In a year when broadcast networks are airing fewer hours than ever, one network -- PBS -- is beefing up.

And they're beating the cable networks, who offer a similar dose of coverage but with a very different approach.

"A lot of them are spending a lot more time talking to each other than they are talking about what's happening on the podium," said Lehrer, who anchors PBS' coverage.

The Public Broadcasting Service is on the air three hours a night, airing events on stage about two-thirds of the time. In essence, PBS shows the podium unless there's a reason not to, where others only show the proceedings when a top-notch speaker is on stage at the Staples Center.

It resembles a sportscast, with periodic halftime reports, aired for people who care about the game. Lehrer offers color commentary along the way.

"There's Alexis Herman coming out on the stage," Lehrer told his audience Monday night. "She's been President Clinton's labor secretary since 1997. She's a native of Mobile, Alabama. First came to government in the Carter administration."

He continued to describe Herman's career until her applause died down and she began speaking.

It's not C-SPAN, which offers a straight view of the stage, free from analysis. But it's unlike the typical fare on CNN, MSNBC and Fox News Channel, where the cameras only show speeches of the major players.

And it's a far cry from the big three broadcast networks, which are broadcasting just an hour on most convention nights, leaving little time for anything other than the marquee speeches, a dose of analysis and a round of commentary from reporters in the hall.

PBS first broadcast from the conventions during prime time in 1992, when it pooled resources with NBC. A similar arrangement was in place in 1996. But now NBC is teamed up with its cable counterpart, MSNBC, and PBS is going it alone, on the air from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. EDT each night.

But it's not just the hours that distinguish PBS from its competitors. It's attitude.

At ABC, NBC and CBS, anchors complain that the conventions have long lost their news value, morphing themselves into made-for-TV infomercials.

"Never have so many come so far and spent so much to cover so little," CBS anchor Dan Rather said.

No such carping at PBS.

"I will not agree with anybody who says what's going on out here is not important enough to cover," Lehrer said.

It's easy for a network to make more money, he said -- just air reruns of the most popular shows.

"If you see your responsibility to deliver eyeballs and bucks, you can do that," he said dismissively.

On his show, the camera stays on the podium unless there's a compelling reason to point it elsewhere, and if that means the party "infomercial" gets through, so be it.

"Each party has its moment in the sun," Lehrer said. "Let's give them their moment in the sun."

A substantial audience seems to agree. Preliminary figures for the first night of the Democratic National Convention project an average of 3 million viewers were tuned to PBS. At the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia two weeks ago, PBS drew about 2.6 million people each night -- double the viewership at CNN and equal to the combined audience of CNN, MSNBC and Fox News Channel.

It's not a completely equal comparison, because PBS is available on virtually any TV with rabbit ears, whereas people have to pay for cable, which is only available in about 75 percent of the nation. Still, the numbers are impressive for a nonprofit news organization that gets little publicity and has no affiliation with a large, for-profit company.

The broadcast features extended discussions with historians, along with political analysis from liberal Mark Shields and conservative Paul Gigot.

But unlike the food fights that mark the battle on some networks, even the partisans are calm and analytical.

"Bill Clinton can help Al Gore tonight if he emphasizes the pluses of his administration," Gigot said Monday -- not exactly the Republican line.

The audience that appreciates their work isn't huge -- but it's important, Gigot argues.

"They're like fans who want to watch the game," he said. "They do want some context. Mostly they watch because they want to see the show."