Balloon Boy costs a lot of money

I literally got nothing done yesterday because like so many others, I was glued to the TV watching the alien-like helium balloon floating through the sky with a 6-year old inside. Well, at least that's what we thought for about 4 hours. Turns out, Falcon Heele was hiding in his family's garage. Today many are questioning whether or not the family did this as a publicity stunt. I can tell you one thing--TV stations across this country lost a lot of money because of this. I was watching CNN, and they did wall-to-wall coverage for at least 2 hours without a commercial break. Money lost. My friends say the Denver stations were doing the same thing. Money lost. Denver TV stations sent crews all over the place, trying to talk with the family in Fort Collins, and trying to get a crew at the scene when the balloon finally came down. Money lost. Then when Falcon was found about 5:20 p.m. Central Time, stations were scrambling because this was their lead story, and probably most of their A-block (meaning the first 8 minutes of the newscast). But then the kid was found in a drama-free way. What do they do now?? I guess I question whether we should all go crazy relying on a 10-year old's account that he saw his brother climb into the balloon. Then again, it made for great TV.