The Republican National Convention officially kicks off in Tampa on Monday, but most TV networks following the event will begin their coverage on Sunday, with discussions on morning roundtable shows and various "countdown" specials.

During the week of convention activity (the actual convention runs Monday through Thursday), broadcast networks and cable news channels will handle their coverage very differently.

The major broadcast networks -- ABC, CBS and NBC -- will be airing their morning and evening news programs from Tampa, but you'll only get one hour of primetime coverage (at 10 p.m.), and only Tuesday through Thursday (no primetime Monday coverage). PBS (UNC-TV locally) will devote three hours of primetime to the convention each night, but no daytime hours. For the super-duper wall-to-wall coverage, you'll want to head to the cable news channels, which will provide up to 20 hours per day of convention news and analysis.

Here's a brief breakdown of what everyone will offer: (UPDATE: There have been some big changes in the convention schedule thanks to Hurricane Isaac, but much of the coverage information below will stand. Any changes will be noted below as the information becomes available.)

ABC's "World News with Diane Sawyer" has spent a lot of time lately talking about products made in the USA and how buying more locally made products can put Americans back to work.

They compiled a list of products made in the US and illustrated their findings on a cool interactive map. The map shows North Carolina with the fourth highest number of companies making products, with 43 companies listed.

It isn't exactly scientific (you can submit other companies you know of if they aren't on their list), but it's still pretty cool.  Click on the map and then click each state to see the list of companies pop up, organized by city.  The Raleigh company listed is Tierra Ideas, Inc. They turn recycled materials into computer bags, backpacks, bicycle seats, and other things. Burt's Bees is listed for Durham.

It's finally official. Katie Couric, who left her spot as anchor of the "CBS Evening News" in May, today signed a multi-year, multi-platform deal with ABC.

Couric, who herself acknowledged that her pending deal with ABC has been the worst kept secret in the news and entertainment business, will host and produce a nationally syndicated daily talk show to be distributed by Disney and ABC.

She will also anchor specials, conduct interviews, and participate in special events coverage for ABC News. According to the news release, Couric's involvement with the ABC News team will begin this summer.

The new talk show, however, isn't expected to debut until September 2012. That project will be produced by Jeff Zucker, the former president of NBCUniversal who executive produced the "Today" show when Couric was on with Matt Lauer.

Scotty Pelley takes over for Couric as anchor on the "CBS Evening News" starting tonight.

The arrests and protests at the last Wake County school board meeting has led to a whole new wave of national media coverage.

On Thursday, CNN interviewed both school board member John Tedesco and the Rev. William Barber, president of the state NAACP. Both men were also interviewed for a story that ran Saturday on ABC News.

Barber accused the school board majority of trying to resegregate the school system by ending the diversity policy. But Tedesco argued that Wake is already diverse and integrated as he criticized the diversity policy.

You're probably in one of two camps: Either you're sick to death of this x-rated homegrown trainwreck, or you can't wait for the next installment of "All My Love Children." If you're in that second camp, you'll want to set your DVR to catch all of Andrew Young's interviews as he jumps from show to show promoting his new book, "The Politician." So far, it looks like Young belongs to ABC, but if that changes, we'll add updates here.  

Friday, January 29
*20/20 (10pm, ABC) - Exclusive interview with Bob Woodruff...
*Nightline (11:30, ABC) - The hijinx continue...

Monday, February 1
*Good Morning America (7am, ABC) - Young's first live interview...

Tonight's 6:30 national news on ABC ws the final broadcast of Charles "Charlie" Gibson.

It was a weeklong goodbye, as Gibson said, "you may have heard a time or 6", with Gibson on each broadcast since Monday, sharing different memories of his long farewell.

Gibson, you'll remember, came in to the anchor job when ABC News was in trouble. The network had replaced the late, great Peter Jennings with two anchors -- Bob Woodruff and Elizabeth Vargas in 2006. But Woodruff was badly injured by an IED in Iraq, and Vargas got pregnant, and had to take a leave. In disarray, ABC pulled Gibson off of "Good Morning America," a gig, ironically, that was supposed to be temporary for he and Diane Sawyer.

ABC News has nabbed an exclusive interview with former John Edwards aide Andrew Young.

According to the Associated Press, Young will discuss his new book, "The Politician," which is a tell-all documenting the affair between Edwards and Rielle Hunter. Young has alleged  that Edwards asked him to lie about being the father of Hunter's daughter, and that Edwards is actually the father of the child.

Bob Woodruff, who interviewed Edwards at his Chapel Hill home back in 2008, will conduct the interview with Young. In that 2008 interview, Edwards told Woodruff that it was not possible that he was the father of Hunter's child.

The interview is scheduled to air January 29 on "20/20." Young will also appear on "Good Morning America" on February 2.

Charles Gibson announced today that he is retiring from the top anchor spot at ABC's "World News" at the end of this year. Diane Sawyer will be taking his place. 

Gibson became the anchor in 2006 after the death of Peter Jennings. Gibson says he'll stay with ABC and will make occasional contributions. "World News" currently trails NBC's "Nightly News with Brian Williams" in the ratings.

Sawyer is pretty much considered the savior of "Good Morning America," so it'll be interesting to see if their ratings slip when she leaves. GMA is my personal favorite (by a mile) when it comes to the morning shows, and Diane is one of the reasons. I think she'll be great at "World News," but I'll miss her on GMA. 

Adrienne, on the other hand, "can't stand that woman." She doesn't like the "breathiness" of her delivery.

Where do you fall? On Team Diane or Team Charlie? Or will you stick with/switch to Brian on NBC, or Katie Couric on CBS? 

The unfortunate "race card" issue in the presidential race  continued to dominate TV news throughout the weekend.

Durham native David Gergen offered some fresh perspective that was worthy of debate on Sunday's "This Week With George Stephanopoulos."

Gergen, who has worked for the Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton administrations, gave one southerner's take (video here) on the possibility of dog-whistle messages in one of Sen. McCain's current attack ads against Sen. Obama.