Over 25 streaming partners will simulcast a mammoth five-and-a-half-hour FireAid benefit concert on Thursday to fundraise for Los Angeles wildfire relief, featuring music industry standouts like Billie Eilish, Stevie Wonder and Lady Gaga. It’s a stark departure from the days when the major television networks served as the showcase for such fundraising events, a shift that reflects the dominance of digital distribution platforms in reaching a mass audience.
“Music is closer to streaming than broadcast television,” Irving Azoff, the organizer of the FireAid concert, told TheWrap, noting that it was a pretty simple decision: he could never get a five-hour block of prime time on network TV like he could on streaming services.