Obama Does Primetime: Political Gold or Has Hollywood Been Sold?

After an almost three-week wait, sources have confirmed that ABC will not air Barack Obama's half hour ad tomorrow October, 29th. The news comes after the Obama campaign purchased thirty minutes on NBC, CBS and Fox for almost $1 million per network. The ad will air less than a week before the election and the day before the start of the November sweep. The purchase of a national primetime ad is a unique choice on the Obama camp's part and also a decision that has stirred some controversy in the television industry and over on McCain's side of town. I have to wonder, in the wake of accusations of being too much of a celebrity and too little of a public servant, will it really help Obama to put his face on primetime television instead of visiting swing states? Furthermore, what is the ethical duty of the T.V. networks? and have they been bought out by a politician? Perhaps Obama needs to get off of primetime and spend more time on a personal level with the voters that could affect his election most.

The Obama camp seems to think the buy is a vital move for the Senator's campaign. The purchase is a smart move on Obama's part, Larry Sabato, a political analyst and director of the Center of Politics at the University of Virginia said, "Obama's theme is not just change but unity, so he's appealing to the whole nation, rather than just a handful of tossup states," Sabato said. "He wants to win the popular vote by a good margin." In attempts to address the whole nation, this year has also been the year of national broadcast TV advertisements on behalf of both parties, with Obama purchasing $5 million dollars worth of ads during the Summer Olympics telecasts, and McCain purchasing about $6 million. But the shift away from homegrown campaigning in swing states, right before the elections may be a gamble for Obama. It seems that after the presidential debates the nation should be familiar with his policies and that Obama would benefit more by concentrating his efforts on the states that need some extra persuasion. Furthermore, it is interesting that Obama has chosen to buy primetime minutes instead of clustering ads around local news, as is the more conventional wisdom. Obama seems confident in this decision, as he has poured about 40 percent of his TV cash into primetime.

With three large networks airing the ad, there has been large speculation about why ABC is left out of the mix. Has the network felt some tinge or moral obligation to offer viewers both sides and therefore declined the million dollars? Is it confident that its primetime show Pushing Daisies will defeat Obama in viewers? An ABC spokeswoman told the TV Column yesterday, "We were in discussion with the Obama campaign and had offered them the half-hour, but at this point that's not happening and Pushing Daisies will air in it's regular time slot." ABC has also begun airing ads telling viewers, "Wednesday night you have a choice--get political with the other networks," or watch a new episode of Pushing Daisies at 8p.m. But let's be honest, Pushing Daisies doesn't stand a chance and there seems to be an undertone of bitterness coming from ABC, who seems to have lost a lucrative opportunity.

But whatever the reasoning behind ABC's dismissal, one thing remains, Obama will have domination of the 8 o'clock hour tomorrow night. The buy will move CBS's comedy The New Adventures of Old Christine to 8:30 p.m. and NBC will probably throw in an 8:30 comedy repeat in lieu of the hour long "Knight Rider" which usually airs from 8 to 9 p.m. My real interest is to see how Obama will use his half hour of primetime. Speculation has arisen from many arenas, including "Saturday Night Live," which has already created a mock ad in which Barrack and Michelle Obama host a thirty minute variety show, complete with Bill Clinton and Nancy Pelosi. Many viewers, including myself, may tune in just to see how Obama can fill a half an hour...but then again we all know politicians can talk.

While Obama's $3 million dollar purchases have garnered attention, they have also reignited arguments over Obama's decision to reject public financing of his presidential run. In reality, Obama is at greater liberty to make such large purchases late in the game because of his rejection of public financing-- a move Sen. McCain has criticized. McCain told ABC News "World News" anchor Charlie Gibson in an interview on Thursday, "He wrote down on a piece of paper that he would take public financing for his presidential campaign if I would. He betrayed the trust of the American people there." Though all three networks have said they would offer McCain the same amount of time at the same price, it is unlikely that McCain would have the budget to purchase this time because of the restrictions within his public financing campaign. Knowing this, are CBS, NBC and Fox acting upon a bias by accepting Obama's offer? If they know McCain cannot afford their airtime are they purposely promoting only one candidate? Most likely, this is yet another case in the entertainment industry in which money talks, and talks so loudly that it drowns out other influences.

Ultimately it is obvious that Obama's primetime purchase will offer him more exposure and a chance to speak to the American people without interruption. The question that remains is whether or not this TV appearance will increase the public's trust or whether it will portray him as a glossy actor that has bought his airtime. And in the end, loyal fans of "The New Adventures of Old Christine" and "Knight Rider," will probably be cranky that some politician took their weekly joy away. Everyone knows new TV episodes are more important than new Presidents.

