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Imagine if Judge Lance Ito hadn't let TV cameras in the courtroom? The biggest question on the minds of daytime TV viewers last week could have been whether The Young and the Restless' Nikki and Victor should reconcile.

But with its unprecedented TV coverage, the O.J. Simpson double-murder trial turned the usually staid pursuit of justice into the most riveting, sensational, and unpredictable show ever to hit the tube. No matter how you feel about the verdict, one piece of evidence is irrefutable: Over its nearly nine-month run, the courtroom circus of the century has transformed entertainment. Here's how: Daytime declined: Steamy network soaps and sordid syndicated talk shows just couldn't compete with the courtroom drama being broadcast live. With their gavel-to-gavel telecasts, CNN, E! Entertainment Television, and Court TV lured throngs of viewers into the fold of cable TV. Now that the trial is over, viewers may not necessarily go back. ''A lot of people used to plan their schedule around their soaps,'' says Paul Schulman, president of the Paul Schulman Company, a media buying firm. ''Now people have learned they can live without them.''

Cable hit pay dirt: As the trial unfolded, CNN's viewership increased nearly fivefold, while E!'s daytime ratings quadrupled. Court TV viewership swelled significantly too, though the company declines to say how much.

Cable's biggest benefactor might be Geraldo Rivera's once-struggling CNBC entry, Rivera Live. The show began airing in February, and ''it wasn't really doing much,'' says Andy Friendly, outgoing vice president of prime time programming for CNBC. When Rivera began tackling the trial, ratings jumped from 0.2 percent to a high of 2.4 percent in the last week.

But how many of these new viewers will continue to hang around? ''We could fool ourselves thinking we'll keep a third or half,'' says Bob Furnad, executive VP of CNN. ''But we'll be pleased if we do a little better than prior to O.J.''

To that modest end, CNN has already added a new daily legal discussion show, Burden of Proof, hosted by its commentating team of Greta Van Susteren and Roger Cossack. E! will likely retain its on-air O.J. anchor, Kathleen Sullivan. On the other hand, Court TV is trying to distance itself from O.J. ''There are other trials,'' says Court TV founder and CEO Steve Brill, including ''a war crimes case and a tainted blood transfusion case in New York.''

Jay Leno found a shtick: Before the trial, David Letterman was the king of late-night talk shows and Leno a struggling court jester. Although both initially steered clear of O.J. jokes, Leno was soon poking fun nightly at everyone from the defendant to the judge. His Dancing Itos were among the regular O.J. gags that galvanized the show and, aided by a drop in CBS' viewership, helped Leno surpass Letterman for the first time in the ratings. Nightline also benefitted from O.J., coming in first during all the trial's high points.


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