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October 15, 2020 9:02 am  #1


Two Townhall's Tonight at Same Time. NBC Taking Some Heat

NBC is being criticized for scheduling Donald Trump's townhall at the same time as Joe Biden's on ABC.  Even though most viewers with today's technology, if they want, will be able to watch both programs. NBC is still taking heat, for reducing two important events into a ratings battle with counter programming.

Critics claim that NBC could have easy scheduled the Trump townhall at a different time or day.  Tom Jones (no not that one) writes about why NBC should be held to account for this...or is it really no big whoop??
https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2020/nbc-is-taking-heat-for-holding-a-trump-town-hall-at-the-same-time-abc-will-hold-one-with-biden/

 

October 15, 2020 1:41 pm  #2


Re: Two Townhall's Tonight at Same Time. NBC Taking Some Heat

My guess is that NBC didn't have a choice. I'm speculating here, but I'm sure the Trump crew deliberately chose the same time slot to blunt Biden having prime time to himself. I suspect his people would have refused to do it otherwise. It's all about political games on both sides.

It will be interesting to see who wins in the ratings - although if it's not The Donald, you can be sure he'll be boasting about how he won anyway. (Remember the "biggest inauguration crowd in history" claim?)

Personally, I hope CBS or Fox wins the night and leaves them both in the dust. The former is showing an episode of Big Brother. The latter has the Dodgers/Braves baseball playoff game.

--------- 

Off topic, but worth noting.

While I've never seen a single episode of Big Brother and have no intention of ever watching it, last week I was recording a show that immediately followed it. That's when I noticed that they actually had a credit at the very end that indicated "Big Brother" has no relationship to George Orwell's estate or the book "1984." 

Really? I would never have guessed. But you gotta love the crazy legal niceties that make this kind of idiotic announcement necessary.

Kind of like the time years ago that I bought a container of peanuts at Hy & Zel's. Printed plainly on the package, was a label that read "Peanuts." And directly underneath was another notice that read, "Warning: may contain traces of peanuts." CYA writ large - even if it was in small print.

 

October 15, 2020 4:52 pm  #3


Re: Two Townhall's Tonight at Same Time. NBC Taking Some Heat

In a typically outrageous move, Trump has openly ridiculed NBC, his host network, for letting him do the Town Hall at all! 

Donald Trump Attacks NBC As “The Worst” & Mocks Savannah Guthrie As Network Slammed Over Dueling Town Halls

Meanwhile, a ton of NBC stars have criticized their own network in a public letter for putting both shows on at the same time. You can read their missive here.

I can't recall anything quite like this involving two major American networks ever happening before. Whoever you support in this strange event, what a bizarre time we're living in!

 

October 15, 2020 5:24 pm  #4


Re: Two Townhall's Tonight at Same Time. NBC Taking Some Heat

torontostan wrote:

I think the real controversy is that Trump backed out of the debate simulcast on all US networks, so Biden's team figured they might as well do another town hall with a broadcaster they haven't done one with yet. Then Trump turns around and does the same thing, even though he was the one who backed out of the debate. They will both cut into each others ratings, and one could argue that people will be less informed than if they both participated in a debate. 
NBC picking a different time is the least they could've done, it's less about scheduling it at the same time as ABC's, and more about why any broadcaster should reward someone for refusing to debate. 
NBC deserves the heat. 

Correction: Trump did not back out of the debate. The debate commission, after previously using "it is too late to change anything" as an explanation for refusing to change any of the parameters, unilaterally changed the parameters of the debate and declared it would be held "virtually". That is called moving the goalposts during the game. Trump made it perfectly clear that he was prepared to hold the debate as originally conceived. So effectively, the debate was cancelled, and an alternative was developed and offered without consultation of the participants, and this offer was declined.

 

October 16, 2020 9:59 am  #5


Re: Two Townhall's Tonight at Same Time. NBC Taking Some Heat

For what it's worth, according to Newsweek, at the end of Trump's Townhall meeting, the NBC News youtube channel showed 153,660 viewers were watching. ABC News's youtube channel showed 507,445 viewers at the end of Biden's Townhall. I would imagine TVline will have the Neilsen numbers later today.

 

October 18, 2020 11:50 pm  #6


Re: Two Townhall's Tonight at Same Time. NBC Taking Some Heat

To be fair NBC had a Biden town hall the week before and ABC had a Trump town hall on September 15th. There was equal opportunity to watch both candidates on both networks in the last month.