ESPN gets it, what about CNN and FNC?

ESPN gets it. Think about it……On a crisp Autumn Saturday afternoon, you’re getting ready to watch your favorite team play on ESPN. You’ve got your hot-wings, chip-n-dip, beverages, everything, all laid out and ready to go. Only one problem. The prior game is running past its allotted time, and it looks like you’re going to miss kickoff, and probably a significant portion of the first quarter.

So what does ESPN do? They activate a special channel called ESPN “alternate”, and start the coverage of the game on time. Then, when the other game is over the coverage is switched back to regular programming, and everybody is happy. It’s a great concept, I think, which should be incorporated by the cable news channels.

There is no other news when oygen-sucking non-news stories covering the likes of the corpse of Anna Nichole, Britney’s latest, OJ, ad nauseum, tweak the ratings meters of the 24 hour news biz. And, it is most certainly a business. I understand and respect this. So, how about CNN “alternate”, or FNC “alternate” for times such as these? The flagship channels can continue their non-stop ratings boosting coverage, and even put their celeb “A”-team in the anchor chairs to keep those heady ratings up there as long as possible. And the news of the day can get sent over to “alternate”, to be returned to normal programming when the hype dies down.