In October 1995, a week after the murder trial against him ended with a shocking not-guilty verdict, O.J. Simpson agreed to do a TV interview with NBC News. Then, only hours before the live sit-down, Simpson backed out. Now TMZ is reporting that Casey Anthony, whose trial over the murder of her daughter garnered media attention of the size of Simpson’s and her recent not-guilty verdict sparked a similar outcry, has too opted not to do a TV interview right away. That despite the fact that her lawyer had been negotiating with potential suitors for the past two weeks. Those negotiations were plagued by accusations of bidding by the networks’ TV divisions, prompting most of them to issue statements that they won’t pay for an interview with Anthony. You can’t blame the networks for going after Anthony — notoriety is a big audience draw. Barbara Walters’ 1999 interview with Monica Lewinsky was seen by 74 million viewers, a record for a journalist’s interview. NBC News’ 1995 interview with Simpson had been projected to fetch Super Bowl-size audience of 90+ million. (more…)