in commercials, ratings will be lower because so many other outlets will also offer trial coverage and many Americans have told poll takers that they are simply tired of the issue. But not offering live coverage of at least the crucial moments is not an option, according to network executives. “We have a responsibility,” said CBS’ McGinnis. “It’s a historic event.”

“Yes, there are many other outlets, but our sense is that this is pretty close to one of the most important things constitutionally the country can go through. And if we’re a legitimate news organization and consider ourselves to be of the highest quality then we have to provide the coverage,” said Robert Murphy, senior vice president for hard news at ABC News. “We don’t take a poll to see how many people want to watch before we make a decision.”

Not covering the trial at all would also mean ceding the news audience to cable, something that ABC and CBS are particularly reluctant to do in an era of intense competition. For NBC, the decision is easier because it can send its viewers to MSNBC, the cable news and talk channel it owns with Microsoft Corp.

Deciding how much coverage is warranted in an era in which gavel-to-gavel coverage is available elsewhere is more difficult, network executives said. “Before cable, when the broadcast networks were the only outlet, it was an easier call. You simply did it,” said Murphy.

“Today, what we have to provide is higher quality, deeper analysis--and give it the import that the story deserves and demands. But that doesn’t require going gavel to gavel.”

Some broadcast viewers may get more coverage: ABC and NBC will give their local stations full live coverage that the stations will have the option of carrying even when the network decides to return to its regular programs. CBS will provide stations with video and audio of the proceedings, without an anchor.

CNN expects to give over much of its schedule to trial coverage, wrapping highlights into evening newscasts, treating aspects of the issue in regular shows such as the legal issues program “Burden of Proof,” and broadcasting special reports. It also wants to find time for non-trial news, said Frank Sesno, senior vice president and Washington bureau chief for CNN. If there’s a second “enormous event,” he said, CNN will split its screen in two.

On radio, locally, National Public Radio outlet KCRW-FM plans gavel-to-gavel coverage. KFWB-AM and KNX-AM plan to carry highlights of the trial.

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Trial Dates

All times PST; some presentations may end sooner than estimated.

January

THURSDAY, 14: House presentation begins, 10 a.m.

FRIDAY, 15: House presentation continues, 10 a.m.

SATURDAY, 16: House presentation continues, 7 a.m.

SUNDAY, 17: No session

MONDAY, 18: No session (Martin Luther King Jr. Day)

TUESDAY, 19: White House presentation begins, 10 a.m.

WEDNESDAY, 20: White House presentation continues, 10 a.m.

THURSDAY, 21: White House presentation continues, 10 a.m.

FRIDAY, 22: Senate questions both sides, 10 a.m.

SATURDAY, 23: Senate questions both sides.

SUNDAY, 24: No session

MONDAY, 25: Senate considers witnesses, motions to dismiss

TUESDAY, 26 through SATURDAY, 30: Rest of this week will either be used for discovery or for closing arguments, depending witnesses, motions on senators’ votes taken Jan. 25