Obama To Become Monday Night Fixture

By: Brent Lang
Topics: White House

(AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

President Barack Obama is clearly ready for prime-time.

According to the Washington Post's Lisa de Moraes, the president will be making three prime-time television appearances in as many weeks. Mr. Obama's first appearance on all three major broadcast networks is slated for Monday night, when he will hold an hour-long press conference.

The president's press conference comes with a hefty price tag for the broadcast networks: More than $9 million will be lost in ad revenue on Monday night alone, according to de Moraes.

The Post reports that Mr. Obama may tout his economic stimulus package during a shorter prime-time appearance on Feb. 16. The Obama team is also planning an unorthodox address to a joint session of Congress on Feb. 24 in the vein of a State of the Union speech. This is expected to clock in at two-hours.

Mr. Obama's first State of the Union won't come until next year; networks include the event in their annual budgets.

Monday nights are one of the most popular television nights of the week. Fox's "House," NBC's "Chuck," ABC's "The Bachelor," and CBS' "How I Met Your Mother" are just a few of their programs that may find themselves postponed or shifted to accommodate Mr. Obama's appearance.