Kennedy’s death dominates television coverage
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The death Tuesday of Sen. Edward Kennedy dominated the network news programs and cable news channels this morning as remembrances of the man known as ‘the Lion of the Senate’ poured in. CBS and ABC both announced that they will be airing prime-time specials about Kennedy tonight.
‘Ted Kennedy: The Last Brother,’ anchored by Katie Couric, will be shown on CBS at 8 p.m. ET/PT, and ABC will run ‘Remembering Ted Kennedy’ at 10 p.m. ET/PT, anchored by Charles Gibson outside the Kennedy compound in Hyannis Port, Mass., and Diane Sawyer in New York. NBC -- which is scheduled to air two new episodes of ‘America’s Got Talent’ tonight -- does not plan to run a prime-time special but will be offering its affiliates a special one-hour ‘NBC Nightly News’ anchored by Brian Williams in Hyannis Port. Williams, who reported from there this morning for ‘Today,’ said he had written a 10-minute-long remembrance of Kennedy.
The news of Kennedy’s death -- which had been expected for some time -- was first reported by ABC’s George Stephanopoulos during a breaking news bulletin at 10:18 p.m. PT, interrupting the West Coast airing of ‘Primetime’ Tuesday night. The network then produced a new edition of ‘Nightline’ for West Coast viewers focused on Kennedy’s passing.
[Updated at 8:12 a.m.: CNN plans to air the HBO documentary ‘Teddy: In His Own Words’ from 4 to 6 p.m. PT, hosted by Campbell Brown. MSNBC also will have special coverage tonight, including the premiere of a documentary about the Kennedy brothers by Chris Matthews, which was originally scheduled to air Thursday. Fox News will cover Kennedy’s death as part of its regularly scheduled programs, with hosts including Bill O’Reilly interviewing special guests about Kennedy’s legacy.]
[Updated at 12:01 p.m.: PBS plans to air tonight an encore of the program ‘The Kennedys: American Experience’ at 8 p.m.]
-- Matea Gold