NEW YORK – CBS (search) apologized Thursday for breaking into its prime-time drama "CSI: NY" for a special report on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's (search) death, blaming an "overly aggressive" producer.
The 10:55 p.m. EST report on Wednesday cut off the ending of the popular forensics drama, prompting a cascade of viewer complaints.
The network said the "CSI: NY" (search) episode would be repeated in its entirety 10 p.m. EST Friday.
The report came just five minutes before local news broadcasts in the East and Midwest. ABC and NBC waited until the local news to break the story; in the West, NBC ran a "crawl" with the news at the bottom of the screen.
"An overly aggressive CBS News producer jumped the gun with a report that should have been offered to local stations for their late news," the network said in a statement. "We sincerely regret the error."
CBS News spokeswoman Sandy Genelius declined to identify the producer or say whether the person faced disciplinary action.
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