Amnesty set for Choice
VH1 negotiating basic-cable rights after PPV run
The three-hour concert will premiere on pay-per-view April 3, and run five more times during the month, at a suggested price of $20.95. Richard Flanzer, president and CEO of AtlanticPacific Music, which made the deal with Viewer's Choice, said a week before the pay-per-view showing a four-hour audio version of the concert will go out over the United Stations Radio Network.
VH1 is negotiating to get the basic-cable rights to at least two additional runs of the concert after its 30-day exclusive PPV window, said Flanzer.
With the help of retail stores owned by the Body Shop and Best Buy, Flanzer says Viewer's Choice will lay out a promotional campaign for the PPV concert worth more than a million dollars.
The concert celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and Flanzer said the promoters will thread "graphic, cartoon-like" images on the work of Amnesty throughout the three-hour event.
These informational bits "don't diminish the enjoyment of the concert," said Paul Hoffman, chairman of Amnesty's U.S. branch, "because we've tried to make the images compelling."
