Kobe Case Dropped, Fox-CNN-MSNBC Cut Back to 12 Hours
(2004-09-01) -- On the day that prosecutors dropped charges against basketball star Kobe Bryant, the three major cable news networks announced they would cut back to 12-hours of daily programming.
"Without the Kobe show, we just can't fill 24 hours a day," said one unnamed programming executive. "I mean you can only run so many Michael Jackson perp walks and pictures of Scott Peterson smirking."
A Fox News spokesman said her network would purchase exclusive rights to the second season of the Kobe trial, expected to start soon.
"Kobe is the new Regis," said the Fox source. "This could run 13 seasons, then go into eternal syndication."