The painstaking wait to hear from the U.S. Supreme Court, and the execution of Troy Davis that followed their decision not to stay, resulted in CNN and MSNBC continuing live coverage well after both channels are usually in tape.
MSNBC kept Ed Schultz on the air through the 11 PM hour last night, following the decision and the aftermath of his Davis’ execution. On CNN, Anderson Cooper went live at 10 PM to cover the news, and stayed on through the 11 PM hour as well. From 12-1 AM CNN/U.S. simulcast CNN International, which was covering the decision.
On Fox News, David was not mentioned once during Bill O’Reilly or Sean Hannity’s programs according to TVEyes, though those programs are often taped well in advance. Update: Hannity was live at 9 PM, interviewing Texas Governor Rick Perry. Greta Van Susteren covered the decision and execution a few times on her program, though she did not stay on through the 11 PM hour as her cable news competitors did.
The Supreme Court handed down their decision around 10:30 PM ET, and Davis was executed at 11:08 PM ET.