C-SPAN and C-SPAN 2 unveiled their Republican and Democratic National Convention plans Wednesday. Republican elephant and Democratic donkey C-SPAN’s DNC coverage will air Aug. 25-29 and its RNC coverage Aug. 31-Sept. 5.
The political party conventions are right in the wheelhouse of the cable networks, which are offering “gavel-to-gavel” coverage of the events, as well as ancillary events such as Ron Paul’s Rally for the Republic.
Before the conventions begin, C-SPAN will carry live coverage of the parties’ platform meetings, with the Democratic meetings Aug. 9 and the Republicans Aug. 26 and 27.
Convention coverage will begin at 7 a.m. every day with Washington Journal live from the respective host cities of Denver and Minneapolis. The show will interview newsmakers and journalists, and delegates and elected officials will field calls from viewers throughout the day.
C-SPAN 2 will focus on highlights in primetime and will also feature viewer reactions. The network will also cover Paul’s event, set for Aug. 31-Sept. 2 in Minneapolis to coincide with the Republican National Convention.
The networks will also use some new technology to enhance their coverage. Correspondents will be armed with Flip cameras and Skype-enabled laptops, allowing for on-the-fly reports from inside and out of the sessions.
“Political-party conventions remain interesting to the millions of Americans who follow national politics,” C-SPAN president Susan Swain said in announcing the coverage. “Convention speeches become previews for future generations of national leaders. Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan were all keynote convention speakers prior to their national runs.”