The somber mood across the U.S. during the weekend following Kennedy 's death was evident on the broadcast airwaves . The assassination of President Kennedy was the longest uninterrupted news event in the history of American television until the September 11 attacks . By 3 p.m. ( EST ) on November 22 , nearly every television station canceled their commercial schedules to stay with around-the-clock news coverage provided by the three U.S. television networks in 1963 : ABC , CBS , and NBC . From 3 p.m. that day until November 26 , all network entertainment and commercial programming ceased on U.S. television , and as such , this coverage was one of the earliest examples of what modern television viewers commonly known as a '' breaking news '' event . Overnights included taped footage of earlier news mixed with a few breaking news items . On Sunday night , NBC broadcast continuous live coverage of mourners passing the flag-draped bier in the Capitol rotunda as an estimated 250,000 people filed by . On November 24 , a concert performance of Gustav Mahler 's '' Symphony No. 2 '' , with Leonard Bernstein conducting , was telecast by CBS . Near the end of NBC 's coverage of the assassination and funeral , which ended past 1:00 a.m. ET , November 26 , the network broadcast a live special post-midnight concert by the National Symphony Orchestra , conducted by the director , Dr. Howard Mitchell , at Constitution Hall . Many radio stations – even many Top 40 rock and roll outlets – also went commercial-free , with many non-network stations playing nothing but classical and/or easy listening instrumental selections interspersed with news bulletins . ( It has been reported , though , that some stations , such as WAPE in Jacksonville , Florida , and other stations in parts of the country where Kennedy was unpopular carried on with their normal programming as usual . ) Most stations did return to normal programming on the day after the funeral
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Reactions to the assassination of John F. Kennedy