-By Warner Todd Huston
Reuters has a January 7 Hollywood Reporter story informing the world that “HBO lands rights to inaugural ceremony,” but this raises the question; why are parts of the inauguration being auctioned to the highest bidder for exclusive coverage? Shouldn’t all of the inauguration be something for every American and not relegated just for the TV station that has the most cash? Why is this vaunted man of the people allowing exclusive coverage of his big day to go to a station not available to all Americans equally?
It makes one wonder if the Democrat’s claims of being interested in equality and fairness is all but hot air when the money is hitting the table?
HBO is claiming that they will offer the program for free, not pay-per-view, and that it will be broadcast to folks without the HBO channel on their cable service. But it will still be just on cable. Naturally, for those without cable at all, well, these people are out of luck. So much for Obama’s big day being for ALL the people. I guess it’s only for those with cable.
The story informs us that in 1993, HBO paid out $1.5 million for the rights to the exclusive coverage of Bill Clinton’s kickoff from the Lincoln Memorial. HBO did not disclose how much they are paying for the Obama inaugural, but the money will go to the Obama Inaugural Committee. Apparently, even though Barack Obama raised millions upon millions for his campaign and had millions left over, he has found he needs more for his big party day and HBO comes to the rescue.
His avarice for campaign contributions makes one fear for one’s wallet re taxes, doesn’t it?
The Hollywood Reporter story goes on to detail all the TV coverage that Obama will receive for his inauguration and it is definitely extensive. It seems every channel is planning all sorts of coverage of the parts of the inauguration that HBO is not freezing them out of.
I know you will all be shocked, but the TV folks haven’t scheduled this much TV coverage for an inauguration since Clinton was Inaugurated in 1993. I know, shocking, isn’t it? Imagine that? TV hasn’t been this excited about a presidential inauguration since Bill Clinton!
In case you wondered, I am rolling my eyes as I type.
____________
Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer, has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and is featured on many websites such as newsbusters.org, Human Events Magazine, townhall.com, New Media Journal, Men’s News Daily and the New Media Alliance among many, many others. Additionally, he has been a frequent guest on talk-radio programs to discuss his opinion editorials and current events. He has also written for several history magazines and appears in the new book “Americans on Politics, Policy and Pop Culture” which can be purchased on amazon.com. He is also the owner and operator of publiusforum.com. Feel free to contact him with any comments or questions : EMAIL Warner Todd Huston
Fair Use: This site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. I am making such material available in my efforts to advance understanding of political, human rights, economic, democracy, and social justice issues, etc. I believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research, educational, or satirical purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site/blog for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.