The Supreme Court does not allow television into its proceedings, but the Senate Judiciary Committee has no such proscriptions so viewers can see a lot of Supreme Court nominee judge Sonia Sotomayor starting next week.
PBS is planning coverage of her nomination hearing there beginning July 13, and gavel-to-gavel on the days she is expected to testify.
The hearing will also be streamed live at newshour.pbs.org, provided in conjunction with PBS.
Not surprisingly, C-SPAN, which helped get cameras in Congress, will be covering the hearings on its networks as well.
Hill hearings have made for sometimes riveting television over the years, from the McCarthy hearings in the 1950's to Watergate and Iran Contra, to the vetting of Justice Clarence Thomas.
C-SPAN coverage will also be gavel-to-gavel, and will include C-SPAN TV, radio and online. The online coverage will include live streams from multiple cameras, embedded video of the hearing, and updated links to relevant supporting information.
Live TV coverage will be on the mother ship on July 13, the opening day, and will continue on C-SPAN3 the following days.
