Kicking off this week with “Killing Kennedy” (which set viewership records for Nat Geo with more than 3 million viewers), networks such as National Geographic are programming the month of November around the 50th anniversary of the JFK assassination through documentaries, specials and re-airings.
Below, Brief takes a look at what some TV networks are doing.
ABC
Nov. 17 kicks off a week of JFK-related programming on “Good Morning America,” “World News Tonight” and “Nightline.” “GMA” will broadcast live from Dallas on Nov. 22, “World News Tonight” will have a telecast focusing on the assassination’s conspiracy theories and “Nightline” has an hour-long special planned.
CBS
CBS will air “As it Happened: John F. Kennedy 50 Years,” a one-hour special hosted by Bob Schieffer, who is also hosting “Face the Nation” live from Dallas. Scott Pelley will also host a night of the “CBS Evening News” from Dallas, featuring an interview with the Secret Service agent who was at the site of the tragedy.
CNN
CNN’s series “The Sixties” will include a two-hour episode called “The Sixties: The Assassination of JFK,” about the event itself as well as its impact on the ‘60s era political culture.
Discovery
“The Lost JFK Tapes: The Assassination” will air on Discovery channel on Nov. 21, presenting footage of witnesses, news broadcasts and other communications from the day.
Fox News
Fox News aired the special “50 Years of Questions: The JFK Assassination” on Nov. 9 that focused on the controversy behind the assassination and the Warren Commission.
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History/H2
History, perhaps the most natural place for documentaries like these to appear, has a night of JFK programming planned. First, “JFK Assassination: The Definitive Guide” will examine conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination in Dallas. “Lee Harvey Oswald: 48 Hours to Live” follows it, portraying his killer during his final days.
History has also planned a “JFK Twitter Takeover,” in which History’s Twitter account will recount the events as they happened leading up to JFK’s assassination.
Sister net H2 plans to air “The Lost Kennedy Home Movies,” which focuses more on his family life, telling the story through footage of his own childhood as well as his family throughout his years in the White House.
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National Geographic
Perhaps the month’s flagship TV event, “Killing Kennedy,” based on Bill O’Reilly’s book of the same name, aired Nov. 10 on Nat Geo. Rob Lowe and Ginnifer Goodwin star as the president and first lady. Last weekend National Geographic Channel also aired “JFK: The Final Hours,” the Bill Paxton-narrated documentary.
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NBC/MCNBC
Tom Brokaw hosts “Where Were You?” on Nov. 22, with first-hand accounts from people in Dallas that day. “Meet the Press” will have a documentary special that covers JFK’s campaign for president called “MTP Remembers: JFK — the Presidential Campaign.” MSNBC’s Chris Matthews interviews the Kennedy clan as part of 2009’s “Kennedy Brothers: A Hardball Documentary.”
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PBS
PBS is centering its programming on its JFK Week beginning Nov. 11, encompassing “JFK: American Experience,” the two-night special, “NOVA: Cold Case JFK,” in which science series NOVA takes a new look at the case’s evidence, and “Secrets of the Dead JFK.”
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Reelz
Reelz, which originally aired “The Kennedys” miniseries, is running a marathon of the original series again this weekend, as well as the documentary “JFK: The Smoking Gun.” The doc presents the theory that Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone shooter. “JFK: Inside the Evidence,” a companion special to “Smoking Gun,” continues the conversation.
Smithsonian Channel
The Smithsonian Channel will mark the anniversary with “The Day Kennedy Died,” a documentary featuring first-hand accounts, narrated by Kevin Spacey.
TLC
Star-studded “Letters to Jackie: Remembering President Kennedy” features Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Mark Ruffalo, Laura Linney and more celebrities reading some of the condolence letters sent to the White House in 1963.
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