ASSOCIATED PRESS Jonny 5, left, and Brer Rabbit, MCs with the rap and alternative rock band Flobots, performed Saturday at Elitch Gardens in Denver during a welcome party put on by the Democratic National Convention host committee. The band is scheduled to perform Wednesday with Rage Against the Machine and other artists in an anti-war concert at a venue near the convention.

Public TV plans to offer gavel-to-gavel coverage

The public-television network plans to run both the Democratic and Republican national conventions live and uninterrupted.

The Democrats take the stage in Denver today through Thursday; the Republicans in St. Paul, Minn., next Monday through Sept. 4.

Coverage will begin at 2 p.m. each day, ending at 5 p.m. Rebroadcasts will start at 5:30 p.m., following "Nightly Business."

Jim Lehrer's "NewsHour" team will anchor each day's coverage.

PBS Hawaii's locally produced prime-time programming will be on hiatus for the duration. Children's afternoon programming, however, will be moved to Digital Channel 443.

PBS Hawaii will also broadcast all three presidential debates (Sept. 26 and Oct. 7 and 15) and the vice presidential debate (Oct. 2) live at 3 p.m. each day, with rebroadcasts later each evening.