Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.3 4.3bsd-beta 6/6/85; site ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!bellcore!ulysses!ucbvax!space
From: mcgeer%ji@UCBVAX.BERKELEY.EDU (Rick McGeer)
Newsgroups: net.space
Subject: Re:  TV Coverage of the Shuttle
Message-ID: <8602210300.AA16434@ji.berkeley.edu>
Date: Thu, 20-Feb-86 22:00:12 EST
Article-I.D.: ji.8602210300.AA16434
Posted: Thu Feb 20 22:00:12 1986
Date-Received: Mon, 24-Feb-86 07:18:20 EST
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The ARPA Internet
Lines: 34

>Date: Thu 20 Feb 86 18:43:29-PST
>From: Jim McGrath <J.JPM@epic>
>Subject: TV Coverage of the Shuttle
>To: "space@mc"@su-score.arpa
>Cc: "amdcad!lll-crg!seismo!rochester!emil@ucbvax.berkeley.edu"@su-score.arpa,
>        "amdcad!lll-crg!seismo!rochester!ray@ucbvax.berkeley.edu"@su-score.arpa,
>        J.JPM@epic
>Reply-To: mcgrath%mit-oz@mc.lcs.mit.edu
>Message-Id: <12185007170.8.J.JPM@EPIC>
>
>        From: amdcad!lll-crg!seismo!rochester!emil@ucbvax.berkeley.edu
>        (Emil Rainero)
>            "As the networks pre-empted soap operas and game shows,
>            they also dropped commercials for the afternoon, costing
>            collectively up to $1.7 million an hour."
>         Give us a break, Ray.
> 
>So when a network preempts its regular schedule during the daytime,
>for whatever reason, it is losing a lot of money and can never really
>make it back.  The only reason it ever preempts is prestige (which
>can, very indirectly, translate into dollars), and there are always
>severe pressures not to do so.  (During the vietnam war CBS preempted
>
>Jim

	Actually, it's worse than that.  When the networks cancel the soaps
they're deluged with complaints from viewers.  I suspect that a small
percentage of Americans wouldn't give a damn about doomsday unless it
interrupted "General Psychiatric Ward" or whatever....I further suspect
that each interruption permanently costs the soap some viewers.  Much as I hate
to admit it, the networks' 24-hour news coverage is a hefty expense (CBS
keeps a 24-hour "hot" studio) with no payback whatever.

						-- Rick.