BBC BACKING TSUNAMI RELIEF CARDIFF

Web coverage will take concert to the world. The Millennium Stadium is delighted to announce that the sell-out Tsunami Relief Cardiff concert to be staged in the Welsh capital on Saturday January 22 2005 will be broadcast live throughout Wales, the UK and – via the worldwide web – to the whole world following a unique agreement between BBC Wales and the concert organisers.

The concert, aimed at raising £1m in relief aid, will feature top acts from all over the UK and the line-up already boasts Badly Drawn Boy, Charlotte Church, Craig David, Eric Clapton with Jools Holland and The Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, Embrace, Feeder, Heather Small, Kelly Jones, Aled Jones and Katherine Jenkins, Keane, Lemar, The Manic Street Preachers and Snow Patrol.

As a result of the link-up with BBC Wales the concert will now be broadcast on the following stations:

BBC Two will join the concert from 6-7pm taking live coverage to other digital and terrestrial television viewers across the whole of the UK

BBC One Wales will carry the concert live from 9-10pm and will return after the Ten O’clock News until the end of the event

BBC Two will show further network television coverage from 11pm onwards

BBC Wales will show the entire concert Live on S4C from 3pm until its late night finish

S4C Digidol coverage will enable Digital Satellite viewers all over the UK to join the whole event

And in addition, BBC 2W will broadcast a special preview of the concert on Friday January 21st 2005 and a documentary programme about the whole event on Monday January 24th 2005.

“This is a fantastic partnership for us and we are delighted to have joined forces with the BBC in such a productive way. This deal just shows how much momentum the event has gathered in such a short space of time,” said Millennium Stadium General Manager Paul Sergeant. “It was an awful experience having to turn away so many genuine people who wanted to come to the concert once we had sold out of tickets. Now, at least, the concert will be available in its entirety on the BBC’s digital TV platform throughout the UK and available to everyone in Wales from start to finish on S4C.

“Right from the start we pitched the event as a major UK experience and the TV coverage we have secured will allow everyone to become a part of Tsunami Relief Cardiff. And with the audio-visual feed of the concert being made available to BT it means the event can be broadcast on the worldwide web on broadband to give it a truly global feel.”

As host broadcaster BBC Wales has also offered to give access to its pictures from 7.00-9.00pm to enable the Millennium Stadium to make the television coverage available to other broadcasters in the UK and beyond.

There will be live coverage of the whole concert on BBC Radio Wales as well as extensive broadcasts on BBC Radio Two with the BBC’s radio feed also being made available to other radio stations. In a special deal, BBC Wales has also agreed to make an audio-visual feed available to BT to enable the whole concert to be broadcast around the world on broadband via the worldwide web.

“With all tickets for the event having sold out within days, we are delighted to be able to bring the concert into the homes of those who would otherwise have missed out,” said Clare Hudson, BBC Wales Head of English Language Programmes. “The BBC has been talking to the Millennium Stadium since the concert was announced and we have managed to reach an agreement that will take full coverage of this momentous event to the whole of Wales, the UK and beyond.”

Keith Jones, BBC Wales Head of Welsh Language Programmes, added: “As host broadcaster, BBC Wales wants to help the Millennium Stadium to make this one of the biggest events ever staged in Wales and, most importantly, we want to enable the Disaster Emergency Committee to get its fund-raising message across to the widest possible audience.

“The negotiations have been complex, but we have been able to arrive at a solution that will see this thrilling event carried on Digital Satellite, Freeview, cable and terrestrial TV as well as on radio and on-line. There will be no excuse for not joining the excitement.”