2000 Today
2000 Today was an internationally broadcast television special which commemorated the beginning of the Year 2000, or the Millennium. This program included New Year's Eve celebrations, musical performances, and other features from participating nations. The international television special aired in over 78 countries in 32 languages, such as English, German, Filipino, Spanish, French, Italian, and others.
Most international broadcasts such as Olympic Games, the Super Bowl, and the FIFA World Cup coverages originate from a limited area for worldwide distribution. 2000 Today, however, was rare in that its live and taped programming originated from member countries and represented all continents. 2000 Today was nominated by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), and won the prestigious Promax World Class Award.
Up to 5,000 staff worked on 2000 Today, 1,500 of them in BBC Television Centre in West London, where all eight television studios were used during the 28-hour broadcast. 2000 Today had a worldwide audience of 800 million people, with an audience of 12.6 million people on the BBC alone. 2000 Today is estimated to have cost $6 million to produce and broadcast.
History
2000 Today was conceived as part of the so-called Millennium celebrations, given the numerical significance of the change from 1999 to 2000.
The programme was produced and televised by an international consortium of 60 broadcasters, headed by the BBC in the UK and WGBH in the United States, with support from the American Broadcasting Company, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation of Australia, RTL Television of Germany, TV Asahi of Japan, Telewizja Polska (TVP) of Poland, GMA Network of the Philippines, and TVE of Spain. The BBC provided the production hub for receiving and distributing the 78 international satellite feeds required for this broadcast.
The programme's theme song was a version of Bob Marley's song "One Love" performed by The Gipsy Kings, Ziggy Marley, Tsidii Le Loka and the Boys Choir of Harlem. Sony released a soundtrack CD for 2000 Today which included this song plus A World Symphony for the Millennium by Tan Dun.
Most nations that observe the Islamic calendar were not involved in 2000 Today. However, a few predominantly Muslim nations were represented among the programme's worldwide broadcasters such as Egypt (ETV) and Indonesia (RCTI).
Africa was minimally represented in 2000 Today. The only participating nations from that continent were Egypt and South Africa. Portugal-based RTP Africa distributed the programme to some African nations.
Antarctica was mentioned on the programme schedule, although it was unclear if 2000 Today coverage was recorded or live.
Program timeline
2000 Today's core international broadcast was 28 hours long, following the beginning of the New Year 2000 across the world's time zones.
The program was tailored by individual broadcasters to provide local content and hosts.
The international broadcast began 31 December 1999 approximately 09:00 UTC. 2000 Today went international at 09:40 UTC, with the Kiribati Line Islands celebrating the arrival of 2000 at 10:00 UTC.
One of the telecasts of 2000 Today was the Philippine millennium broadcaster GMA Network, commissioned to air Regine Velasquez's song "Written in the Sand" in 60 countries.
Most of Europe celebrated midnight on 31 December 1999 23:00 UTC. Broadcasting celebrations from many countries under Central European Time posed a particularly complex broadcast challenge. 2000 Today chose to rapidly air each nation's midnight observances in succession, using tape delays in most cases. This hour of the broadcast included a blessing by Pope John Paul II from Vatican City.
2000 Today's international feed ended shortly after midnight celebrations were broadcast from Samoa on 1 January 2000 at 11:00 UTC. BBC One in the United Kingdom continued its broadcast with national features until 13:30.
Personalities
National hosts
- Argentina (Canal 13)
- Lito Vitale
- Coro de Buenos Aires
- Julio Bocca y Eleonora Cassano
- Mónica Cahen D´Anvers y Cesar Maschetti (newspapermans)
- Mercedes Sosa y Alejandro Lerner
- Canada
- (CBC)
- Peter Mansbridge (primary host, most hours)
- Laurie Brown (00:00-08:00 UTC, with Mansbridge)
- Alison Smith (13:00-18:00 UTC)
- (Radio-Canada)
- At the time, technicians at Radio-Canada were on strike. Transmissions were seen as scheduled, but using only the main feed from the BBC, with a French voice-over. Also, as a consequence, 2000 footage from Canada was scarce on SRC's presentation, while footage from Quebec were not available at all worldwide (though the CBC did manage to get the only Quebec coverage on their own network—a video shot of midnight fireworks in Hull, Quebec, shot from Ottawa, Ontario).
