NBC U, Intelsat Gear Up for Live Earth
Live Earth: The Concerts for a Climate in Crisis Touted as Biggest HDTV Event in History
By Linda Moss -- Multichannel News, 6/28/2007 11:48:00 AM
Intelsat next week will globally distribute Live Earth: The Concerts for a Climate in Crisis, which is being touted as the biggest HDTV event in history.
The worldwide event, which takes place July 7, will air in the United States on a variety of NBC Universal TV networks -- namely NBC, Bravo, Universal HD, Sundance Channel, CNBC, MSNBC, Telemundo and mun2. Those services will air nine concerts from seven continents as part of the concerts’ effort to raise awareness of the solutions to the global climate crisis.
Live Earth will use Intelsat -- the largest provider of commercial satellite services -- to beam headliners such as Madonna and The Police to an expected 2 billion viewers around the globe. Intelsat will use a network of satellite and terrestrial facilities to collect and distribute program feeds from the Live Earth concerts in standard-definition and HDTV.
Live Earth will feature 24 hours of music with performances by more than 150 artists.
“Live Earth has the potential to be the world’s largest high-definition event, so our production-standard requirements are obviously going to be complex and widespread,” Live Earth founder and producer Kevin Wall said in a prepared statement. “Intelsat’s turnkey transmission services provide us the capacity we need to successfully broadcast this event around the world.”
NBC U is the exclusive U.S. broadcaster of Live Earth. NBC will broadcast a three-hour primetime special featuring highlights of performances from around the world, including live moments from the U.S. concert at Giants Stadium in New Jersey. Hosted by Ann Curry of Today with Carson Daly of Last Call with Carson Daly, the special will also feature the biggest and brightest stars of today with information on what viewers at home can do to help with environmental and conservation issues.
Bravo will present a live 18-hour broadcast and best-of moments from the concerts from 8 a.m. July 7-2 a.m. July 8. For online users, Bravo’s Web site will feature live blogging about the show, tips and features on how to live a greener life and a complete schedule of Bravo's on-air concert moments. And for conservationists on-the-go, Bravo offers green tips and 30-minute alerts for upcoming performances via text message.
Sundance and Universal HD will air 22-hour live broadcasts and best-of moments from the concerts from 4 a.m. July 7-2 a.m. July 8. Universal HD is the only channel where the entire day's concerts will be broadcast in HDTV.
Telemundo will broadcast a one-hour special at 7 p.m., and mun2 will air a two-hour special from 5 p.m.-7 p.m. Both specials will feature the hottest Latin acts performing at the concerts including Shakira, Enrique Iglesias and Mana.
CNBC will feature a seven-hour primetime broadcast from 7 p.m. July 7-2 a.m. July 8.
MSNBC will broadcast special coverage of this global concert event throughout the day with live reports from the concerts in New York and London.
