Telethon

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Image:Telethon 2005.jpg A telethon is a fundraising event broadcast on television that lasts many hours or even days, the purpose of which is to raise money for a charitable, political, or other allegedly worthy cause. Correspondingly, the term is a portmanteau of "television" and "marathon."

Format

The format of a telethon usually consists of performances by singers, musicians, comedians, or other entertainers interspersed with pitches for donations. Typically the program is staged on a set containing volunteer telephone operators, a stage, a tote board that displays the amount of money raised, a band, and a studio audience.

Examples

Telethons are held for various organisations around the world. In the United States, telethons are held for groups such as Muscular Dystrophy Associations, the St. Jude Children's Hospital; the Shriners; Armenia Fund; Chabad; the Public Broadcasting Service, and the Trinity Broadcasting Network (which hosts non-stop, week-long, semi-annual telethons called "Praise-a-Thons"). In the United Kingdom, regular telethons are held for charitable groups such as Comic Relief and the BBC's Children in Need. In Mexico every December of each year since 1997 the national TV Network Televisa holds a telethon for raising funds to help handicapped children in called "CRIT ( Centro de Rehabilitaciòn Integral Teleton ) Centers". This idea of telethon was inspired by another who celebrates every year in Chile with the same objectives.

The most successful annual Telethon per capita in the world is run over 25 hours in Western Australia by Seven Perth for the Princess Margaret Children's Hospital, Perth.

In 2004, Armenia Fund held an international Telethon that was broadcasted to all major U.S. cities and across the globe. The 12 hour live program was able to raise a record $11.5 million for humanitarian and infrastructure development programs in Armenia and Karabakh. That annual telethon is held on Thanksgiving every year.

The 2004 Asian Tsunami also led to telethons being held in countries such as Canada (CTV), United States (NBC) and Australia (a joint telecast between the Seven Network, Nine Network and Network Ten).

Other types

Another type of Telethon is used to provide income for broadcasting and organizational expenses for broadcasting companies who rely not on advertizing, but on the willingness of the viewers to support the company and the broadcasts.eo:Teletono fr:Téléthon it:Telethon