CNN adds live debate feedback for widescreen HD viewers

by Richard Lawler, posted Oct 2nd 2008 at 8:34PM

Deciding which channel to catch the Vice Presidential Debate on tonight? Wall Street Journal's The Numbers Guy points out that CNN's HD feed includes live analyst scorecards on the side of the screen (not included in the SD broadcast). Of course, with somewhat loose interpretations of how or when to score the debates, and a lack of explanation to viewers on what the scores the executive producer admitted there's room for improvement, but it may be worth checking out tonight and during future debates. Flip between six different VP debate HD feeds, or catch Magic's Biggest Secrets on My Network TV? Decision '08 indeed.

Filed under: ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, Primetime

Tags: biden, cnn, cnn hd, CnnHd, debate, palin, vice presidential, VicePresidential

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Highest Ranked

Jon @ Oct 2nd 2008 10:51PM

Ed Rollins was smoking crack during it giving Palin 48 + pts

Highly Ranked

Phil @ Oct 2nd 2008 10:55PM

The scoring was more funny than anything, most of the scoring seemed fair except for ed rollins, he was on that elephant crack.

Neutral

Cory @ Oct 2nd 2008 11:37PM

Debate was good in HD. Wish I could have watched in OTA HD instead of compressed QAM.

Neutral

TrentD @ Oct 3rd 2008 9:44AM

CNN HD's broadcast was VERY edge-enhanced. Biden looked flat-out SCARY in HD.

Neutral

rock99rock @ Oct 3rd 2008 11:54AM

His white teeth (non-teeth) were VERY scary.

Neutral

EatingPie @ Oct 2nd 2008 11:52PM

This was a way for CNN to tell us what to think. Instead of us deciding for ourselves, these little pie charts make sure we KNOW who is winning... er... who THEY SAY is winning.

Biden was obviously more experienced and better at debating. But there were times Palin did better, and the numbers never changed at those points.

The Media is so hell-bent on making sure we vote Obama, they'll pull out any trick in the book. It's a pretty sad commentary on the state of politics and the media.

-Pie

Highly Ranked

Spiza @ Oct 3rd 2008 1:29AM

The tax man cometh. Here comes more Big Government. I hope I get to vote for a President at some point in my life instead of voting against the other guy.

Highly Ranked

Money Mike @ Oct 3rd 2008 3:08PM

"The Media is so hell-bent on making sure we vote Obama, they'll pull out any trick in the book. It's a pretty sad commentary on the state of politics and the media."

Yeah, I agree that most of what we see in the media seems to favor Obama, but don't you think that could just be a sign that most people in this country feel the same? Do you think that most Americans are so persuadable that whomever the media tells them to vote for really has a better chance winning? I watch Fox News a lot and I constantly hear people on that network complaining about "media bias" and I just can't understand why nobody wants to admit that THEY ARE PART OF THE MEDIA?!?!?! (I'm sorry - this complaint is for everyone in the media - not just Fox News... and this is really a separate discussion.) The point I'm trying to make is that I constantly hear about "media bias" and I'm really starting to think that if Obama wins this election in November, these same people are actually going to complain that the public was swayed by "the media" - and completely ignore the concept that Americans may just be in favor of Obama on their own (or just may be fed up with how Republicans have been running this country for the last eight years and don't want to risk having the next four be exactly the same).

Personally, I think most Americans who are voting are smart enough to make their own decisions. Also, keep in mind that most Americans hate to see the media bashing someone unfairly, so if their is a media bias, that could very well be a positive for Republicans.

On a separate note, I just wish we could get someone in there who isn't a member of either party. A two-party system just doesn't seem fair to me, which is why I could never be a member of either one.

Neutral

EatingPie @ Oct 3rd 2008 7:52PM

"Yeah, I agree that most of what we see in the media seems to favor Obama, but don't you think that could just be a sign that most people in this country feel the same?"

No, to be honest I don't. The media is *generally* liberal, and they desperately want a Democrat as President again. They are pushing for this as hard as they can, well beyond the point of ethics IMHO.

OTOH, it is certainly possible that people in the country feel the same way. The Bush administration has an extremely low rating right now, and that reflects on Republicans at large as well. This, however, is still the difference between people deciding for themselves what they believe, as opposed to be *told* what they should believe, over and over again by the media in their attempt to *influence* the vote.

-Pie

Neutral

eric f. @ Oct 3rd 2008 8:49AM

The charts were on during the first pres. debate too.

Neutral

Money Mike @ Oct 3rd 2008 2:48PM

Yeah, I'm really surprised nobody else has pointed this out or that Engadget didn't really acknowledge it either. I guess since viewership was lower for last week's debate because it fell on a Friday, maybe that feature slipped by most people.

While I'm a fan of networks trying out new features, I don't really like this one. The people doing the "scoring" are definitely biased, so it doesn't really tell you anything other than that Republicans and Democrats both like what their respective picks have to say.

While I agree that every station has at least some bias, I don't think CNN's goal with this feature is to tell you to vote for Obama. Obviously, they are trying to tell you who is "winning" the debate, but there clearly is no way of doing that.

Neutral

snchpnz @ Oct 3rd 2008 9:27AM

"This was a way for CNN to tell us what to think."

I thought the same thing!

Neutral

Marcus @ Oct 3rd 2008 9:38AM

Maybe I tuned in too late, but when I flipped to CNN, I didn't know what was even going on. Not knowing what the charts and graphs were for, I found them annoying and switched to an OTA HD broadcast of the debate on another channel. Maybe had I known what they were for, it would have been more interesting to watch.

Neutral

mike @ Oct 3rd 2008 3:06PM

I thought the gauges were annoying, mostly because they burned into my Samsung plasma. so annoying...had to run the clean up pattern all night.

Neutral

fed up @ Oct 7th 2008 10:33PM

Senator Obama was gracious and presented as very articulate with well thought out detailed responses. (Sorry, Tom, yes you have time restraints but intelligence rules!) Senator McCain presented as petty, sarcastic and presented as a poor sport in his attacks.
He appeared ill prepared and did not answer the debate questions, He offered little information about his deregulation notion and was only able to repeatedly refer to his so called record. He offered nothing of substance to allow voters to know how he would handle financial problems other than promise to not raise taxes . There is no question that he was an a mazing war hero but that does not make him a foreign relations expert nor prepare him to be President.
His judgement in picking a running mate has revealed alot about how he conceptualizes America's problems.
Heaven forbid his cancer should return then we could be at the mercy of "you betcha" Bush in a skirt!

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