The Greatest Show on Earth
The Live 8 concerts next month will be the largest global TV broadcast in history, organisers have said. Some 85% of the world’s population will be able to tune into the concert through a variety of media.
The series of free concerts – including shows in London, Philadelphia, Paris, Rome, Berlin, Johannesburg, Tokyo and Toronto – will take place on 2 July and will be broadcast in more than 140 countries, on TV, radio, online or through mobile phones.
The London concert, to be staged at Hyde Park, will include Coldplay, Madonna, U2 and Sir Paul McCartney. The concerts are designed to put pressure on the G8 industrialised nations to do more to ease poverty in Africa.
Executive producer Kevin Wall said: “This monumental live broadcast is without doubt the largest global live transmission in history – spanning the entire world – and importantly will be the first to truly embrace the powerful broadband internet.
“Everyone talks about having something you can watch on the internet, on TV, something you can hear on terrestrial and satellite radio, and even watch it on your cell phone – well Live 8 is making this real. Everyone in the world will have the opportunity to view and interact with this groundbreaking event and collectively we will come together to have our voices heard and eliminate extreme poverty.”
Co-organiser Sir Bob Geldof is due to rally the Glastonbury Festival crowds when the festival joins the campaign to combat poverty in Africa, one week before Live 8. The audience will be asked to link hands just after 1600 BST on Saturday to support Make Poverty History. They will be urged to join the demonstration in Edinburgh on 2 July, just a few days before world leaders meet at the G8 summit at Gleneagles.
London Live 8 Gig Statistics
• More than 150,000 music fans will watch the show
• The stage will be as high as five double-decker buses on top of each other
• The stage has been built with more than 270 tons of steel and wood
• The sound system includes more than 200 speakers
• The 12 giant screens used will cover a total area of 472 sqm, the biggest ever in Europe.
From BBC News