News Media Arrive In Chicago For DNC

Beginning today, Chicago will become the nexus of prime-time broadcasting, with every major cable news and TV network setting up shop at the United Center during a potentially historic Democratic National Convention.

The Chicago Tribune reports tome 15,000 journalists are expected to descend on the city to cover the whirlwind nomination of Vice President Kamala Harris — an eleventh-hour replacement for President Joe Biden — as she challenges former President Donald Trump in November for the highest office in the land.

From Fox News to TikTok, the whole world will be watching what happens in Chicago — inside and outside the United Center — which could well set the political course of the country for years to come.

“It’s an opportunity to witness history,” said Chris Cuomo, the veteran cable news anchor and NewsNation host, who will be broadcasting live from the convention floor each night.

While the process is largely ceremonial — Harris was officially nominated by a majority of delegates during a virtual roll call earlier this month — the convention, which runs Monday through Thursday, will likely bring a spectacle of speeches, protests and, the networks hope, plenty of must-see TV.

The house that Michael Jordan and the championship Bulls team built on the Near West Side has been abuzz with activity for more than a month in preparation for turning the United Center into a giant TV sound stage, with a star-studded political lineup and 5,000 delegates as extras.

The DNC, which took possession of the United Center on June 24, began repurposing 25 hospitality suites last month to serve as anchor booths for TV and cable networks. The suites have been “white-boxed” with an added layer of drywall and flooring to create the temporary studios, convention officials said.

Outside, the parking lot south of the arena has been transformed into an expansive media village, where trailers, satellite trucks and remote workspaces are clustered by network. Members of the network pool  — ABC, NBC/MSNBC, CBS, CNN and Fox — are allotted 80,000 square feet each, while other media outlets have grabbed smaller chunks of asphalt.

FOX News Channel’s chief political anchor of Special Report, Bret Baier, will present an interview with Harris-Walz Campaign Co-Chair Cedric Richmond on Special Report Monday evening (weekdays, 6 PM/ET). The interview will cover night one of the Democratic National Convention and preview President Biden’s speech passing the torch to Vice President Kamala Harris. A transcript will be made available following the interview.

There’s a lot at stake for the country, and the panoply of networks hoping to lure viewers to watch the DNC.

The final night of last month’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee averaged 25.4 million viewers, according to Nielsen audience data. The audience peaked at 28.4 million viewers during Trump’s acceptance speech.

Not surprisingly Fox News, the top-rated cable news channel, held serve, topping all other networks with 8.8 million prime-time viewers during the RNC finale, according to Nielsen. CNN averaged nearly 1.7 million viewers, while MSNBC reached 1.2 million.

Bret Baier, a 27-year Fox News veteran and chief political anchor, will be broadcasting nightly from Chicago during the convention, and believes the network could well draw viewers from across the political spectrum for a week focused on the Democrats.

“I can’t tell you we’re going to win the week,” said Baier, 54. “I can tell you we’re going to cover it fairly, and it’ll be interesting television. We will be very competitive if we don’t win.”