Interesting article that stresses some of what was said here

[Kalypso]

http://www.dose.ca/music/story.html?id= ... 11&k=49726

[neonhunter]

Usually all I see on TV or hear about in general has to do with destruction, death, anger, revenge, sleaze, corporate greed, etc. For me, Live Earth was a multi-level COLOSSAL SUCCESS and I hope a bunch of un-cynical people feel the same. Compared to all the world's increasing b***s**t, what could possibly be wrong with valuable info dispensed for free along with tons of surprisingly great performances? It's great to see a world-wide endeavor that's positive. And if people aren't having Live Earth, they better wise up somehow, because if not, hmmmm.......I say Live Earth, Yes!

[Wait and See]

The coverage on NBC was 3rd or 4th out of four networks, and many of the venues were half-empty. It was an unmitigated flop, as it should have been. I tried to explain before when the Police's involvement was first announced that people are sick of being lectured to by air-headed multi-millionaire entertainers. Throw in Al Gore, and you've got a guaranteed loser of a gig. Kanye West desecrating MIAB was the icing on the cake.

[policerule]

yeah... after reading that i remember watching billy corgan and thinking what an absolute dick he was. did anyone notice that he didn't even mention why he was there that day? i think he came only to promote his new album. most artists changed some lyrics or gave a little speech or something about the environment, but he said nothing.

not only did he say nothing, but he plugged his album and then told everyone to go and buy it instead of illegally downloading it this time. so... he dissed the cause, promoted himself and called his entire audience criminals.

i think the word "douche" is required here.

[Wait and See]

I read a classic quote from a female audience member in England, but I can't remember where it was. She basically said "I don't know who Al Gore is. Who is he to be lecturing us? I'm just here to see Madonna".

[policerule]

we are in serious trouble....

then again, she's from the UK, so i can't really expect her to know who al gore is.

[Wait and See]

On the contrary, I think it's a very encouraging sign.

Greasy politicians and entertainers selling snake oil should not be able to drop a bunch of cash and browbeat people into supporting an imaginary cause.

[Mister Gradenko]

What song did Al Gore sing then?

[jeffdaweasel]

[quote="Wait and See"]...an imaginary cause.[/quote]

Who knows the legitimacy of the current situation?

You do have to admit, though, that people aren't really having a positive effect on the environment, short- and long-term. That makes the cause itself not so "imaginary", even if the way it's being currently positioned is possibly flawed. But being aware of the environment is never an imaginary issue, obviously.

[Divemistress of the Dark]

[quote]The coverage on NBC was 3rd or 4th out of four networks, and many of the venues were half-empty. It was an unmitigated flop, as it should have been. I tried to explain before when the Police's involvement was first announced that people are sick of being lectured to by air-headed multi-millionaire entertainers. Throw in Al Gore, and you've got a guaranteed loser of a gig. Kanye West desecrating MIAB was the icing on the cake.[/quote]

Easy there, brother. You've been trying to trash this gig for months now, well before any actual musical notes entered the ether.

I wouldn't call 2 billion viewers a "flop." And reasonable people can certainly disagree on exactly who's lecturing whom and who's got exactly zero credibility for which reasons, as it relates to our national discourse.

This is a first step. At least these people are doing something, which is in contrast to official U.S. policy (and by extension, the policy of many other Western nations.)

[neonhunter]

I'm tellin' ya, people are just dying to trash this thing....You can't gauge anything by NBC's coverage. I welcome everyone's perceptions, of course, and can't blame anyone for being cynical. I'm one person who was having it. And regarding Kanye--I've totally relaxed about it. The person who embarrasses me most when he steps to the mike? His initials are G.W. B......I thought Live Earth was a noble effort.

[Hannaha]

Whatever you may believe about global warming you've got to admit that recycling is better than landfill and that pollution is never a good thing.

[Wait and See]

>>>Whatever you may believe about global warming you've got to admit that recycling is better than landfill and that pollution is never a good thing.<<<

Certainly.

>>>I wouldn't call 2 billion viewers a "flop."<<<

There weren't 2 billion viewers--there were 2 billion potential viewers. In other words, people who could have turned on their TV and seen it if they wanted to. Most of them apparently didn't.

[Divemistress of the Dark]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19640819/

Three hundred million people ain't exactly chump change. And most news articles I've seen trumpeting Live Earth's "lack of viewers" use statistics like this one, from (shocker!) Reuters:

[quote]The main three-hour American TV broadcast on NBC averaged a meager 2.7 million viewers, ranking as the least-watched U.S. program on Saturday night and falling below NBC's summer prime-time Saturday average, Nielsen Media Research reported on Monday.[/quote]

"The main three hour American broadcast." So, no mention of the 16 hours shown on Bravo, MTV and UHD, or the folks who tuned in for a few minutes a few different times. At least they mentioned this one:

[quote]Web portal MSN said on Saturday that Live Earth concerts generated more than 9 million Internet streams, the most ever for an online entertainment event.[/quote]