The Hollywood Reporter, which broke the story that the History Channel was dropping plans to broadcast the miniseries "The Kennedys" (believed to include unflattering information long suppressed by the media) today reveals that direct pressure from two Kennedy family members with business ties to the owners of the History Channel was apparently at the root of the decision.

AETN[which owns the History Channel]  is owned by a consortium including the Walt Disney Co., NBC Universal and Hearst. The source said that Disney/ABC Television Group topper Anne Sweeney,who serves on the AETN board and is said to hold tremendous sway over its decisions, was personally lobbied by Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy. Caroline Kennedy has a book deal with Disney's Hyperion publishing division, which announced in April 2010 that it will publish a collection of previously unreleased interviews with the late Jackie Kennedy timed to the 50th anniversary of the first year of JFK's presidency this fall. (snip)

Kennedy scion Maria Shriver also has close ties to NBC Universal, where she worked for years as an employee in its news division. She is said to have voiced her displeasure with the project to outgoing NBCU execs Jeff Zucker and Jeff Gaspin. Gaspin serves on the AETN board, as does Scott Sassa for Hearst.

Shriver also is a friend of Sweeney, who serves on the board of the Special Olympics, founded by Shriver's mother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver. Sweeney and Shriver both attend the same church in the Los Angeles area, and a source said Shriver criticized the Kennedysproject to Sweeney after a leaked early script was attacked in the New York Timesas "vindictive" and "malicious" by a former JFK aide (though the final shooting script is said to have been vetted for accuracy by History's in-house historians).