Written by David Morgan

 

Seemingly by default, Larry King has snagged himself the much sought-after post jail interview with Paris Hilton. According to , ABC and NBC had been locked in a bidding war in an effort to repair the poor ratings of Good Morning America and Today, respectively. ABC used Barbara Walters' personal relationship with Kathy Hilton, while NBC threw some money around (reportedly $1 million). But NBC doesn't call it "paying for an interview" of course. No, it's called "paying expenses."

 

When the media heard that the Hilton family was likely going to be profiting from their daughter's time in jail, the newspapers feigned outrage, and the Hiltons seemed to be more ABC-inclined, but eventually the network gave up on the idea. In fact, both networks had decided that the negative publicity outweighed any benefits of getting the interview. CBS never even tried. And then, out of nowhere, Larry King swooped in and snagged the interview for no money and with "no ground rules." That's how you do it. Play it cool, let them come to you, Larry. It's funny to think that Paris Hilton was maybe this close to having her comeback interview on PBS with Charlie Rose.