A friend watching Live 8 at home on TV just IMed me to say that MTV's coverage has been terrible. I only have access to AOL's video feed here in Philly, but he says they're only showing excerpts of the already all-too-brief sets, and are padding out their coverege with tons of interviews. If you're at home watching, weigh in - how do you feel about the coverage you're watching? What are they doing wrong, and what are they doing right?
How's your Live 8 TV coverage?
Reader Comments
(Page 1)2. I totally agree. I the MTV broadcast has been a joke. It's a mesh of random clips of parts of songs of various artists with a bunch of random interviews and talking. And I want even start on the f-ing commercials every 10 mins.
After an hour of watching that I switched to watching on the internet which has been wonderful!
Posted at 5:19PM on Jul 2nd 2005 by Kristen
3. I am overwhelmed with emotion just being able to be a part of this and watch this. I couldnt imagine the electricity you feel being there! I am 24 years old I voted for the 1st time last year and this is one of the most important issues we could face. Just to be a part of this and have a voice is overwhelming.
Posted at 5:20PM on Jul 2nd 2005 by Alisha Rogers
4. Yeah, it is terrible. I'm sticking to my trusty ol' AOL feed, which is great, despite the fact that the video stops to buffer every couple minutes, but that's live TV. They've been interviewing celebrities there and that really ticks me off that they show like ten seconds of a set and cut off to the announcers. Yuck. :
Posted at 5:22PM on Jul 2nd 2005 by Allison
5. Oh there has been fantastic coverage over here in Britain. I can't stress enough how great the coverage is and the brilliance of the songs played! The BBC is showing everything! Not a single advertisement in sight! The BBC rules! Great piece of socialism seems to have kicked MTV's commercial arse. :D
Posted at 5:24PM on Jul 2nd 2005 by Wai-Tung Leung
6. I turned on Live8 in time to see Destiny's Child (whew glad I didn't miss them they were the reason I was watching lol). and I agree the mtv coverage is not good at all
Posted at 5:26PM on Jul 2nd 2005 by Emily
7. I'm watching via MTV, seen a few good performances but I was slow to toss a DVD blank in and missed most of Snoop Dogg's performance where they didnt bmute his curse words.
Anyone got it ?
It seems like everything is highly edited and I'm wondering if the performers were told not to mention the US government ---
Thanks for the cool blog --
Posted at 6:04PM on Jul 2nd 2005 by Elvis of Dallas
8. MTV SUCKS TODAY-what a waste !!!! :( RIP OFF
Posted at 8:36AM on Jul 5th 2005 by nickai_22
9. CTV is doing an amazing job up here in Canada. They even cut away to other cities when the big names take the stage. Go Live8!
Posted at 2:27PM on Jul 3rd 2005 by Pattmyn
10. Yeah the BBC's coverage seriously kicks ass! 90% of the time is great music, the rest is funny and interesting interviews! Right now The Who are practically blowing up my TV. Man this thing is insanely great!
Posted at 5:41PM on Jul 2nd 2005 by Conrad Quilty-Harper
11. The MTV and VH1 coverage are identical, and pitiful. The sound quality is very poor, and we are seeing way too much of their "reporters" and such. They cut away for a short documentary in the middle of a Maroon 5 song. That band only did 3 or 4 songs total. They completely ignored Sarah McLachlan and did not broadcast it at all. I'm so disappointed.
I'd understand this type of bad coverage if it were CNN or one of the networks, but MTV and VH1 are all about music, and this is a disgrace.
Posted at 5:43PM on Jul 2nd 2005 by JKL
12. MTV/VH1's coverage is horribly disappointing. I'm watching The Who performing "Who Are You?" on AOL, and MTV's running a Taco Bell commercial. And all the cutaways during performances - it's like a TRL version of Live Aid.
Has the MTV crowd got such short attention spans that they can't sit through an entire set by the world's biggest artists? Sheesh.
Viacom killed the video star.
Posted at 10:17PM on Jul 2nd 2005 by Tim Hess
13. I am the friend that dropped Karina that info and I am even more more pissed off. MTV just cut off The Who. Live Aid, a concert when MTV was in its infancy, was MUCH better done. Why couldn't MTV donate their air time? Here's my rant on my blog about it:
http://www.rabbireport.com/archives/000142.htm
I'm pissed.
Posted at 5:51PM on Jul 2nd 2005 by Mark Rabinowitz
15. Man I feel for you Mark. The Who were utterly amazing. They totally blew me away... Don't you have a form of the BBC over there in BBC World though? Aren't they doing any coverage?
Posted at 5:56PM on Jul 2nd 2005 by Conrad Quilty-Harper
16. CTV Canada is full coverage and great this morning. This afternoon, good mix but not enough of the global coverage & Hyde.
U2, WHO ( both awesome!!!) REM, Madonna, Sting, Green Day, Lightfoot,etc .... frickin great concert ! Only 9 hours left but hopefully more to come! ;P
Posted at 7:45PM on Jul 3rd 2005 by p8 canada
17. MTV SUCKS!!!! i wish we had bbc showing it here. They keep cutting programs. I am now living in front of my computer. Thanks!! aol.
Posted at 6:42PM on Jul 2nd 2005 by elisabeth
18. The U.S. MTV/VH1 coverage is horrible...I wouldn't even consider it coverage. It's a commercial fest padded with their personalities jabbering on about God knows what with the bands playing in the background. Interviews pop up every now and again, and they've shown very little coverage of the bands who are playing. They spent a lot of time at the beginning talking to the people in the crowd, and they continue to pan the crowd incessantly. Sorry, but I could care less about the crowd. I agree with the person who said that Live Aid was much better. This "coverage" is a joke and is doing nothing for this cause. People are tuning in to see the bands play and to hear the message they convey about this cause, and they aren't getting that. Thank goodness for AOL's coverage. MTV and VH1 are showing the exact same thing and they could both take a huge clue from AOL on this one. What a joke.
Posted at 6:09PM on Jul 2nd 2005 by Denise
19. We have BBC America. In their infinite wisdom, they are showing a Monty Python marathon. Actually, I am sure MTV and VH-1 have the exculsive broadcast rights in the US.
Posted at 6:04PM on Jul 2nd 2005 by Mark Rabinowitz
20. Madge was brill, she still knows how to work a crowd, Mariah boring pap. Anyone know if White Stripes are on in Philly?
Posted at 6:10PM on Jul 2nd 2005 by gillian Campbell
1. mtv sucks they are showing the worse bands and are cutting off bands in the middle of songs. way too many commercials and not enough music.
Posted at 5:18PM on Jul 2nd 2005 by doug