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Debate over the gubernatorial debate
Wonder how many voting citizens will actually see the one-and-only televised Texas gubernatorial debate next week …
First of all, the debate is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 6, at 7 p.m. That just happens to be the Friday before the Texas-Oklahoma game in Dallas. And even if it weren’t the evening before a big, out-of-town football game, it’s still airing on a Friday, which is only slightly better than Saturday, the night Nielsen ratings practically disappear.
Second of all, the four candidates — Republican Gov. Rick Perry, Democrat Chris Bell, Republican-turned-independent Carole Keeton Strayhorn and independent Kinky Friedman — gave Belo Corp. exclusivity with a load of limitations.
In Belo markets (Austin, San Antonio, Dallas and Houston), only Belo stations can carry the hourlong debate live. In other markets, TV stations can pluck it off a satellite feed. But here in Austin, only KVUE Channel 24, which is owned by Belo, can carry the debate live. Other stations can use excerpts for their newscasts, but they cannot air the entire debate or stream it on their Web sites.
Why is there exclusivity for a political debate?
“We’re putting on the debate,” says Mike Devlin, station manager for WFAA, the Belo station in Dallas. “I’m spending lots of time on this, we —- the Texas Belo stations and The Dallas Morning News — are putting it on. We’re not going to go through all this time and expense to hand over our work and investment to competitors in the marketplace.”
Devlin points out that any station outside the four Texas Belo markets can air the debate live. And any TV or newspaper can send reporters to cover it and air excerpts from it.
Time Warner’s News 8 Austin is miffed and trying to stir up some opposition to it.
“We’re not allowed to air live, not allowed to tape-delay, not allowed to put it on video-on-demand or in its entirety on the Web site,” fumed News 8 news director Kevin Benz. “It’s our journalistic obligation to make this political discourse available to the largest number of people. I don’t think any of us are well-served by this kind of limitation.”
Devlin dismisses such criticism: “There were lots of proposals from other outlets for debates, and ours prevailed. Maybe it’s sour grapes.”
There is one exception to the rules: PBS stations in Belo markets, such as Austin’s KLRU, have the option of carrying the debate tape-delayed any time within four days of the actual event. But KLRU isn’t sure it wants to carry it.
“We’re still evaluating,” says KLRU President Bill Stotesbery. “It doesn’t really make much sense for us to run it again after KVUE has had it. Plus, we’re doing four ‘Texas Monthly Talks’ featuring hourlong in-depth interviews with the candidates throughout October.”
In other words, if you’re still mulling your choice for Texas governor, and you want to evaluate the candidates in a debate, you’d better get ready to watch or tape it next Friday on KVUE.
Permalink | Comments (7) | Categories: News coverage
Comments
By Miles Wortham
October 10, 2006 11:12 AM | Link to this
Friedman all the way. How anyone can support that two faced, corrupt, lying Strayhorn after her fumbled performance in the debate escapes me.
Bell is nice, but boring
Perry is just another smoke blowing politician that has no interests other than himself.
change texas politics.
By Phyllis
October 7, 2006 09:37 AM | Link to this
Living in NE Texas, with news coming out of Shreveport, (we have Dish and pay for local channels) very seldom do we hear anything of Texas Politics. Just found out on National News there was a debate last night. Wish we could have seen it.
By Mauricio Felix
October 6, 2006 08:12 PM | Link to this
After watching part of the debate I'm away from Carole Keeton and I am ALL FOR Friedman!
Seriously.
By TheLongHaul
October 6, 2006 12:03 PM | Link to this
If I'm correct, didn't Strayhorn recently cancel the debate that was scheduled for Oct. 5th, which was to include Friedman, Bell, and Strayhorn.
By Mike S
October 5, 2006 04:43 PM | Link to this
It is more than a little frustrating that there is only going to be one debate. What's even more infuriating is our lack the ability to do anything at all about it. For this four-way race, one of the more interesting in recent years, one would think that there would be a clamour to have these candidates face off more than once. Where's the outrage? I want to know where these candidates stand and you can't just get that off their websites...
By Austin J.
October 2, 2006 04:14 AM | Link to this
This is a token one-hour debate designed for minimal viewership that Perry agreed to just so he could say he did it. What a coward. Bush did the same thing in 1998. If we had three debates in prime time, which many outlets would readily air given the colorful nature of this race, the election could go to any one of candidates. Friedman or Strayhorn or Bell could be seen as more sensible than Perry, and that's what scares him. Texans deserve better, but this one debate is what we get. See it live or record it. Watch for the nuances.
By mark sanders
September 29, 2006 03:52 PM | Link to this
It was Rick Perry, not the other campaigns (I work for Carole Keeton Strayhorn)that made this a one-time only, one network only debate.
We have accepted more than a dozen requests for debates, but the Governor only accepted one, this one. In fact, BELO originally proposed this debate air in the middle of the week when someone might actually be watching.
Perry refused, said it had to be the Friday night before Texas-OU weekend.
Carole is willing and ready to debate him anytime, anyplace, anywhere, to the larest audience possible.