Katrina telethon expands outside primetime

Shelter from the Storm, the Hurricane Katrina relief telethon being planned by America's six main broadcast TV networks, will expand out of its originally scheduled hour during primetime.

The phone lines will officially open during at 7am ET on Friday, September 9, at the start of breakfast news programmes on ABC, CBS and NBC in the eastern timezone. Fox, The WB and UPN will be in affiliate morning programmes at that time but local stations are expected to heavily promote the telethon.

Presenters on all live shows during daytime will promote the telethon, with on-screen captions being put up during recorded programming such as soap operas.

Confirmed acts for the telethon now include: Sheryl Crow, Dixie Chicks, Alicia Keys, Randy Newman, Paul Simon, Rod Stewart and Neil Young. Celebrity participants include Jennifer Aniston, Cameron Diaz, Ellen DeGeneres, Jack Nicholson, Chris Rock, Ray Romano and Sela Ward.

As previously announced, the telethon will air on ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, The WB and UPN. That list of networks has grown tremendously over the past few days, with the following American TV networks confirming they will simulcast the telethon between 8-9pm ET:

ABC Family, AmericanLife TV, Black Family Channel, Bravo, CNBC, Court TV, E!, Fox College Sports Pacific, Fox Movie Channel, Fox Reality, FSN Ohio, FSN South, FSN West, Fuel TV, FX, G4, GSN, Lifetime, MSNBC, Ovation, Oxygen, PAX, Showtime, Speed Channel, SoapNet, Style Network, TBS, The Tennis Channel, Trio, TV Guide Chanel, TV One, USA Network and WGN. It will also air on many stations owned by Infinity.

International carriage arrangements have been confirmed for the UK along with Brazil, Italy, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, France, Taiwan, Asia, India, countries in the Middle East, Greece, Spain, Japan, Israel and Iceland.

All donations received on Friday by the telethon will go to either the American Red Cross or The Salvation Army depending on the donor's preference.