NETWORKS TO SIMULCAST BENEFIT SHOW

Networks to Simulcast Benefit Show

By David Bauder
AP Television Writer
Thursday, Sept. 20, 2001; 9:01 a.m. EDT

NEW YORK –– At least 27 television networks have agreed to set aside their regular schedules to simulcast Friday's star-studded benefit for terrorist attack victims.

"America: A Tribute to Heroes" will be seen across the broadcast spectrum, on ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, PBS, UPN, the WB, Pax TV, Univision and the Telemundo network.

Cable channels signed on include HBO, TNT, E!, Lifetime, Comedy Central, MTV, VH1, TNN, BET, BET Jazz, Fox Family, FX, Court TV, Discovery, TLC, Showtime and the Sundance Channel.

Tom Cruise, Bruce Springsteen, Julia Roberts, Jim Carrey, Stevie Wonder, George Clooney, Will Smith and Billy Joel are among the stars who have agreed to donate their time.

The show will be broadcast live on the East Coast from stages in New York and Los Angeles. There will be no live audience, and organizers refuse to say where the events will be held for security reasons.

Joel Gallen, who has produced such events as the MTV Movie Awards, is running the show.

The United Way announced that its September 11 Fund has been designated to receive the funds raised from the benefit.

Such cooperation across the television dial has little precedent.

During World War II, the CBS and NBC radio networks produced a Christmas Eve 1942 entertainment special starring Jack Benny, Tommy Dorsey and Judy Garland that was broadcast widely across the country, according to the Museum of Television and Radio.

In 1953, the Ford Motor Co. produced a 50th anniversary show featuring Ethel Merman, Frank Sinatra and Edward R. Murrow that was broadcast simultaneously on ABC, CBS and NBC.

Although other cable networks may sign on, some have declined to participate.

The ESPN sports networks – ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Classic and ESPNews – will stick with regular programming. "Sports has resumed and we're trying to get back to some degree of normalcy, putting it back in its proper context," spokesman Chris LaPlaca said.

Nickelodeon, which airs children's programming regularly through 10 p.m. on Fridays, and The Disney Channel are also not taking the telethon.

"Our point of view has been and continues to be that Nick should be a safe haven for kids to see their normal entertainment programs," spokesman Dan Martinsen said.

CNN plans to show parts of the program, and Fox News Channel will cover it as a news event. MSNBC has not decided what to do. Although HBO is showing the telethon, its sister channel Cinemax is not.