THE O.J. SIMPSON MURDER TRIAL : CBS Takes Down Its Camp O.J. Scaffolding

There’s some decamping going on at Camp O.J.

Concerned about mounting expenses in its coverage of the O.J. Simpson murder trial at the Criminal Courts Building, CBS is removing its high-standing stage and scaffolding tower from the area where networks and other stations have set up operations to keep track of the proceedings.

Lane Venardos, vice president of hard news and special events for CBS, said the network was spending too much money in renting and maintaining the scaffolding, which held a stage where reporters and anchors could file reports.

Venardos added that CBS also will remove two of its five trailers, where much of the technical operation of editing and monitoring was done.

He declined to specify how much money the network would save by dismantling the scaffolding and getting rid of the trailers, but he noted that viewers would not see any change in the nature or the amount of trial coverage.

“We were just spending too much money, and we’re just cutting down on things that don’t really affect the editorial coverage,” Venardos said.

Reporters and anchors will now use the general pool area in the lot where several stations file their reports.

ABC and NBC, which also have high-standing towers, said they have no plans to take down their scaffolding or remove any facilities from the lot.