Live 8 Rocks The World; MTV Networks Coverage Doesn't Rock Anything





The stars came out in droves around the planet today. Paul McCartney, REM, U2, The Killers, Madonna, Duran Duran, The Who, Pink Floyd, Barenaked Ladies, Dave Matthews Band, Rob Thomas, Jay-Z, Stevie Wonder, Toby Keith, Linkin Park, Mariah Carey and the list goes on and on. The people came out in droves - perhaps as many as one million in Philadelphia alone. And the world tried to watch on television.

Tried to watch? By no means do I want to take away from the importance of Live 8 and the historic impact it could have as the G8 leaders meet. But what was MTV and VH1 thinking in their obtrusive and constantly interrupted coverage? Hosts and on-air personalities rattled constantly, breaking into live sets and hopping from one point in a venue to another. Other times the network cut to commercial mid-set. Multi-act festivals are difficult to watch without the help of shoddy production planning on the part of MTV Networks.

I remember watching Live Aid in 1985. If my memory serves me correctly that show was presented without interruption, save the occasional plea for aid (which, of course, was understandable). MTV and VH1 should have taken a cue from the history books and put in place a better strategy to bring this show to its viewers. Even with today's limited attention spans, viewers are capable of watching more than 45 seconds of a song without interruption.

This hack job may truly represent the end of "music" in MTV. Let's hope Live 8 is more successful in keeping the attention of the world's leaders than MTV was in presenting what was probably the world's greatest concert.

Visit the official Live 8 web site and sign the petition.

Posted: Sat - July 2, 2005 at 11:04 PM      

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