In a rare collaboration among America's biggest broadcasters, the four major networks have agreed to finance and simulcast a star-studded telethon tomorrow benefiting victims of last week's devastating terrorist attacks.
The music-driven, two-hour special, titled America: A Tribute to Heroes, will be broadcast live on ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox in the Eastern and Central time zones and tape-delayed for the rest of the country, organizers said on Tuesday.
The simulcast also will be offered to the smaller WB and UPN networks and the nation's cable TV outlets. The Telemundo Network, the No. 2 Spanish-language broadcaster in the US, said it planned to carry the program as well.
Billed as an "evening filled with music, memories, hope and inspiration," the networks' commercial-free fund-raiser will feature appearances by a raft of stars from movies, television and pop music.
Among the actors confirmed to take part are Jim Carrey, George Clooney, Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Robert De Niro, Clint Eastwood, Calista Flockhart, Kelsey Grammer, Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Will Smith and Robin Williams. Musical guests include the Dixie Chicks, Faith Hill, Billy Joel, Tom Petty, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder and Neil Young.
Even as they unveiled their unusual partnership, the networks continued scrambling to balance their fall schedules with production difficulties and new concerns about violent content posed by last Tuesday's attack on America.
CBS said it was indefinitely pulling the pilot episode of its new CIA-themed series, The Agency, due to references to accused terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden and a fictional plot to bomb a building in London. Another episode of the show will air in its place for the series' Sept. 27 premiere.
NBC said the season premiere of its police and fire drama, The Third Watch, which is filmed in New York City, has been postponed to Oct. 15 due to production delays caused by the attack on the World Trade Center.
The cost of the telethon is being borne by the networks, with all the stars donating their time and talents.
Other charities have already collected more than US$200 million for victims of the attacks, much of it spurred by the ease of donating over the Internet.
Charity officials believe that the amount raised for victims of the Sept. 11 catastrophe will eclipse the total collected after other major disasters.
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