Viewers may have to do some fishing or channel surfing if they want to watch President Donald Trump’s controversial speech tonight to the nation.
ABC and NBC will choose to air Trump’s speech at 9pm EST on their respective streaming platforms, rather than broadcasting it live on their networks. NBC says it will air a special report when the speech is over.
“ABC News will run President Trump’s speech on ABC News Live and ABC News Radio with comprehensive, proven coverage,” says an ABC News spokesperson. “We will also be covering the speech in our regular network newscasts, and as always, our special report team is fully prepared to break into network programming to provide live updates and reports in the event of significant developments.”
Spokespeople for CBS News and Fox News did not respond to a request for comment as of writing.
CNN will not broadcast the speech live, but the cable network plans to cover it.
“CNN will cover the President’s speech as a news event, monitor news developments, and provide analysis and commentary from CNN experts covering the election, intelligence, and the FBI,” a CNN representative said, adding that a live stream of the speech will be on its website.
The decision not to broadcast the speech live is actually not unusual: Networks typically weigh topic and context, and all have in the past refused to air speeches by Presidents Biden, Obama, and Bush, among others.
In this case, the subject of the president’s speech isn’t entirely clear, though he has indicated it will be about “election integrity,” suggesting it may be about sowing doubt again about the 2020 election, which he lost, or perhaps the upcoming midterms. Earlier this week, there were rumors that he would announce that Georgia’s Democratic senators were not legitimately elected.
When President Trump addressed the nation about the Iran war earlier this year, the networks carried him live.
