MUMBAI: CBS News has fired a producer for interrupting the hit show CSI on flagship channel CBS with a special report on the death of the Palestinian president Yasser Arafat.

The news producer interrupted the last five minutes of CSI: NY with the special news bulletin. CSI has proven to be one of the Viacom owned broadcaster's biggest hits.

The word of dismissal came a day after CBS apologised to viewers for the interruption. The network released a statement saying, "An overly aggressive CBS News producer jumped the gun with a report that should have been offered to local stations for their late news. We sincerely regret the error".

The network has promised to retelecast the CSI episode, states media reports.