President Obama hates “Better Off Ted.” That’s the conclusion I’m jumping to after Obama requested an hour of network airtime to address the nation tonight. The speech will air at 8 p.m. Eastern, smack dab in the middle of prime time. Among the shows that will be bumped for Obama: “Scrubs” and “Better Off Ted,” both struggling to get renewed by ABC.

The prospects of “Ted” getting renewed weren’t good anyway, but this may be the kiss of death. Knowing ABC, there’s no guarantee they’ll ever run the bumped episode, plus this is sweeps season (even though it’s not May yet) and the show needs all the chances to attract viewers that it can get.

It’s a sticky dilemma faced by the networks — reportedly they’ll each lose $10 million in advertising for giving up that prime-time hour, and in this economic climate, that’ll hurt. But rejecting the president’s request while the country is facing an economic collapse, swine flu pandemic and two wars isn’t exactly an appealing option, PR-wise.

Except for Fox, that is. They decided to not air Obama’s speech at all, for fears that it could run long and cut into “American Idol,” which starts at 9 p.m. Glad they have their priorities straight. Hey, last time I checked, more votes were cast for “Idol” than in the presidential election anyway. (Yeah, yeah, I know you can vote multiple times for “Idol.” But I’m counting Florida votes too, so it should be even.)

And before you cry that Fox is playing politics, keep this in mind: They also refused an hour of airtime to President Bush in November 2001. Which, in retrospect, was probably the only thing Bush didn’t get approval for at the time. At Fox, it seems, green is stronger than red or blue.

UPDATE: Huh, my trusty DVR says “Scrubs” and “Better Off Ted” are on as usual at 8 p.m. Could only the East Coast network lineup be affected? I dunno. Guess I’ll find out tonight.