Obama to bump ‘American Idol’ again

POTUS will mark his 100th day in office with his third prime-time press conference.

Last month Obama scheduled a Tuesday night press conference, forcing Fox to push “American Idol” to Wednesday night and the results show to Thursday night. Presumably, this 100th-day scheduling will bump the results show from Wednesday night to Thursday, giving contestants an extra torturous day of not knowing whether they’ll get the ax.

Also last month, networks complained that Obama’s demonstrated fondness for prime-time press conferences was hurting their bottom line. From TV Week:

“Every time the president disrupts primetime, the networks lose another couple million dollars,” one TV industry insider said. “In this economy, that’s the last thing we need.”

Networks lose money because presidential appearances are commercial-free, meaning any time the networks cover the president, they lose advertising availabilities that can never be replaced.

It remains to be seen if Obama can regain his lost ground in the Nielsen ratings on his 100th day.