Obama's Invesco Ego Trip Costing Networks

We're all going to pay through the nose for the delicious, yummy change we're being promised, and the first to be hit hardest are the broadcast networks that will be airing the coronation of Lord Obama at Invesco Field.

Major television networks are considering curtailing coverage of the Democratic National Convention after Monday’s announcement that Barack Obama will accept his party's nomination in a Denver stadium.

According to several broadcast executives, the networks will still cover all the major speeches. But beyond that, all options are open as they look for savings to balance out the anticipated costs surrounding the stadium event. The acceptance event is an unexpected departure from the traditional convention hall format for which they have spent months planning.

Network executives expect Obama’s relatively late-breaking decision to speak at Invesco Field at Mile High, a 76,000-seat football stadium, could add hundreds of thousands of dollars in costs to already cash-strapped news divisions. Each network has budgeted millions to cover the political conventions, but that spending is already accounted for in specific costs ranging from hotel rooms to staffing to building convention platforms.

For most networks, any additional outlays for the convention would come out of their 2008 campaign budget.

Which means they'll probably just eliminate covering John McCain and will opt to slobber over Obama 100% of the time rather than 98% of the time.

Realistically, the broadcast networks for a few cycles now have drastically curtailed coverage, which only makes sense since there's gavel-to-gavel coverage usually on CSPAN, and all the cable news outlets usually have the bulk of primetime coverage, so for the networks, it doesn't make much financial sense other than to do the 10 to 11 eastern time slot and obviously the acceptance speech of the nominees.

Judging by Obama's rambling speeches after primaries, he'll probably babble on for two hours, saying nothing the entire way to the adoration of the gushing masses, before ascending to the heavens.

Meanwhile, back on Planet Earth, it says here The Messiah should be up around a 15-point spread over John McCain, but the latest Gallup numbers shows them in a statistical dead heat.

Hmmm.