NBC News to Cover Conventions Only on 2 Days

NBC News released coverage plans Thursday for the Republican and Democratic national conventions that could push President Clinton’s speech at the Democratic event off the NBC broadcast network and instead relegate it to the less widely available cable channel MSNBC.

MSNBC will extensively cover the four-day conventions, which the Republicans will convene in Philadelphia on July 31 and the Democrats will convene in Los Angeles on Aug. 14. But the NBC network--making official what it earlier hinted at--said it will limit live coverage to just one hour each Wednesday and 90 minutes each Thursday, when the nominees are scheduled to give their acceptance speeches.

Clinton is expected to speak during the Democratic convention Aug. 14.

White House spokesman Jake Siewert said, “Americans who want to hear the president’s speech at the Democratic convention will have ample opportunity to do so, and we have long since learned that second-guessing network news decisions is pointless and not to mention fruitless.”

Democrats have not released their convention schedule. But at the GOP gathering, the network coverage would miss speeches by retired Army Gen. Colin L. Powell, Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former presidential candidate Elizabeth Hanford Dole.

The NBC broadcast coverage would include the speeches by the vice presidential nominees, which are expected on the Wednesday night of the convention week.

NBC News Vice President Bill Wheatley said NBC, which is integrating its cable, broadcast and Internet production teams for the first time, decided that the nominee speeches “were the two most important moments, in which the candidates get an opportunity to spell out their philosophies and plans for the country, and deserved coverage on the network.”

NBC said it could add broadcast coverage “as news events warrant.” Insiders said that added coverage might depend on what Clinton says. Wheatley said the plan “is to do Wednesday and Thursday, and as for the other two evenings, we’re fortunate at NBC that we can give our viewers a choice.”

NBC’s plans are generally in line with those of its broadcast rivals, which once covered the conventions gavel-to-gavel but in recent years have scaled back as viewer interest has waned and the highly scripted events have lost much of their suspense.

ABC, which does not have a cable news outlet, earlier announced slightly more coverage, including brief Monday reports and an hour each Tuesday.

CBS is expected to unveil its plans next week. Public television plans full coverage all four nights, as do CNN and Fox.