The Discovery TV network said it canceled plans to air a reenactment of the autopsy on Michael Jackson's body, citing an upcoming court hearing and concern by the late pop star's estate.
The show, "Michael Jackson's Autopsy: What Really Killed Michael Jackson," had been set to air in some countries of western Europe and in the UK on Jan. 13.
"Given the commencement of legal proceedings beginning next week, and at the request of Michael Jackson's estate, the scheduled broadcast of the medical documentary related to Michael Jackson's official autopsy has been postponed indefinitely," Discovery Networks International said in a statement.
A Discovery TV spokesman declined comment beyond the statement. Co-executors of the estate responded in their own statement saying they were "pleased" with the decision.
Discovery's show, which was not scheduled to air in the America, was an unofficial, fictional account of what the autopsy must have been like and its results.
But Michael Jackson fans protested in an online petition launched earlier this month, and the co-executors of his estate sent a letter this week to Discovery Networks calling the program "insensitive" and "in shockingly bad taste."
A print advertisement for the program shows a body covered by a sheet, with one hand poking out wearing the singer's well known sequined glove.
Following Discovery's decision, McClain and Branca released a statement saying, "we are hopeful that this show will never run in market in the future."
"While Discovery cited legal proceedings and our request as the reasons for its decision, none of this would have happened had it not been for the incredible passion displayed by countless Michael Jackson fans worldwide who knew they stood as one and that their voices could not be ignored," the statement said.
Jackson's physician at the time of his death, Dr. Conrad Murray, has admitted giving the singer propofol, which is often used in surgery, and Murray has been charged by authorities with involuntary manslaughter in Jackson's death.
Murray has pleaded not guilty, and a preliminary hearing to determine if enough evidence exists to make him stand trial begins in Los Angeles on Jan.