TV networks plan joint Katrina telethon

LOS ANGELES - In a rare collaboration among America's biggest broadcasters, the six major networks are planning a joint telethon to raise money for survivors of Hurricane Katrina, people familiar with the project said on Thursday.

Although no air date has been set, and plans remained sketchy, the program is conceived as a commercial-free live special with musical performances by recording stars punctuated with appearances from other celebrities, insiders at three networks told Reuters.

The hour-long event would be simulcast by CBS, ABC, Fox, NBC, the WB and UPN networks, similar to the star-studded joint telethon aired by the major broadcasters 10 days after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

That two-hour special, called "America: A Tribute to Heroes," drew 59 million viewers and raised more than $150 million in pledges to assist families of people killed in the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Comedian and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, a native of Louisiana -- one of the states hardest hit by Katrina -- has expressed an interest in hosting the hurricane telethon, network sources said. But no decisions on talent for the show have been made.

Separately, NBC is sticking with plans, announced on Wednesday, to televise its own live benefit for hurricane relief on Friday, featuring performances by Louisiana-born music stars Harry Connick Jr., Wynton Marsalis and Tim McGraw.

NBC's move to hurriedly arrange its own special, without first seeking to include other networks, drew grumbles from some rival broadcast executives, according to one source. But NBC executives told Hollywood trade paper Daily Variety they were responding to pleas from Connick, a New Orleans native, to put on a fund-raiser as quickly as possible.

At least two other such shows are being planned for September 9 by the BET cable channel and September 10 by MTV and its sister cable networks.

In addition, veteran entertainer Jerry Lewis said he would devote a portion of his annual Labor Day telethon for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, which starts on Sunday, to appeals for hurricane-relief donations.

The flurry of TV fund-raising plans came as a number of celebrities opened their wallets to help survivors of Katrina, which slammed into the US Gulf Coast on Monday, causing widespread devastation in four states.

Movie star Nicolas Cage and Canadian singer Celine Dion each donated $1 million to the American Red Cross for relief efforts, and teen pop sensation Hilary Duff donated $250,000 to hurricane-related charities.

- REUTERS