"Network officials knew that Fox had the inside track, but NBC chose to play a valuable card in its hand. NBC made a written offer to pre-empt an investigative program into Mr. Jackson by "Dateline," an NBC News program, an offer that the Jackson side understood to mean the segment's cancellation, a senior Jackson adviser said, not just its indefinite postponement, as NBC insists...
"In the end, the Jackson adviser said, the deal with Fox went ahead for more than $5 million, even without an interview with Mr. Jackson, his advisers said, and the NBC offer was spurned.
"Dateline" expanded its Jackson segment to two hours, and it ran on Feb. 17. Titled "Michael Jackson Unmasked," the special was critical and featured Mr. Jackson's extensive plastic surgery and his ties to a former producer of pornographic films, Marc Schaffel."
New York Times story here