Trump’s Military Parade Is Designed for TV, but It Won’t Be on Every Channel

Media|Trump’s Military Parade Is Designed for TV, but It Won’t Be on Every Channel

Fox News is airing an extensive four-hour special called “Army 250 Parade.” CNN will carry the proceedings. And MSNBC is sticking with its usual liberal opinion shows.

President Trump’s military parade in Washington, celebrating the Army’s 250 birthday and his own 79th, has the hallmarks of a made-for-TV event. The White House has hired an outside production company, Event Strategies Inc., which was responsible for some of Mr. Trump’s Wrestlemania-style campaign rallies, and cameras will be rolling as 28 Abrams tanks and 6,700 soldiers process down Constitution Avenue. (Paratroopers will swoop in from above.)

Cable news channels plan to cover the event along familiar lines. And America’s three biggest television networks do not plan to carry the event live on their affiliates. Each had prior programming commitments that evening, although ABC, CBS and NBC say that coverage will be available digitally via their 24-hour streaming channels.

At the time that Mr. Trump is scheduled to give remarks, CBS will be broadcasting a rerun of the comic procedural “Elsbeth,” NBC is set to air an episode of a game show called “Password,” and ABC plans to carry the championship game of the UFL, a minor football league.

The festivities are set to kick off at 6 p.m. Eastern and conclude roughly four hours later, after a country music concert and fireworks.

Fox News has a full day of programming planned around the event, with appearances from several on-air personalities, including a few co-hosts of “Fox & Friends.” (A former “Friend,” Pete Hegseth, is now the defense secretary and has been closely involved in the parade.)