Re: It was a no-brainer for NBC, actually

[Dib9@aol.com]

I disagree.  NBC could have cut away and returned to the movie within 10 
minutes without viewers missing anything.  Hasn't everyone seen Titanic by 
now anyway?

I wonder if NBC provided a live feed and allowed affiliates to cut away as 
they did in the case of the debate and the baseball playoff game in October.

My view is that it is not inappropriate for networks to decide to cut back on 
the coverage of staged political events like the convention and the debates 
when coverage is available elsewhere.  For example, I would have run the 
baseball playoff game instead of the first debate because every other network 
was carrying the debate.  

In this case, the certification was breaking news and people watching Titanic 
would only know what's happening if NBC provided the news.

I believe NBC and the other networks did provide live coverage of the 
announcement of the Florida Supreme Court ruling on Tuesday night.  I would 
judge tonight's certification to be of greater importance than that event.

I bet NBC does not carry Bush's remarks at 9:30.  It will be interesting to 
see what the other networks do.  They did not carry Lieberman's remarks live, 
though CBS showed most of Leiberman's remarks later during 60 minutes.

-- Dan Billings, Bowdoinham, Maine