ABC: Wow, that HD feed looks like *ass*. Seriously, guys. I know this is your first dive into the whole “high definition news coverage” arena, but don’t have such a crap-tastic looking signal. I can’t watch this.
CBS:
Good looking feed, but Katie Couric’s on my 32″ Samsung. Next.
The 007 Man with the Golden Gun on dvd
NBC:
Now we’re talking. Best looking picture of the night, and good choice using the skybox rather than reporting from the floor like CBS and CNN. I understand ignoring McCaskill’s speech since you wanted to interview JFK’s spawn (and who really cares what Claire had to say anyway?) but WTF is with that standard definition camera at Ann Curry’s position? Shooting your most attractive attractive reporter with a substandard camera = genius.
CNN: Where to begin? First, enough with the invasion of the graphics. The “Gavel to Gavel” schedule on the right side of the screen was a nice touch at 5:00 PM, but at this point I really don’t need to know that John Legend performed live two hours ago. You can stick the remaining schedule down in your lower thirds, where you’re constantly scrolling the same “Convention Facts” that you were five hours ago while you also remind us that this is Day One of the convention; thanks, I’d forgotten already. Oh, and that damned “Sound from the Floor” fake VU meter on the left side: not only is it a stupid idea, but it doesn’t match up with either the podium microphone or the crowd noise level. Which means it was just put there to piss me off.
Furthermore, I understand CNN’s need for commentary rather than dry coverage; the latter is why God placed Brian Lamb on this planet. But don’t spend five minutes complaining about how the Democrats are blowing the evening’s program by putting on pointless speakers when you ignore every single one of them. Especially when you bitch that “you go from a moving Ted Kennedy tribute to Jim Leach” when Leach’s speech, a (admittedly dry and awkwardly delivered) stinging, accurate indictment of the problems in his own Republican Party was the most honest and relevant oration of the evening. That’s the message the Democrats wanted to send, and you ignored, Turners. And then criticized a lack of that message. Bra-frickin-vo, guys.
MSNBC, Fox News:
No HD? Next.
(Sidenote: I flipped over at the end, so I’m not sure, but there’s a chance that Fox News is the only network other than C-SPAN to carry any of Claire McCaskill’s speech. If so, kudos to them. But don’t need a single spinning graphic, much less two of them.) (Again, not that anyone cares about McCaskill, but still.)
CSPAN: If only you were in high def. Pity. Mr. Lamb’s network is still the best, with no commercials and no commentary – just the bare convention, with enough locator shots and close-ups of random, wacky-dressed delegates to give you the feel of the convention. If the various cable operators haven’t ponied up the cash by 2012 to give C-SPAN HD capability then I’ll be declaring jihad on each and every one of them (starting with Comcast and Charter, of course).