I read in the news that the DNC will be televised for four evenings in a row. Did that happen last election cycle as well?
-FrL-
Let’s put it this way, the Convention will be *offered * to TV for four days, just as it has always been.
The networks have been cutting back on convention coverage for several cycles now, as the conventions get more scripted and there’s less chance of “real news” coming out of them. (In 1996 Ted Koppel got so fed up with the Republican Convention that he pulled Nightline broadcasts out of San Diego after two days.)
Probably CSPN will be the only TV offering anything near continuous coverage.
Looking at TV Guide online, both PBS and CNN will be providing coverage for all four days. They’re also providing coverage for at least day one of the Republicans
It’s unclear whether the OP finds it unusual that the convention will last for four days, or that it will be televised for four days.
Since 1976, every major party convention has lasted for four days–no more, and no less. They’re scripted for television and follow the schedule. Before that, conventions met to conduct business and lasted for as long as they needed to last.
The record for a jiffy-quick major party convention was set in 1872, when the Dems wrapped everything up in a single day. (It was easy, because they rubber-stamped a ticket and platform which had been selected earlier by the short-lived Liberal Republican Party.) The record for tedium was set in 1924, when the Dems sat from June 24 until July 9.
The last convention to deviate from the four-day format was in 1972, when the Repubs required only three days to renominate Nixon and Agnew.
Regarding television, PBS and the news networks have provided at least some coverage of every night of every convention for as long as they have existed, so this is not new. C-SPAN, of course, televises everything. The broadcast networks have trimmed down their coverage over time, so if anything they’ll be showing less than last time.
In 2004 the major networks showed an hour or two of coverage per night. I know recollections aren’t a great cite in GQ, but maybe it will be a place to start: I want to say there was also some grumbling from the networks about having to show the small amount of coverage they bothered with; it had something to do with using public airwaves and being obligated to show a certain amount of programming for the public interest.
I was suprised that it would be televised for four days.
I’m not suprised at all if it lasts several days. It’s a national convention, after all… I’m guessing a lot of stuff is happening besides the nomination. 
-FrL-