Is news the new late night?

First the Olympics and now the Republicans.

There seems to be a conspiracy to keep a lot of Americans watching their televisions long into the night. At Tuesday night’s hurricane-challenged and already once rescheduled Republican convention, the star speaker of the night, first lady wannabe Ann Romney, doesn’t take the podium until 10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, another convention headliner, to follow directly after.

For folks in the East eager to hear about the soft side of Mitt Romney or to see if this will be Christie’s Convention Moment, that means a rather late night. Especially for those still recovering from the close-to-midnight viewings of NBC’s prime-time Olympics coverage, which inevitably saved the best for last, never mind the more die-hard sports fans who have to chase playoff games past 10 p.m. our time.

No wonder Jay and Dave are having such a hard time -- the news has become the new late night. Who wants to tune in to jokes about current events when the current events ended just three minutes ago?

As for the politicos, when next you’re scheduling your events, keep in mind that a productive workforce needs its rest and even TV critics like to hit the sack before midnight.

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