Even as the Candidates Make Nice, the TV Crew Hopes for a Fight

EVEN AS THE CANDIDATES MAKE NICE, THE TV CREW HOPES FOR A FIGHT
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Brian Stelter]
A serious discussion on pressing national issues may be good for the country. But it isn’t necessarily good television. That was the prospect faced Thursday night by CNN, which broadcast what may be the final Democratic debate between Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama. While the candidates seemed to captivate the A-list crowd of Hollywood stars and power brokers in Los Angeles’s Kodak Theater, in CNN’s control room — inside a crowded truck parked behind the auditorium — the producers were exasperated and at times seemingly bored by their own broadcast. The showdown was promoted as “fight night” because of the nasty shots each candidate had taken at the previous debate. Instead, the debate centered on policy and was about as heated as a brown-bag lunch at the Brookings Institute. That left CNN producers looking for ways to stoke the competition, using the tricks they had learned broadcasting previous debates during this long primary season. The network had good financial reasons for wanting a lively show. This prolonged primary season, with competitive races in both parties, has been enormously expensive to cover. For CNN, a part of Time Warner, the two California debates alone represented a substantial investment — well over a million dollars — with two staffs, studios and anchors. More zingers from the candidates meant more sound bites and potentially a bigger audience.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/04/business/media/04debate.html?ref=today...
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