politics delivers audiences, part deux

Following up on my earlier post about the smashing success of horse-race coverage for the cable “news” outlets, let me report to you the advice of Broadcasting & Cable to the networks. It’s simple: get in on the action.

But at a time when voters have turned out in record numbers in the first two primary states, broadcast news divisions have ceded live coverage to their cable brethren. Neither CBS nor NBC interrupted primetime schedules to air meaningful coverage of the Iowa caucuses or New Hampshire primaries. Granted, NBC News’ Brian Williams and Tim Russert held court on sister cable network MSNBC, but there they had to tolerate the sophomoric shenanigans of Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, et al.

Broadcasting & Cable singles out ABC for its coverage (and its performance):

ABC News has been the only broadcast network to step up to the plate. And viewers are paying attention. Back-to-back primetime debates on Saturday Jan. 5 attracted big audiences. More than 7 million people watched the Republican debate, and an impressive 9.36 million tuned in to the Democrats.

Get in on the action in order to salvage what remains of your reputation. That’s the advice I would give network news divisions. But what do I know?