The presidential immigration address given Nov. 20 took a backseat to "Grey’s Anatomy," "The Big Bang Theory," "Vampire Diaries" and other popular prime-time TV shows. A few of the major networks — ABC, CBS and NBC — made the choice not to air the presidential address over these shows which started at 8 p.m. ET.
While these shows do generate millions of views every week and prime time on Thursdays generates a huge audience, major networks have an obligation to air presidential addresses like this recent one, which directly affects millions of people as well as the opinions of millions of potential voters whose votes could be affected by what President Barack Obama and Congress are doing now.
According to ABC News, when President George W. Bush gave an immigration address in 2006, it generated around the same number of viewers as the State of the Union address he did earlier that year, totaling somewhere near 41 million viewers. If the same were to have happened with Obama’s address, it would have been viewed by roughly 33.3 million people like his State of the Union address earlier in the year was. Instead, its viewership was described by USA Today as similar to that of "The Big Bang Theory": 14.6 million.
For a topic that is often found in the media and political spotlight, it did not make sense for some of the major networks that are available to all television viewers to abstain from airing it.
“... There can be a reluctance in executive suites if an anticipated address is seen as heavily political in nature,” David Bauder said in a Boston Globe article. This seems counter-intuitive considering that airing a presidential address is simply providing Americans with the opportunity to stay informed with issues that greatly affect them and could affect how they are treated. The immigration policies that Obama addressed in his speech could affect over 5 million people currently living in the U.S.
“The major broadcast networks generally carry presidential speeches on matters of national security and other important issues,” Brian Stelter said for CNN. The immigration address’ significance was compared to Obama’s last address at the beginning of the fall TV season. This speech, which addressed ISIS and considered national security, was given high importance. So why wouldn’t this speech also be considered an important national issue? These issues hit even closer to home considering they concern people who could be our friends and neighbors; they concern millions of people already in the U.S. and resources that need to be delegated on domestic soil.
Although one could argue that the major points of the address were released ahead of time and that there were still major networks like CNN, MSNBC, and PBS, which aired the speech, more networks should have been willing to show it because it was only 10 minutes long.
"I think it is of real concern to the country if we come to a place where our major broadcast outlets are not fully covering the news," David Westin, a former ABC president said in an ABC news article. For some individuals, cable news networks like CNN and MSNBC, or simply using the Internet to look for this information, could be a hassle or not even plausible due to a lack of resources.
The main point however is that although this may not have been a bipartisan announcement, it’s still an important move by our federal government that is considered part of the current news line up. Even if it deters viewers from their weekly shows, it would only be by 10 minutes. Surely these major networks could spare the 10 minutes, and for networks that are available to individuals without cable, they have a responsibility to provide the option to individuals who may want to watch even if there is the possibility of it being politically inclined towards particular party views.
Reach the columnist at kayla.chan@asu.edu or follow her on Twitter @kaylarc214
Editor’s note: The opinions presented in this column are the author’s and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors.
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