Major networks won't air Obama's immigration speech

WASHINGTON, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- Four major networks have said they won't carry U.S. President Barack Obama's address on immigration Thursday night.

ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC said they will not air the 8 p.m. speech, though cable news networks, PBS and Spanish-language networks Univision and Telemundo will.

A source at one of the networks that won't air the speech told The Hill the White House didn't request coverage of the event. Those requests, when made by the White House, are almost always honored, CNN Money reported.

November is considered sweeps month for television networks. Ratings during the month are used to calculate advertising rates later, so networks air new, flashy episodes of their most popular series.

Thursday -- aka Shondaland -- is a big night for ABC, when it airs three dramas from producer Shonda Rhimes: Grey's Anatomy, Scandal and How to Get Away With Murder. Thursday is anchored for CBS by The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men and Elementary, and Fox has Bones and Gracepoint. NBC would have had to pre-empt Parenthood had it aired Obama's speech.

Univision says it plans to pre-empt the Latin Grammy Awards for the address.

The White House is live streaming the speech through its website. In a Facebook post Wednesday, Obama said he plans to outline steps he "can take to fix our broken immigration system."

Watch below: