Amanda Knox Weighs '60 Minutes' Offer

This article originally appeared in the Nov. 4 issue of The Hollywood Reporter.

The jockeying to win the first in-depth TV interview with Amanda Knox is on. Broadcast news divisions, having worked the story during the four years Knox spent in jail in Italy, have submitted proposals that give Knox, 24, and her family airtime across multiple platforms. Knox rep David Marriott tells THR he has been inundated with offers but hasn't read many. "I can't see my desk," he says.

But there is one thing that is not included in the news divisions’ pitches to secure an interview that will surely produce a ratings windfall: cash.

Network news divisions publicly disavowed the practice of licensing personal photos and home videos from interview subjects after it was revealed that networks did pay Casey Anthony and her family. So Knox's best option for a big check is to first ink a book deal. Sources say the family has yet to retain a literary agent and that Knox likely won't do an interview until a book deal is in place. But nets still are trying, especially because Knox doesn't have Anthony's ethical baggage. 

“There’s nothing wrong with this booking,” observes one producer. “So everyone is going to offer everything that they have.” 

And Marriott says the goal of any TV interview is for "Amanda to tell her story as broadly and deeply as possible with great credibility and dignity." 

ABC: New hire Katie Couric is keeping the lines of communication open with Knox's mom, but 20/20's Elizabeth Vargas is the ABC front-runner because of her reporting on the case.

CBS: Its proposal includes 60 Minutes. Notes CBS News chairman Jeff Fager, "It will be interesting to see if she does something because it is the right place to do it -- without anything in return."

NBC: Today's Matt Lauer has been anointed the network's Knox interviewer. "NBC News is different; we're not battling each other for these stories," says news president Steve Capus.