Networks Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' (making money)

As you might have predicted, every single channel on television is planning to air a tribute tonight to Michael Jackson, who died yesterday (you might have heard):

ABC, CBS and NBC are reworking their primetime lineups tonight to make room for coverage of the singer and the passing of actress Farrah Fawcett.

ABC News plans two hours devoted to Jackson and Fawcett. The network has announced a special "20/20" called "The Life and Death of Michael Jackson" at 9 p.m. with Barbara Walters and Martin Bashir anchoring. Bashir came to the network after his 2003 documentary "Living With Michael Jackson" scored a large audience for the network. At 10 p.m., ABC's previously planned special "Farrah Fawcett: Her Life, Her Loves, Her Legacy" will air. Additional reporting will continue on “Nightline,” at 11:35 p.m., ET.

NBC News plans a two-hour episode of "Dateline" starting at 9 p.m. devoted to Jackson and Fawcett. NBC News' Ann Curry and Meredith Vieira will anchor the tribute. On Friday, NBC plans to rebroadcast "Farrah's Story," a two-hour documentary about Farrah Fawcett's battle with cancer.

CBS News currently plans a one-hour news special at 10 p.m., also titled "The Life and Death of Michael Jackson."

First of all, we can drop the pretense that anyone cares about Farrah Fawcett at this point. She didn't even get her own death post. Second, I can't believe that ABC missed the opportunity to title their special "Easy as 123". These sorts of oversights wouldn't happen if I was in charge of television. In addition to the above, FOX will be re-airing the episode of American Idol where people sang Michael Jackson songs. You can decide for yourself whether to enjoy the irony of the death of the King of Pop being honored by the vehicle thats making pop irrelevant one screaming tween at a time.

I'm glad the networks have given this a tv angle so we can cover it here (not that we wouldn't have anyway), but let's not dilude ourselves into thinking this is about anything other than cashing in for them. If you don't believe me, stay tuned for my post about which special got the best ratings.

via The Live Feed