Networks won’t air Ann Romney’s convention speech in prime time

Ann Romney had been scheduled to give the keynote speech at Monday's opening night of the Republican National Convention in Tampa. But the Romney campaign is reportedly thinking about moving her address to another night after ABC, NBC and CBS opted out of airing convention coverage on Monday night.

The New York Times' Jeremy Peters reports the major networks alerted the Romney campaign they will carry just three hours of RNC coverage on network television next week—skipping Ann Romney's Monday prime-time speech.

The move has angered the Romney campaign, which had hoped to use Ann Romney's speech to show a different side of the presumptive Republican nominee to television viewers who perhaps have not been paying close attention to the election so far.

Several Romney aides did not respond to requests for comment from Yahoo News. But Russ Schriefer, a senior Romney adviser who has been overseeing convention planning for the campaign, blasted the networks' decision in an interview with the Times.

"I don't think it's the decision that Bill Paley would have made," Schriefer told the Times, referring to the legendary television executive who oversaw the early expansion of CBS News.

The Times notes that the networks have put in place a similar plan for coverage of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte beginning on Sept. 4. ABC and CBS will air just an hour of coverage for three nights, while NBC will air just two hours—choosing instead to broadcast an NFL football game that Wednesday.