THE O.J. SIMPSON MURDER TRIAL : Coverage Will Run From Serious to Offbeat, All the Time to Sometimes

As the curtain finally rises on what some have called the trial of the century, television viewers can choose from “All O.J.,” “No O.J.,” “Top of the Hour O.J.,” “O.J. Straight” and “O.J. Lite.”

Meanwhile, radio listeners can flip between “O.J. All Day” or “You Give Us 20 Minutes, We’ll Give You O.J.”

The media coverage of the O.J. Simpson murder trial will range from the straightforward gavel to gavel approach of CNN and Court TV to the more offbeat involvement of E! Entertainment Television, a cable network that is preempting its usual schedule of film and TV show promotions to provide continuous coverage of the trial, complete with commentary from legal experts and gossip columnists.

Even comedians and sportscasters are getting into the act. Jackie Mason is taking two days off from his “Jackie Mason: Politically Incorrect” Broadway show to cover the opening of the trial for BBC Radio, while all-sports network ESPN plans to go live to the courtroom during key moments.

Adopting a more serious approach, most networks, as well as many local network affiliates and independent stations, have opted to keep viewers informed with hourly updates of the trial without preempting regular programming.

On radio, KNX-AM (1070) is planning to broadcast the entire trial, just as it covered Simpson’s pretrial and preliminary hearings. KFWB-AM (980) will cover opening statements and “compelling testimony” live, but will basically provide updates every 20 minutes.

The networks’ and local stations’ strategy of backing away from extensive live coverage is a departure from options that were considered last year when the media frenzy over the case broke out. Among the possibilities pondered were gavel-to-gavel coverage and a rotation among ABC, CBS and NBC.

Even on the eve of opening statements, news executives from radio and television were still debating how much of their resources should go toward covering the trial, and whether the case had already been overexposed.

“We think it is a fascinating and multidimensional story with all these fascinating elements, from spousal abuse to a potential fallen hero to a murder mystery,” said Steve Haworth, a spokesman for CNN.

Bob Sims, KNX news director, agreed.

“What we’ve got here is the biggest legal case, certainly in my lifetime,” Sims said. “It is right in our own back yard and it wrestles with questions involving celebrity, race, domestic violence, jurisprudence, great wealth and fairness. Any one of these would make it justify special coverage and consideration in terms of its news value. To my mind the question becomes, why would you not provide special coverage of such an event?”

But Chris Claus, general manager of rival KFWB, argued that there has already been an overdose of Simpson coverage.

“I’m personally tired of the story,” Claus said. “I think gavel-to-gavel coverage of the O.J. Simpson case is too much coverage. I think our audience has spoken to us over the last six months very clearly that the story is getting tired. As a consequence, there will be a shortage of places in the electronic media where you can be informed on what else is going on. I frankly think everything else going on is equally important, if not more important, than the O.J. Simpson story.”

Larry Perret, news director for KCBS-TV Channel 2, said: “We’re just going to do hourly updates. We’ve heard from viewers and a lot of folks do not want gavel to gavel. We’re listening to them.”

KCOP-TV Channel 13 said it is determined to treat the trial as just another story on its 10 p.m. newscast.

“We will do as little as possible in what has become an inane effort to build this thing up,” said KCOP general manager Rick Feldman. “This is not a fire, an earthquake or a story where people in Los Angeles are in jeopardy. We will treat it as a news story unless something extraordinary happens. Giving this so much time is just sick.”

However, executives at the network affiliates and most local stations said they still plan to give the trial plenty of time, with live coverage of the opening statements and closing arguments and the testimony of any important witnesses--particularly Simpson, if he takes the stand.

The continuous broadcast of the weeklong preliminary hearing in June by all the networks resulted in each losing an estimated $1 million in advertising revenue, and prompted an uproar from soap opera fans who were upset that story lines were interrupted.

Network executives said sticking to hourly updates is the best way to keep viewers up to date on the trial while not alienating devotees of other programming.

“There are a lot of really boring things that go on in the course of any trial proceeding,” said Lane Venardos, vice president of hard news and special events for CBS.

“People are interested in watching their shows during the day. There is not unlimited interest in O.J. Simpson,” he said.

Although there was a lull for several months and public interest in the case seemed to decline, executives said it will revive once testimony in the trial starts.

“People were getting tired of all the related stories,” said David Bohrman, executive producer of news specials for NBC. “When it gets back in court, the interest will come back.”

Times staff writer Claudia Puig contributed to this story.