By the time, Apollo 13 took out, space flight was considered so routine that it wasn’t covered live. Then, the accident happened.
Challenger was the same. Only CNN carried it live...
The next mission, Apollo 14 was definitely covered live.
To those nearby, the liftoffs were still a local story as I recall. People still went to watch launches. I can’t speak for national tv coverage. I definitely remember the splashdowns of many of them. My parents were enthusiasts, and my uncle, aunt, and cousins lived even closer than we did.