- (CBC)
- Estonia (TV3)
- Voices of the hosts were heard on the background. There was no studio. Broadcast was without hosts between midnight and 6:00 UTC.
- Ene Veiksaar (9:40-12:00 UTC)
- Lauri Hussar (9:40-12:00 UTC)
- Jüri Aarma (12:00-15:00 UTC)
- Priit Aimla (12:00-15:00 UTC)
- Rein Lang (15:00-18:00 UTC)
- Kiur Aarma (15:00-18:00 UTC)
- Harri Tiido (18:00-21:00 UTC)
- Vello Rand (18:00-21:00 UTC)
- Mart Luik (21:00-00:00 UTC)
- Märt Treier (06:00-09:00 UTC)
- Kätlin Kontor (06:00-09:00 UTC)
- Enn Eesmaa (09:00-11:00 UTC)
- Chile (TVN)
- Jennifer Warner
- Mauricio Bustamante
- Jorge Hevia
- Margot Kahl
- Karen Doggenweiler
- Felipe Camiroaga
- Pedro Carcuro
- Rafael Araneda
- Andrea Molina
- Mexico (Televisa)
- Ernesto Laguardia
- Mayra Saucedo
- Philippines (GMA Network)
- Mike Enriquez
- Jessica Soho
- Mel Tiangco
- Jay Sonza
- German Moreno
- Angelique Lazo
- Vicky Morales
- Paolo Bediones
- Karen Davila
- Arnold Clavio
- Mickey Ferriols
- Miriam Quiambao
- Ryan Agoncillo
- KC Montero
- Suzi Entrata
- Kara David
- Luchi Cruz-Valdez
- Nina Castro
- Lyn Ching
- Margaux Salcedo
- Arnell Ignacio
- Susan Enriquez
- Antoinette Taus
- Francis Magalona
- Dingdong Dantes
- Martin Andanar
- Butch Francisco
- Vic Sotto
- United Kingdom (BBC One)
- David Dimbleby
- Michael Parkinson
- Michael Buerk (delivered 1am news)
- Peter Sissons
- Peter Snow
- Philippa Forrester
- Jamie Theakston (covered events at the Millennium Dome)
- Gaby Roslin (The only presenter to have hosted for the full 28-hours of broadcasting)
- United States (ABC - ABC 2000 Today)
- Peter Jennings (Primary host)
- Barbara Walters
- Diane Sawyer
- Charles Gibson
- Elizabeth Vargas
- Jack Ford (Times Square correspondent 11:00p-12:30a EST)
- Sam Donaldson
- Connie Chung
- Cokie Roberts
- Deborah Roberts
- Carole Simpson
- Morton Dean
- Dick Clark (Who counted down the new year in Times Square)
Music
Musical artists were part of the 2000 Today broadcast, including:
- Lito Vitale y el Coro de Buenos Aires - Buenos Aires, Argentina : "El día del Milenio" and "Buenos Aires 2000"
- Los Fabulosos Cadillacs - Buenos Aires, Argentina : "Matador"
- Alejandro Lerner y Mercedes Sosa - Iguazú Falls, Argentina : "Niños del 2000"
- Ruslana - Kiev, Ukraine
- Bee Gees - Miami, Florida, United States: Performed You Should Be Dancing and Alone
- Björk - Reykjavík, Iceland: "The Anchor Song" with choir
- Charlotte Church - United Kingdom
- Robyn - Sweden
- Maki Ohguro - Japan
- Eurythmics - United Kingdom
- Jean Michel Jarre - performing near the pyramids at Giza, Egypt
- Manic Street Preachers - Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom
- Phish - Big Cypress, Florida, United States (performed "Heavy Things")
- Split Enz - Auckland, New Zealand (band reunion concert)
- The Tragically Hip - Toronto, Ontario
- Great Big Sea - St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador
- Natalie MacMaster - Ireland
- Kiri Te Kanawa - Gisborne, New Zealand
- Regine Velasquez - Philippines (Performed song "Written in the Sand", a Historical Millennium Song at the top of The Peninsula Manila in Makati City.)
