Concert For Diana: Live Online, On Demand — And In Streaming Banners

It isn’t quite Live 8 — the vast new Wembley doesn’t even appear to be sold out — but the six-hour Concert for Diana is underway and viewable by just about anyone with cable, satellite or internet access. Still showing that it learned from Live 8, when it only controlled TV rights and didn’t do that well, MTV Networks’ VH1 has this one completely covered: live on VH1 and in HD, tape-delayed on VH1 Classic, live streaming and archived for on demand after each artist’s performance. (WSJ.com is one of the advertisers next to the live stream on VH1.com, promoting a discounted subscription and a two-week trial.) So far, so good from this vantage point — although I see barely any evidence of social media beyond a link to message boards. No way to embed — no surprise there — but also no easy way to share a video. No obvious mobile tie-in either.

— I’ve also watched some of the concert live via South Africa’s M-Net . Same feed but usually events like this are geocoded so interesting that I can get it.

— VH1 is also trying something new with advertising and promo although I have yet to find it in action. The network is working with DoubleClick to deliver live streaming clips through ad banners appearing during the concert on a number of MSN sites; the spots are meant to push traffic to the broadcast and the webcast.

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