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Networks bleed into one for Michael Jackson farewell
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AP: Michael Jackson's daughter Paris-Michael Katherine cries at her father's
public memorial service in Los Angeles
TV viewers were hard pressed to find a network that did not carry Michael Jackson's public memorial on Tuesday.
Even ESPN News dipped into the live feed when Los Angeles Lakers stars Kobe Bryant and Earvin "Magic" Johnson took the Staples Center stage to deliver remarks, The sports channel promptly returned to normal programming when the NBA stars finished speaking.
Although ABC News was the first of the big three broadcast networks to announce it would preempt regular programming for the memorial - with anchor Charles Gibson at the helm in Los Angeles - the newsman ended up hosting from a studio in New York.
CBS News said initially it would not air the ceremony live, but changed its mind at the last minute and placed Katie Couric outside of the Staples Center to anchor coverage before and after the memorial.
NBC News' Brian Williams also anchored live footage from LA - a last minute decision that sent him to the left coast on Sunday after the network had initially announced it would not carry the memorial.
All three of the major cable news outlets were on board, but unlike MSNBC and CNN, Fox News Channel kept its headline crawl running at the bottom of the screen.
CNN's Larry King, invited by the family to attend the ceremony, had seats in the third row on the Staples Center floor behind the Jackson family.
Viewers of Tuesday's MTV's broadcast saw the return of 80s personalities Mark Goodman and John Norris to comment on Jackson's legacy. A black ribbon was affixed to the MTV logo at the bottom of the screen in memoriam.
At MTV's Viacom sibling BET, correspondents April Woodard and Jina Johnson - live from the outside the Staples Center - echoed comments that would later be shouted during the ceremony by the Rev. Al Sharpton . "We're not going to talk so much about the speculation or allegations surrounding his death," Woodard said. "What we are going to talk about is a celebration of his life."
An estimated one billion people worldwide watched the public memorial service across all media platforms, but hard numbers won't be available for several days, and even then, may not be completely accurate due to the enormity of the event.
- MSNBC announced it will re-air the memorial service in its entirety Tuesday night from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. EST.
Below are highlights from Tuesday's public memorial.
For more info:
BET's streaming coverage of MIchael Jackson's Memorial
More coverage on the death of Michael Jackson
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