Ford: FNC “Owned Late-Night “

FNC’s Jeff Goldblatt broke the news on cable at 11:48pm. CNN followed 90 seconds later and MSNBC was a few seconds after that. Once the AP sent a bulletin, “it was a pure horse race to see who would get to air first,” ICN notes.

“Fox owned the late-night coverage of the passing of Gerald Ford,” Eat the Press says. It was “the only network to continue its live coverage straight through the night” (and it announced that fact frequently).

The net had some technical difficulties when James Rosen tried to come on by phone. Before long, Rosen and Molly Henneberg were live in D.C…

> Update: 12:26pm: From an e-mailer: “FNC is patting themselves on the back for carrying live coverage all night, but at what point is it too much? Eventually the stories start repeating and guests on the phone have to go, either to sleep or prep for appearances on the morning shows. Longer does not always mean better…”

> Update: 12:38pm: A few more notes. On CNN, Anderson Cooper anchord until 2am, when CNN went to a taped Larry King interview with Ford. MSNBC aired an old Time & Again about Ford at 2am, also.