CNN announces convention coverage

WE'VE MOVED! Democratic Convention Watch is now at http://www.DemocraticConventionWatch.com

The cable networks are going all out. Here's what CNN is doing:

CNN veteran political correspondent John King and a smaller version of the video wall that made its mark during the channel's coverage of the presidential primaries will be on hand at next month's Democratic National Convention in Denver and September's Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn.

CNN became the first network to announce its convention coverage plans with a presentation Friday during the network's event at the Television Critics Assn. summer gathering. Wolf Blitzer, Campbell Brown and Anderson Cooper will anchor its convention coverage, with a special Larry King-anchored wrap-up at midnight EDT plus HD coverage of the events and wireless microphones and the CNN Election Express bus that has been covering the campaigns since Iowa.

CNN again will have an anchor space on the floor at both conventions -- in this case the Pepsi Center in Denver and the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. The network first used the floor for an anchor space four years ago, eschewing the traditional network skyboxes. That's where King and the multitouch wall will be.

I would only note that "traditional network skyboxes" are not that traditional. They've only been around for 2-3 conventions, and were a way of cost-cutting by the networks. The networks used to have huge structures on the floors of the convention. Both pictures in this post are from the 1984 convention in San Francisco. The picture at top shows CNN broadcasting live, while the one below shows the ABC and CBS setups.