Oops! NBC Apologizes for Using ABC’s Perot Coverage : Television: NBC says its use of ABC’s satellite feed of Perot’s press conference was an ‘honest mistake.’

When Ross Perot shook up the Democratic National Convention on Thursday with his decision not to run as an independent candidate for the presidency, viewers who were tuned to NBC-TV missed Perot’s saying that he would not run--and when NBC began showing Perot’s Dallas press conference several minutes late, the network used the ABC News satellite feed.

“NBC News had no permission to use our satellite feed--they stole it from us,” said Terry Everett, ABC News spokeswoman.

NBC said that it was an honest mistake, made when the network could not locate its own satellite feed from KXAS, the NBC affiliate in Dallas. “We were having trouble receiving the signal from KXAS, and, when we punched up CNBC’s satellite feed, we thought they’d found the feed to NBC,” Tory Beilinson, NBC News spokeswoman explained. (CNBC is a cable-news network owned by NBC. Why CNBC was carrying the ABC picture could not be immediately ascertained.)

NBC briefly superimposed the NBC peacock logo on the scene, which was coming from WFAA, the ABC affiliate in Dallas. But officials at WFAA, noticing their “Channel 8” microphone in the foreground, called NBC to complain that the network was using a picture that belonged to ABC.

“Once we found out, we immediately took it off the air,” Beilinson said. “It was an honest mistake.”

NBC reporters Tim Russert and Ann Curry completed the NBC coverage, Beilinson said, with only the last few minutes of the press conference being lost to NBC viewers.

“Larry King Live”--where Perot began his surprising candidacy by saying he’d run if viewers wanted him to--booked Perot for what the producers said would be the first live interview since he gave up the run. He was scheduled to appear on “Larry King Live” tonight at 6. Producer Tamara Haddad called Perot to ask for his initial post-campaign interview.

“Perot told us he thought he ought to come back to where it all started,” King said. “People have linked me with his campaign, but I’m a Cuomo liberal myself. I do think that his candidacy showed that there are an enormous number of people out there who are searching for something.”

In another reaction to Perot’s surprise announcement Thursday, Capitol Records canceled tonight’s scheduled live recording of a “Perot Comedy Album.” The recording session had been advertised in Thursday’s Daily Variety.