CTV.ca | CTV Named Exclusive Canadian Broadcaster of The Concert for Diana, July 1

CTV Named Exclusive Canadian Broadcaster of The Concert for Diana, July 1

Updated Tue. Jun. 12 2007 2:41 PM ET

CTV announced will join an international list of broadcasters from around the planet - including NBC, BBC and RTL - telecasting a concert celebrating the life of Diana, Princess of Wales.

-- Day long concert celebrates the late princess' 46th birthday on Canada Day --

As the exclusive Canadian broadcaster of Concert for Diana, CTV will connect Canadians with an expected worldwide audience of half a billion households when it broadcasts the day-long concert live from London's Wembley Stadium on Canada Day, Sunday, July 1. The date would have been the late princess' 46th birthday and comes as plans continue to unfold for events marking the Princess of Wales' death 10 years ago on August 31, 1997.

Organized by Prince William and Prince Harry, Concert for Diana features a mix of their mother's and their own favourite artists, including Elton John, Joss Stone, Pharrell Williams, Bryan Ferry, Duran Duran and The English National Ballet. Additional acts will be announced later this month.

"We wanted to have this big concert full of energy, full of the sort of fun and happiness which I know she would have wanted," said Prince William when plans for the concert were announced last November. "It's got to be the best birthday present she ever had."

"It's fitting that this very special and personal celebration of the life and work of the Princess of Wales will air on Canada Day on CTV," said Susanne Boyce, CTV President of Programming and Chair of the CTV Media Group. "The Princess not only shared a birthday with Canadians but also an affinity for making this world a better place in which to live."

Concert for Diana comes two years after CTV presented Live 8 on CTV in July, 2005, one of the network's most ambitious broadcast initiatives ever and an unprecedented international event that also connected Canadians from coast to coast with viewers from around the world. A stunning 10.5 million viewers - or roughly one in three Canadians and 45 per cent of all Canadian households - watched some or all of the broadcast.

Concert for Diana will also be telecast by dozens of broadcasters around the world, including NBC and VH1 in the United States, BBC1 in the United Kingdom, RTL 2 in Germany and Nine Network in Australia.