Regis Philbin
Jul 9th, 2007, 08:32 PM
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=467114&in_page_id=1770
Live Earth branded a foul-mouthed flop
By TAHIRA YAQOOB
Last updated at 16:02pm on 9th July 2007
Organisers of the global music concert - punctuated by swearing from presenters and performers - had predicted massive viewing figures.
But BBC's live afternoon television coverage attracted an average British audience of just 900,000.
In the evening, when coverage switched from BBC2 to BBC1, the figure rose to just 2.7 million.
And the peak audience, which came when Madonna sang at Wembley, was a dismal 4.5 million. Three times as many viewers saw the Princess Diana tribute on the same channel six days before.
Two years ago, Live 8 drew a peak television audience of 9.6million while Live Aid notched 10million in 1985.
The BBC blamed the poor figures on Saturday's good weather and said its Wimbledon tennis coverage had drawn away afternoon viewers.
Critics said however that the public had simply snubbed what they saw as a hypocritical event.
Musicians including Bob Geldof, Roger Daltrey and the Pet Shop Boys pointed out that a concert highlighting climate change had itself generated huge carbon emissions.
Performers were criticised for flying to concerts that were staged simultaneously on seven continents.
Live Earth branded a foul-mouthed flop
By TAHIRA YAQOOB
Last updated at 16:02pm on 9th July 2007
Organisers of the global music concert - punctuated by swearing from presenters and performers - had predicted massive viewing figures.
But BBC's live afternoon television coverage attracted an average British audience of just 900,000.
In the evening, when coverage switched from BBC2 to BBC1, the figure rose to just 2.7 million.
And the peak audience, which came when Madonna sang at Wembley, was a dismal 4.5 million. Three times as many viewers saw the Princess Diana tribute on the same channel six days before.
Two years ago, Live 8 drew a peak television audience of 9.6million while Live Aid notched 10million in 1985.
The BBC blamed the poor figures on Saturday's good weather and said its Wimbledon tennis coverage had drawn away afternoon viewers.
Critics said however that the public had simply snubbed what they saw as a hypocritical event.
Musicians including Bob Geldof, Roger Daltrey and the Pet Shop Boys pointed out that a concert highlighting climate change had itself generated huge carbon emissions.
Performers were criticised for flying to concerts that were staged simultaneously on seven continents.