Obama nomination a key moment in TV coverage

A carefully timed roll call and a sudden recognition of history may prove to be a turning point for Democrats at a convention that hadn't been going well for them as a television event.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's move to proclaim rival Barack Obama as the Democratic nominee for president set a tone that carried through the convention's third night.

It was a meticulously organized peace offering done at a crucial time. Clinton stepped to a microphone on the convention's floor at 6:47 p.m. EDT, when ABC, CBS and NBC were in the midst of their evening newscasts. All three newscasts carried the event live on the East Coast, along with the cable news networks. (ABC broke into regular programming in non-Eastern time zones, while CBS and NBC didn't).

Almost immediately, network anchors and pundits - tipped off by some of the genuine emotion they saw in the room - took a step back to recognize the historical import of a black man being nominated by a major party as its candidate for president.

NBC's Tom Brokaw said he saw an acquaintance, a black woman business executive, have a brief emotional meltdown.

"However it turns out and however you feel about his candidacy," this is a moment "about America finally beginning to come to grips with the complexity of the racial issues that have bedeviled us for so long," Brokaw said. "This is a huge step. This is a generational step."

CNN's Anderson Cooper said it was "incredibly moving."

"The word `history' gets thrown around and it's used rather loosely," said ABC's Charles Gibson. "But in this instance it truly is."

It was a perspective largely missing during the first two nights. On Tuesday, most television coverage had been singularly focused on what Clinton would say when she addressed the convention, to the exclusion of messages delivered by any other speaker about Obama's upcoming campaign against Republican John McCain. When she was done, the analysis focused on whether or not Clinton had healed the rift between her supporters and Obama's.

Political strategist and CNN commentator James Carville had bristled Monday, saying Democrats had essentially wasted the first night of the convention. "If this party has a message, it's done a hell of a job of hiding it tonight," Carville said.

Again, the news networks focused on a couple of events Wednesday almost to the exclusion of anything else - in this case speeches by former President Bill Clinton and vice presidential nominee Joe Biden.

Fox News Channel and MSNBC essentially ignored a speech by 2004 presidential nominee John Kerry - remember him? Fox's Sean Hannity was debating 1988 Democratic candidate Michael Dukakis while Kerry was speaking in the background.

Clinton's speech was called a "home run" by CBS' Bob Schieffer, while Fox News Channel analyst Charles Krauthammer reached for another sports comparison for grudging praise.

"It was like watching Muhammad Ali come out of retirement," he said.

With eyes on the clock again, Biden finished his speech about five minutes before the broadcast networks were to go off the air. It was just enough time for Obama to stroll on stage, work up the crowd, and remind viewers he'd be back for his own acceptance speech on Thursday.

Same time, same channels.