SOAPnet Joins ‘Hope for Haiti’ Telethon

Photo: SOAPnet

Wednesday, January 20, 2010 11:30 PM ET | By Scotty Gore

(SoapOperaNetwork.com) — The Network for Soaps joins more than three dozen other broadcasters scheduled for air the “Hope for Haiti: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief” fund-raising telethon on January 22nd.

The event, organized by MTV and actor George Clooney, will air on January 22nd beginning at 8:00 PM ET/PT.  All proceeds will be evenly distributed between The Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund, United Nations World Food Programme, Oxfam America, Partners in Health, The Red Cross, UNICEF and the Yele Haiti Foundation.

The two-hour, commercial-free telethon will be co-hosted by Clooney in Los Angeles, Hatiti-native Wyclef Jean in New York City, and Anderson Cooper, who will be broadcasting live from Haiti.   Musical performers scheduled to perform include Bono, Bruce Springsteen, Taylor Swift, Jennifer Hudson, Coldplay, Keith Urban, Justin Timberlake, Beyoncé, and more. Dozens of stars will be answering phones and taking donations to help Haiti’s earthquake victims.

Other broadcasters that have signed on to air the event include MTV, VH1, ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CNN, BET, the CW, HBO, CMT, PBS, TNT, Showtime, Comedy Central, Bravo, E! Entertainment Network, National Geographic Channel, Oxygen, G4, Centric, Current TV, Fuse, MLB Network, Epix, Palladia,Style, Discovery Health and Planet Green. Canada’s CTV, CBC Television, Global Television, MuchMusic, BET International, CNN International, National Geographic and MTV Networks International, making the event available in 640 million homes worldwide.   In addition, Facebook and Twitter are the official social-media partners for the telethon.

To learn more about the telethon, and how you can help the relief effort, click here.

In related news, Lady Gaga has pledged that all proceeds from her January 24th concert at Radio City Music Hall will also go to Haiti relief efforts. 

The telethon will pre-empt Friday evening’s re-broadcasts of “All My Children” and “One Life to Live” on SOAPnet.  Instead, they will be shown at 1:00 and 2:00 AM ET, respectively.  Viewers can also view the episodes at ABC.com and SOAPnet.com.  SOAPnet’s re-broadcast of “General Hospital” will air in its regular timeslot.