Military TV, Television - Military Times

TV packed with inauguration coverage

WASHINGTON — By the end of Inauguration Day on Tuesday, even Barack Obama probably will have had enough of the TV coverage.

Some major networks will start before dawn and run late into the evening. Some of the cable stations plan to push into the wee hours of the next day.

Many niche networks will be on hand to bring their own perspective to coverage. For example, TV One, a cable and satellite network geared to African-American adults, will broadcast live from Washington, as will kids’ network Nickelodeon, which will have its youth correspondents on the story. Even shopping network QVC sees an opportunity to ply its trade amid the festivities.

The swearing-in is supposed to occur around noon. The parade begins around 2:30 p.m. The dozens of inaugural balls all over Washington begin around 8 p.m.

Here are some coverage highlights for Tuesday:

• CNN. Set the alarm. Coverage starts at 5 a.m. with a special edition of “American Morning” live from the National Mall. Aside from the occasional break for other news, CNN plans to cover and analyze events until 1 a.m. the next morning.

• ABC. A full day of coverage begins at 7 a.m. with “Good Morning America” and goes through the late evening with breaks for local news and possibly some other programming. Coverage of the events themselves — the swearing-in, the inaugural address and the parade — starts at 10 a.m.

• CBS. Starts coverage with the “Early Show” at 7 a.m. Main event coverage starts at 10 a.m.

• NBC. Advance coverage begins at 7 a.m. with the “Today Show” followed by live event coverage and a 10 p.m. special on the inaugural balls.

• MSNBC. Begins with a live broadcast from a popular Capitol Hill pub starting at 6 a.m. Live coverage of the inaugural events from the Mall begins at 10 a.m. and continues with follow-up analysis into early Wednesday.

• Fox News. Coverage begins 8:30 a.m. Event coverage goes from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Ball coverage follows through the evening.

• TV One. The network mainly aimed at a black audience plans a full day of inaugural programming including live and taped programs. Live coverage begins at 10 a.m. All events will be covered “with the special insights and context from an African-American perspective.”

• C-SPAN. The commercial-free network is planning 18 hours of meat-and-potatoes coverage beginning at 6 a.m. and ending with the inaugural balls.

• Nickelodeon. The kids’ network will feature short but frequent reports from Nickelodeon’s teen correspondents who will report live from Washington. Coverage will include a retrospective of past presidents taking the oath of office, an overview of Obama’s day including his swearing-in, speech, the parade down Pennsylvania Avenue and his arrival at the White House.

• MTV. The music and pop-culture-oriented network will be broadcasting live from Washington starting at 10 p.m. to celebrate the youth voter turnout in the 2008 election.

• QVC. The shopping network will broadcast live from inaugural events in Washington while hawking a number of Obama mementos such as coins, jewelry and paintings.