Obama speech not great news for broadcasters

President Obama's televised prime-time addresses are becoming a tougher sell to the broadcast networks than his sweeping health care reform has been to Middle America. A day after news broke of the president's plan to address a joint session of Congress on health care issues in prime time Wednesday, not one of the Big Four networks has said it would carry the address live. Among other things, the networks have been waiting to hear when the address will start, with sources indicating Thursday night that the White House was leaning toward 8 p.m. After a brief post-inauguration honeymoon, the broadcast networks have become increasingly frustrated by the frequency of Obama's requests for prime-time coverage. The pre-emptions wreak havoc on the networks' schedules and cost millions of dollars in lost ad revenue.