Gore, Perot Face Tough Time Slot

Tuesday’s debate on the North American Free Trade Agreement between Vice President Al Gore and Ross Perot will have tough competition for the attention of television viewers.

The debate on CNN’s “Larry King Live” will be up against two of television’s most popular programs, ABC’s “Roseanne” and “Coach,” for viewers in the Eastern and Central time zones, where the bulk of the nation’s population resides.

Last Tuesday, “Roseanne” drew a 20.9 rating and “Coach” a 20.6, according to the A. C. Nielsen Co. The rating is the percentage of the 94.2 million U.S. households that are tuned to a particular television program.

Those shows were not seen in the Los Angeles market, which is about 5% of the nation, because of Calabasas/Malibu fire coverage.

By comparison, Tuesday’s “Larry King Live,” which had former Chrysler Chairman Lee A. Iacocca as a guest, had a 1.7 rating in the approximately 60 million households that receive CNN.

The 90-minute debate program will air at 6 p.m. PST Tuesday. CNN will replay it at 9:30 p.m. PST. Many Americans will not be able to tune in the King show, since about 40% of the nation’s televisions do not have access to cable.