Convention viewing: small sip or supersized

These days, viewers can try three sizes of convention coverage. There’s:
— The big gulp. PBS (shown here) has three hours (8-11 p.m.ET,, through Thursday) of gavel-to-gavel coverage of the Republican convention. So do the cable and digital news channels.
— Small sips – an hour a night, starting at 10 ET. That’s on ABC, CBS and NBC (which adds a 9 p.m. hour on Wednesday and Thursday).
“We gave much more time to the conventions” in the old days, Andrew Lack — a network news executive from 1976 to 2001 – told the Television Critics Association. That gave networks room “for more reporting that they could share with the public over a longer period of time.”
Now, for over-the-air viewers who want long-form coverage, there’s just PBS. The “PBS News Hour” anchors, Geoff Bennett and Anna Nawaz – lead the nightly coverage.
That’s fits with “The ‘News Hour’ existing in the public service,” Bennett said. “In many cases, (viewers) can’t find it elsewhere” in full form.
Some news people argue that the old form doesn’t make much sense these days: Conventions have become controlled and contained, with little news happening before 10 p.m. (or, perhaps, any time).
But Nawaz argues that viewers should have a choice; “People can tune in and out as they see fit.”
Lack – who was a CBS News producer from 1976-93, then was the head of NBC News for eight years – is optimistic. Conventions “may take on more meaning this year, … because the country is so hungry for information.”
PBS is throwing itself into coverage. Coming up are the Democtratic convention (Aug. 19-22), the second debate and specials
“Deadlock” (Sept. 20), with Lack as one of the producers, and Judy Woodruff’s “Croosroads” (Sept. 23) both aim at civil discussions. They’ll be followed by “The Choice” (Sept. 24), with biographies of the presidential candidates.
Other documentaries will look at the electoral college (Sept. 30) and the vice-presidency (Oct. 1), plus two looks at Latino voters, Oct. 23 and 28.