Kowabunga

Over the weekend, the world was treated to Al Gore's Live Earth concerts. I was not among the dozens of attendees, probably because I was at an event that was a heckuva lot more fun (more on that later).

No doubt, there is someone that has the attendance numbers from the concerts. What I have seen are the ratings for the NBC broadcast (which were dismal) and that the concerts were rife with profanity. It sounds like "celebrities" only know how to express ideas with foul language, which, as a measure of their intellectual brainpower, should tell you something about them and the cause they are supporting.

From Hollywood Reporter:

NBC's three-hour primetime "Live Earth" special, which included highlights from Saturday's global concerts, failed to generate much enthusiasm in the ratings.

The estimated 2.7 million viewers was slightly under the 3 million viewers NBC has averaged on Saturday nights in the summer with repeats and the Stanley Cup hockey playoffs on what is already the least-popular night of television.

It also performed below the Live 8 concert two years ago, according to preliminary estimates released Monday by Nielsen Media Research.

The three-hour concert special from Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., drew a 0.9 rating/3 share in adults 18-49 --- the same as a typical summer Saturday after Memorial Day.

The special was also just under ABC's primetime coverage of the Live 8 concert, which occurred Independence Day weekend on July 2, 2005. Live 8 averaged 2.9 million viewers and a 1.0 rating/5 share in adults 18-49.

The number, 2.7 million, is pretty bad. If Live Earth was such a great event for the Global Warming cause, it should have been far higher than that. It is also noticeably down from the ratings pulled by Live 8 two years ago.

Meanwhile, the Daily Mail, reporting on the U.K. concert, noted that the performers used the f-word repeatedly throughout the day. Phil Collins opened with the F-word, and set the tone of profanity, despite having been "asked" not to swear during the concert.

The BBC also received numerous complaints about the profanity, especially in regards to the broadcast taking place during family hours.

The Daily Mail also reported that the ratings for the BBC broadcast were significantly down in comparison to both Live 8 and Live Aid:

And the peak audience, which came when Madonna sang at Wembley, was a dismal 4.5 million. Three times as many viewers saw the Princess Diana tribute on the same channel six days before.

Two years ago, Live 8 drew a peak television audience of 9.6million while Live Aid notched 10million in 1985.

It went on to report about the mounds of garbage left behind by the concert goers.

Between the trash at the concerts and the amount of jet fuel, gasoline, and electricity used to run the concert, it's hard to maintain our green credentials. Maybe Al Gore should write a check to cover the carbon emission offsets needed so that these concerts can be called "green."

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Live Earth