News Nets Plans Specials on Casey Anthony Verdict

Add coverage following "not guilty" verdict

By Andrea Morabito -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/5/2011 4:36:37 PM

In the wake of Tuesday's verdict in the Casey Anthony trial, the news networks are lining up coverage specials to analyze the jury's decision.

ABC News will air a special one-hour edition of Nightline at 11:35 p.m. ET with co-anchor Terry Moran reporting from Orlando, Fla. Primetime Nightline will carry additional reports on Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET. George Stephanpoulos and Dan Abrams will also report from Orlando for Wednesday's Good Morning America.

CBS News will have the 48 Hours Mystery primetime special "Casey Anthony: Judgment Day" at 10 p.m. ET. Tony Roberts, who is onsite in Orlando, will be the principal correspondent. CBS News' Troy Roberts will appear on Wednesday's The Early Show, with contributors Vinni Politan, Jack Ford, Jennifer Barringer (from the Anthony defense team) and Casey Jordan.

TVNewser reported that Fox News will air a breaking news special at 5 p.m. ET, hosted by Martha MacCallum and Bill Hemmer.

CNN's In the Arena will devote a segment to the verdict at the 8 p.m. hour, with CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, Reliable Sources host Howard Kurtz, psychiatrist Dr. Gail Saltz and criminal defense attorney Ricky Clyman weighing in with host Eliot Spitzer. Piers Morgan Tonight will be live at 9 p.m. to also cover the verdict, with True Crime host Aphrodite Jones, News 13 reporter Jackie Fell and Judge Alex Ferrer reporting from Orlando.

HLN, which has been devoting near 24-hour coverage to the trial, will have a special report on the verdict until 7 p.m. Tuesday, followed by Issues with Jane Valez-Mitchell at 7 p.m. ET and a live Nancy Grace from 8-10 p.m ET, which will replay the rest of the night.

NBC News will have an hour dedicated to the Casey Anthony case airing on Dateline Friday at 9 p.m. ET.

The syndicated entertainment and news magazines also will cover the verdict and responses to it.

Warner Bros.' Extra is tackling the case on several fronts, with Dr. Drew Pinsky weighing in on what's next for Casey and Hollywood insiders speculating on how much money Casey could make off of her new-found notoriety in the form of a book deal or other offers. Extra also will compare the Anthony verdict to the OJ verdict, making a frame-by-frame comparison between the two, and, as always, will find out what Extra viewers think about the news.

Other syndicated shows are reporting on what celebrities think about the verdict, many of which tweeted strong reactions immediately upon hearing the jury's findings.

A Florida jury on Tuesday found Anthony not guilty of first-degree murder, manslaughter or aggravated child abuse in the 2008 death of her daughter Caylee, but guilty of four counts of supplying false information to law enforcement officers.

 

--Paige Albiniak contributed to this report.