Toward the end of the first week of January, an assistant in the office of Abbe Raven, president of the A&E cable channels, made a courtesy call to net work partner ABC.

Was there any conflict if the His tory channel, one of A&E’s affiliates, scheduled its new, eight-hour mini series “The Ken nedys” to air in March?

The answer came back: Not March — not ever.

Why?

Caroline Kennedy had leveled an ultimatum to the companies — dump the reportedly warts- and-all miniseries or lose her cooperation in the planned fall release of never-before-heard conversations with her mother.