An Entertainment Blog Treasure Hunt: The Search for Industry Gems

This week I decided to treat my self to some scholarly fun and navigate the world wide web in search of outstanding and interesting Entertainment Industry blogs. Using the Webby and ISMA criteria, I discovered twenty blogs that piqued my interest and covered the industry in thorough and entertaining ways. In choosing my favorite blogs I considered content, structure, aesthetics, and interactivity. I have added these blogs to my link roll to provide my readers with outside references that will supplement the entries on my blog and I also thought it would be appropriate to evaluate each link in an entry. Primarily I decided to consider general news sources in my search and found what I believe to be the most relevant Entertainment sources in CNN, and World News. CNN focuses on celebrities, movies and TV and succeeds in entertaining the reader with easy to access videos and subcategories within the entertainment industry. I wish, however, that the site provided a little more content, the page seems to be slightly empty. World News on the other hand provides an incredible amount of content, at the risk of being overwhelming. It's points of information are marked by images and divided into very specific categories and I almost feel as if I am shopping for information.

In addition to news sources featuring entertainment news, several news sites feature blogs from their own reporters and contributors. I found these blogs especially interesting and relevant because I knew they were coming from very informed sources- writers who spend all day in the business. The first of this type of blog that I found was the Chicago Tribune's "The Watcher" written by Maureen Ryan. The blog offers an in-depth look into every TV show imaginable and I have to wonder how Maureen can function as a normal person while watching the tube as much as she does. A more logical person might assume that other people watch the shows for her and Maureen reports. I on the other hand, for amusement's sake, prefer to picture her glued to her TV set. The next such blog that I found was Entertainment Weekly's "Pop Watch" which successfully covers music, TV and pop culture. I found the blog to be a little random at times but I thought the aesthetics and layout of the blog were able to engage the reader very well. James Hibberd's, a reporter for the Hollywood Reporter, definitely lacks engaging aesthetics in his blog "The Live Feed," but manages to make up for it with his impressive content. His entries are academic and feature a multitude of outside sources that are very helpful. CNBC's Julia Boorstin also offers a very academic look at the Entertainment Industry in her blog "Media Money."I decided to add this blog to my link roll specifically to give my readers a different angle on Hollywood.

Boorstin's blog is interesting because it focuses on entertainment from a business perspective and is impressively updated several times a day. Time Magazine reporter James Poniewozik also blogs at the speed of light on his blog "Tuned In." The site is very aesthetically pleasing with great use of images and a simple format but i found Poniewozik's entry titles to be too obscure and unhelpful. The Huffington Post's Entertainment blog presents an array of images and somewhat lacking "quick reads" to accompany the pictures. Though obviously a well informed and interesting site I was left wanting more information. Finally, I found USA Today reporter Whitney Matheson's blog "Pop Candy," which aims to take a hip approach at the industry. Matheson, seen right, presents loads of interesting content but loses the reader in her blog's boring and almost unprofessional layout. Unfortunately in Matheson's case hip translated to amateur.

Finally, my blogosphere treasure hunt led me to many independent blogs about the Entertainment Industry. Best Week Ever, a website accompanying VH1's hit show "Best Week Ever" presents readers with a hilarious confection of pop culture news and commentary about the Entertainment Industry but also lacks a certain level of legitimacy. Buzz Sugar also lacks a certain level of seriousness but presents readers with tons of content on a wide range of topics in the TV and film industry. The site is also very easy to view and navigate unlike Deadline Hollywood Daily which overloads readers with text and is lacking aesthetically. In stark contrast to that is Jeffrey Wells' blog Hollywood Elsewhere which presents professional and easy to read entries and is bolstered by Wells' academic and sarcastic tone. The Hollywood Wiretap throws all other blog layouts aside and offers a distinct, all text-headline esque take on blogging. Though the text can be overhwhelming at first, the blog is full of important content and refreshingly different. Movie City News, a blog claiming to be Hollywood's homepage, gives readers an in-depth look into the movie industry and narrow focus benefits the reader as impressive content is produced. The blog layout and design seems dated though and even makes the entries feel as if they lack timeliness. Reality Blurred's web page also appears outdated but once past the initial reaction the site offers a hilarious take on the television industry and offers well-researched posts. The Hollywood Reporter's website which accompanies the Hollywood Reporter magazine is also a very valuable source that covers every aspect of the industry from film to technology to the world to television to finance and to music. The site is not the easiest to navigate but surely offers more relevant content than most of the other blogs on my link roll. Finally, TV Newser offers interesting information with statistics and graphs revealing how network ratings fall daily. The blog offers an interesting angle and is impressively professional.

In addition to the scholarly news sources and interesting independent blogs I discovered, I also included two informal gossip blogs on my linkroll in order to put into context the character of Hollywood culture and the sensational stories that surround celebrities daily.

The primary site I included is Perez Hilton, written by Perez Hilton, seen left, a site that has become infamous and hugely popular for its celebrity bashing and gossip. Interestingly enough, the site also has breaking celebrity news, often before other sources, and has impressive observations, though informal, on the industry. Another similar blog is Defamer which comically comments on celebrity culture and happenings. Overall, my finding this week offered an interesting look into the entertainment world that left me informed but also looking for more.