NETWORKS TO SIMULCAST BENEFIT SHOW

Networks to Simulcast Benefit Show

Bob's Note: I watched this event on TV tonight and it was the finest benefit show I've ever seen. It started with Bruce Springsteen solo on guitar and harmonica singing, "c'mon, rise on up" in his "City in Ruins" song. Mariah Carey brought tears to my eyes with her song about "and then there came a hero with the strength to carry on" just after she was hospitalized for depression herself. Tom Hanks opened the show with a humble statement that they are only the entertainers, not the heros and ended his talk with "we are one nation, indivisible." I was disappointed that he didn't complete the sentence with, "under God" but the rest of the program had references everywhere to God, the Almighty, and Julia Roberts went on to add "God Is Great" in the way of the Islamic prayer. Clint Eastwood finished the evening with quotes from "My Country 'tis of thee" and looked incredibly fierce, like an eagle developing an attitude. Dirty Harry never looked that intense. I shed quiet tears several times at the stories the actors related between each song about real heroes, too many to mention but all moving. Tonight was an example of what the media can do right when it pulls itself out of the self-indulgent sewer it usually wallows in. Maybe we will yet see a change. Let's hope.

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.

Nearly 60 Million Watch Telethon

By David Bauder
AP Television Writer
Saturday, Sept. 22, 2001; 5:56 p.m. EDT

NEW YORK –– Nearly 60 million people in the United States watched Hollywood's finest pay tribute to real-life heroes during an unprecedented benefit for victims of the terrorist attacks.

The telethon was shown Friday night on more than 30 networks, including the six biggest broadcasters – ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, UPN and the WB. It was seen in an estimated 210 countries.

The 59.3 million people who watched on a Friday – normally one of the least-watched nights of the week – compares to the 80 million or so who watched the Super Bowl or news coverage the night of the attacks on Sept. 11, Nielsen Media Research said Saturday.

It topped, for example, the 51 million people who watched the final "Survivor" in the summer of 2000.

Nielsen estimated that about 89 million people watched at least a little of the benefit. The 59.3 million figure is Nielsen's estimate of who was watching during an average minute of the two-hour show.

Organizers said Saturday they won't know until at least Monday how much money was raised to help the World Trade Center and Pentagon attack victims. The telethon logged 300,000 calls in the first 15 minutes of the live telecast. It was seen on tape on the West Coast.

From Tom Hanks to Julia Roberts, actors made understated appeals for donations, telling stories of innocent people killed and heroic acts. They alternated short speeches with singers such as Willie Nelson and Wyclef Jean, who performed on sets decorated with hundreds of burning candles.

"We are not healers," Hanks said. "We are not protectors of this great nation. We are merely artists, entertainers, here to raise spirits and, we hope, a great deal of money."

Nelson led an all-star version of "America the Beautiful" with Stevie Wonder on harmonica and Mariah Carey, in one of her first public appearances since her breakdown, on backup vocals. Canadian singer Celine Dion's version of "God Bless America."

"America: A Tribute to Heroes" was reminiscent of the Live Aid concerts for famine relief in 1985, but that wasn't available across such a wide spectrum of networks.

The star power was intense, and the production complex. Within the first 15 minutes, Bruce Springsteen, Wonder and the rock band U2 performed on stages in New York, Los Angeles and London. For security reasons, there was no audience.

"This is a prayer for our fallen brothers and sisters," Springsteen said before singing one of his newer songs, "My City of Ruins."

Neil Young performed the late John Lennon's hit, "Imagine." Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers played their defiant "I Won't Back Down." Jean, dressed in stars and stripes, sang Bob Marley's "Redemption Song."

With such stars as Tom Cruise, Roberts and Jim Carrey and a two-hour limit, it was hard to fit in everybody. Meg Ryan, Jack Nicholson, Sylvester Stallone and other celebrities were relegated to the phone bank, answering contributors' calls.

Actor Will Smith appeared with the boxer he's portraying in an upcoming movie, Muhammad Ali, to remind viewers not to target all Muslims in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks.

"I wouldn't be here representing Islam if it were terrorist," Ali said. "I think all people should know the truth, come to recognize the truth. Islam is peace."