• by October 2, 2000

By Anya Khait

NBC switched gears on debate coverage Friday when it said that affiliates would have the choice of airing either a baseball playoff game or the first presidential debate Tuesday (Oct. 3).

Just over a week ago, the network announced it would carry just the game, citing its contractual obligation with Major League Baseball (which it stressed, the debate commission knew about well in advance of scheduling the debates).

But the network determined that it could offer the game as its primary feed and the debate as an alternate option as long as it makes its "best effort" to find live substitute carriage for the game (presumably over independent stations) in markets where NBC affiliates opt for the debate. It was unclear at press time how many NBC affiliates would take the debate and not the game.

"A lot of affiliates are very conflicted," said Alan Frank, president, the Post-Newsweek Stations and former chairman of the NBC Affiliate Board of Governors. "It's a close presidential race, it's the first debate and a lot of folks want to carry it, particularly those with strong news stations."

At Post-Newsweek, its NBC affiliate in Detroit, WDIV-TV will carry the debate live, while KPRC-TV Houston will carry the game, with taped-delayed coverage of the debate. FCC Commissioner Susan Ness publicly chastised NBC and Fox on Friday for choosing not to air one or more of the upcoming presidential debates.

"Surely television networks and their owned-and-operated stations can forgo profits from entertainment programming for an hour and a half to allow their viewers to see the leading candidates for our nation's top office debate the critical issues of the day," Ness said.

The Democratic commissioner reminded broadcasters that their free, licensed use of public spectrum comes with a public interest obligation. "It is hard to imagine what could be more in the public interest of American democracy than covering a presidential debate just weeks before the election," Ness said.

Concurrently with the above issue coming to the forefront, a recent survey by Digital Marketing Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of AOL, reveals that participation in election activities increases with age, noting the largest differences between older Americans 50 and older and 18 to 24-year-olds.

For instance, with the presidential debates only six days away, 71% of viewers age 50 and older plan to watch the debates, while only 41.4% of 18 to 24-year-olds plan on watching.

Additionally, 81% of those age 50 and older plan on voting in the upcoming presidential election compared with 49.3% of 18 to 24-year-olds. And, 82% of voters age 50 and older said they will participate in both local and state elections compared with 54.9% of younger Americans. Also, 87% of voters age 50 and older responded that they influence their peers to vote, while 62.8% of 18 to 24-year-olds responded that they influence their peers to vote.

- MediaP