- The Eraserheads - Philippines (Performed songs "Alapaap", "Torpedo" and "Harana" at the Ayala Millennium Party in Makati City.)
- Streetboys - Philippines
- Francis Magalona - Philippines
- The Dawn - Philippines (band reunion)
- Billy Crawford - Philippines (Performed at the Ayala Millennium Party in Makati City.)
- APO Hiking Society - Philippines
- Juan Gabriel - Mexico in Zocalo millennium night
Participating broadcasters
The following nations broadcast 2000 Today. Some nations were licensees of the broadcast, rather than formal members of the broadcast consortium.
- Argentina: ARTEAR
- Australia: ABC
- Austria: ORF
- Brazil: Rede Record, Rede Bandeirantes
- Canada: CBC (English)/SRC (French)
- Cape Verde: RTP Africa
- Colombia: RCN TV
- Caribbean: CBU
- Chile: TVN, Chilevisión
- China: CCTV
- Czech Republic: ČTV
- Denmark: DR, TV3
- Egypt: ETV
- Estonia: TV3
- Fiji: Fiji TV
- Finland: YLE
- France: TF1
- Germany: RTL
- Greece: ERT
- Guinea-Bissau: RTP Africa
- Hong Kong: STAR TV, ATV, TVB, Phoenix Satellite Television, and CETV
- Hungary: MTV
- Iceland: IBC
- India: Doordarshan and Zee TV
- Indonesia: TVRI, RCTI, SCTV, TPI, ANTeve, Indosiar and MetroTV (test of transmission)
- Ireland: RTÉ
- Israel: IBA, ICP
- Italy: RAI, Italia 1, Rete 4, Canale 5
- Japan: NHK, TV Asahi, TV Tokyo, NTV, TBS, Fuji TV and JAITS
- Jordan: JRTC
- Lebanon: MTV
- Lithuania: TV3
- Macau: TDM (possibly also Channel 32 and Channel 30)
- Malaysia: RTM, SMTB, Mega TV and Astro
- Malta: Super One
- Mexico: Once TV
- Mozambique: RTP Africa
- Netherlands: NOS
- New Zealand: TV3
- Norway: NRK, TV3
- Panama: Telemetro
- Paraguay: Telefuturo (licensee)
- Peru: Panamericana Televisión
- Philippines: GMA Network
- Poland: TVP
- Portugal: RTP
- Romania: Antena 1 (licensee)
- Russia: VGTRK, Prometey AST
- Samoa: Samoa TV
- São Tomé and Príncipe: RTP Africa
- Singapore: TCS, CNA, STV12 and SCV
- Slovakia: Luna TV
- Slovenia: POP TV
- South Africa: SABC
- South Korea: MBC
- Spain: TVE
- Sri Lanka: MTV
- Sweden: TV3, SVT
- Switzerland: SF DRS
- Taiwan: TTV, CTV, CTS, FTV and PTS
- Thailand: TV3, TV5, TV7, TV9, TV11 and TV26
- Tonga: TBC
- Ukraine: Novyi Kanal
- United Kingdom: BBC
- United States: ABC
- Uruguay: Panamerica
- Venezuela: RCTV
See also
- ABC 2000 Today, the commercial American broadcast
- Millennium Live: Humanity's Broadcast, the supposed nemesis of the successful 2000 Today broadcast
- New Year's Eve
External links
- "2000 Today". ABC (Australia). 26 January 2000. Archived from the original on 2005-08-30. Retrieved 2010-01-01.
- BBC Press Release announcing 2000 Today, 6 October 1998
- BBC Press Release on Year 2000-related broadcasts, 14 July 1999
- BBC News report on 2000 Today details, 2 December 1999
- BFI Film & TV Database: 2000 Today
- CBC archive of New Year's Eve 2000
- 2000 Today soundtrack information from Sony
- The Twelve Dreams of the Sun - Jean-Michel Jarre performance in Egypt