How long was the Live Aid broadcast? I have seen reports of 16 hours and some that say 21 hours. Couldn't figure it out for sure.

Any ideas?

IIRC, It was definitely more than 12. I'd guess 16.

But NOT 21.

Damn it. I had the schedule that USA Today printed clipped and hung up for the LONGEST time...wish I still had it

Wish I had Live Aid on DVD...

Thanks bothanspy

ah ha!

Yet again, Google is your friend...

That was cool. Fond reminisces... For those who don't want to click through, the concert was about 16 hours long from the start in London to the finish in Philly.

Is this correct? cannot trust it when it's written 'Cool and the Gang'.

Cool link. Thanks.

Honestly, I would even watch a poor copy of this on VHS just to see it again.

Sorry to drudge up sorry thoughts for y'all.

My favorite "improved" spelling was 'Georges Thorogood', which I thought was classic. (Well, it was a French list. )

Did they record the whole thing? This would make a killer box set.

No contracts were signed. Everyone showed up and just played their set. I believe the legal rights and releases would be a nightmare and cost-prohibitive. I doubt we will ever see this in any official form.

I have a fair 8 dvd set of this. (Timeshifted of course)

July 13, 2025 is the 40th anniversary of Live Aid. Youtube will be broadcasting highlights beginning at 7AM ET.

I'll be watching my recording of the ABC special, which aired live on the East Coast but was tape delayed for us second-class citizens on the West Coast. It was the first thing I recorded to keep after I finally got my dad to buy a VCR.

There was day-long syndicated TV coverage also (not on MTV) live and in stereo, but I gave up taping that because for some reason our local station joined it in progress, they weren't even on the air yet when it started, and the sound quality was kind of bad also. Sorta wish I'd still taped it but was disappointed they couldn't be bothered to go on the air early for it; they even ran a 30-minute public affairs show when they went on further cutting into Live Aid. Another station from San Francisco carried the whole thing but they didn't have stereo yet and wouldn't until the 90s.

I have the DVD set also, never figured out what its total running time is.

I taped the entire thing that day off MTV. Performances only. I ditched them when the DVD set came out. I think the music amounted to around 12 hours.

I think Dire Strait's Money for Nothing was the best performance, here.

I would vote Queen by far.

^ Oh yeah, I forgot about Freddie's legendary performance. Haven't seen this in ages, really.

CNN's starting a four part series on Live Aid starting tonight at 9PM.
https://www.cnn.com/live-aid-when-ro...k-on-the-world

By coincidence, I stumbled upon an "unofficial" YouTube video of Led Zeppelin's Live Aid performance last week (it could have been removed by now, I'm not sure, but I'd imagine it's not hard to find). I hadn't seen it in years, and honestly I didn't think it was as bad as some people, and the band, think it was. Sure it was kind of ragged and sloppy, but that's understandable for many reasons. Of course it wasn't on the Live Aid DVD set because the band wasn't happy with the performance (they donated money instead). I'll have to check out that CNN series. 40th anniversary? Damn, I'm getting old!

Yep, set up my DVR for this one!

I also own the DVD set, On the back of the case it says the duration of the set is 10 hours.

So you don't have to weed through those other nonsense bands

Looks and sounds great remastered...

That video is private, but this one isn’t:
https://archive.org/details/live-aid-071385-kovr

Full ABC network special, one of the first things I taped myself after YEARS of bugging my dad to buy a VCR! Technical notes are in the link. Running time is 3 hours and 5 minutes, so they went 5 minutes past 11:00 when it was supposed to end.

I get to interview Bob Geldof at an upcoming event. He does 20 minute keynote, I get him for 40 minutes. I have some great questions, but anything from the DVDTalk world?

Chris! Welcome back.
I'll have to think on this one...

Glad to have you, around here, and that's a cool opportunity. It may be interesting to get his thoughts on being a musician vs. producing events for musicians, as I'm sure both are meaningful but if they bring him different meaning and joy. Speaking of which, the causes he rallies around are often so challenging, they are life and death, so how does he find joy in the midst of such a challenging issue? Finally, there's an old saying the enemy of progress is perfection. How does he rise above criticism of his activist efforts to keep going, even if the means or the ends aren’t perfect in the eyes of the critics?