Millennium Live

Millennium Live: Humanity's Broadcast was an unsuccessful attempt to broadcast an international television special celebrating the beginning of the Year 2000, or the so-called Millennium. Reports claimed that the show was to have involved broadcasters in up to 130 nations.

History

Millennium Television Network (MTN) was formed by Live Aid's American producer Hal Uplinger to prepare and conduct the broadcast. Early planning among international representatives reportedly occurred in Cannes on October 1998. Millennium Live was planned as a 24 or 25 hour broadcast from 11:00 UTC 31 December 1999. Pax TV (now known as ION Television) had the exclusive United States rights to broadcast the show which they billed as Pax Millennium Live: A New World's Eve.

Millennium Live was competing against the 2000 Today international broadcast that was supported by PBS and ABC in the United States, and led by BBC in the UK.

Reported musical guests were to have included Aerosmith, Bee Gees, Blondie, Chicago, Phil Collins, Roger Daltrey, Jean Michel Jarre from Egypt, Ricky Martin, 'N Sync, Maxi Priest, Mike Oldfield, The Pretenders, Sting, Santana, and 10,000 Maniacs. Bryan Adams, Simply Red and the Spice Girls were also sought as featured artists.

New Year's Eve celebrations from various worldwide locations were to have been seen on the show. Carmen Electra was also scheduled as a program host. The special was to have been hosted in Los Angeles on a set contained in a 90 foot geodesic dome.

The program was cancelled on 29 December 1999 with an announcement that MTN failed to obtain sufficient financing for the broadcast. MTN reportedly was not paying production and satellite companies for their services prior to the cancellation. Pax aired a series of movies in Millennium Live's place. Efforts to establish a global broadcast for the following New Year's Eve on the real Millennium (2001) were reported, but these plans never materialised.

Broadcasters

The following broadcasters were reported as participants in Millennium Live:

• Australia: Nine Network
• Brazil: Rede Bandeirantes
• Canada: MuchMusic
• Chile: Chilevisión
• Estonia: TV 1 (now bankrupt, went off air in 2001)
• France: Televisio
• Germany: Sat.1
• India: Zee TV
• Indonesian :TVRI,RCTI,SCTV,TPI,ANTV,Indosiar
• Japan: Vibe TV (which became MTV Japan)
• Spain: Telecinco
• United States: Pax (Now known as Ion Television)
• Venezuela: Venevisión

See also

• 2000 Today

External links

• Everything 2000 - New Year's Eve Broadcast Plans 26 January 1999
• Everything 2000 - Pax TV To Broadcast 24-hour Millennium Show 21 May 1999
• Everything 2000 - Headliners Named For MTN Broadcast 7 October 1999
• Corpus Christi Caller-Times - TV rings in New Year 26 December 1999
• Everything 2000 - Millennium Live Worldwide Broadcast Cancelled 29 December 1999
• Kansas City Star - Y2K: The TV takeover 29 December 2001
• Kansas City Star - Funding glitch shuts down Pax's millennium special (via TV Barn) 30 December 1999
• San Francisco Chronicle - Producers Cancel Global Millennium Telecast 30 December 1999
• Millennium Hell - Pax Backs Hacks. Lacks Facts. Backtracks. Sacks Millennium Quacks to the Max
• Egypt2000.com - The Twelve Dreams of the Sun - Jean-Michel Jarre performance