Live Earth Global Concerts Reach More Than 10 Million Online at MSN and Inspire Change in Viewers Worldwide

Live Earth Global Concerts Reach More Than 10 Million Online at MSN and Inspire Change in Viewers Worldwide

Most simultaneous viewers of any online concert ever.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., July 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- A landmark audience of viewers from around the world has united at http://www.liveearth.msn.com/ to experience the excitement of today's Live Earth concerts and to confront the threat of global warming. As of 3 p.m. EDT, MSN had received a total of more than 10 million video streams and has the most simultaneous viewers of any online concert ever.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO )

Viewers worldwide have already watched the Live Earth concerts via the live webcast, and the LiveEarth.MSN.com audience will only increase. On-demand footage of all performances, along with artist interviews, backstage footage, easy searching capabilities for specific songs, artists and more, will be available from all eight official concerts at LiveEarth.MSN.com for the next several weeks.

"History is being made today," said Joanne Bradford, corporate vice president and chief media officer of MSN. "Millions of people around the world have joined together to fight the climate crisis. The over 10 million streams MSN has delivered so far today represent a milestone in live Internet broadcasting. We expect to see an even greater number of streams after the concerts are over as people return to watch their favorite performances or enjoy them for the first time if they missed the concerts live."

"Live Earth is committed to providing our global audience with ways to 'Answer the Call' and individually make a difference to help solve the climate crisis," said Kevin Wall, founder and producer of Live Earth. "By providing the opportunity to view the shows in their entirety online, coupled with our unique solutions campaign we're able to communicate this message on a mass-scale in a way that engages people and inspires them to act."

MSN, the exclusive online media partner for Live Earth, allows people to watch live online feeds or recorded footage from earlier performances at no charge from all eight concerts, each located in different cities around the world. Interactive maps on LiveEarth.MSN.com make it easy to navigate between different cities and venues. People can get involved in the Live Earth effort by clicking on links on the Web portal to information on how they can help reduce global warming. They can also share video commentaries about their environmental concerns or Live Earth performances on the Soapbox on MSN Video Web site, http://soapbox.msn.com.*/

About Live Earth

Live Earth is a monumental music event that will bring together more than 2 billion people on July 7, 2007 to combat the climate crisis. Live Earth will stage concerts in New York, London, Sydney, Tokyo, Shanghai, Rio de Janeiro, Johannesburg, Hamburg and will feature a mix of both legendary music acts like The Police, Genesis, Bon Jovi and Madonna with the latest headliners like Kanye West, Kelly Clarkson, Black Eyed Peas and Jack Johnson.

Live Earth's 24 hours of music across 7 continents will deliver a worldwide call to action and the solutions necessary to answer that call. Live Earth marks the beginning of a multi-year campaign to drive individuals, corporations and governments to take action to solve the climate crisis. Live Earth is partnering with the Alliance for Climate Protection, The Climate Group, Stop Climate Chaos and other international organizations in this ongoing effort. Live Earth was founded by Kevin Wall, a worldwide executive producer of the Live 8 concert series in 2005, and is supported by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore.

smart is the world's only automaker serving as an Official Partner. Unlike any other vehicle, the new smart fortwo combines a modern, individual lifestyle with environmental protection by setting the standard in urban mobility and offering the lowest CO2 emission of any vehicle on the market. smart responds to environmental demands with innovative, technologically sound solutions and as a result produces positive and credible answers to the question of ecological driving.

Philips, as the world's leading lighting supplier, joins Live Earth as an Official Partner. Philips was the first to introduce the energy saving light bulb in 1980 and has put environmental product improvement at the heart of its business with its EcoDesign program since 1994, increasing its green product range year by year.

Live Earth is partnering with companies on a local level who share the commitment to helping people live a more energy efficient lifestyle. PepsiCo, an Official Partner of Live Earth, is committed to making a difference with eco-friendlier packaging, energy and water conservation and waste reduction. It's all part of PepsiCo's commitment to Performance with Purpose -- to do better by doing better. Esurance, the direct-to-consumer personal auto insurance company, joins Live Earth as an Official Sponsor and is the latest extension of Esurance's efforts to conserve energy and preserve the planet's precious resources. For more than seven years, Esurance policyholders have helped save thousands of trees by buying their auto insurance online and using electronic documents. An official partner of Live Earth, The Absolut Spirits Company, Inc., a subsidiary of V&S Group, produces and markets ABSOLUT(R) VODKA, Level (TM) Vodka, FRIS(R) Vodka, Plymouth(TM) Gin and Cruzan(R) Rum. The Absolut Spirits Company focuses on reducing the impact on climate change, sustainable agriculture and optimizing use of natural resources as mandated by V&S Group. To view details on the company's efforts to combat global warming, visit www.vsgroup.com and click on "Corporate Responsibility/Environment." Intelsat, the leading provider of fixed satellite services worldwide, is the official satellite capacity sponsor to Live Earth, providing the global high definition infrastructure for an unforgettable viewer experience. Intelsat connects the planet to Live Earth through its network of 52 satellites and global terrestrial facilities.

About MSN

MSN attracts more than 465 million unique users worldwide per month. With localized versions available globally in 42 markets and 21 languages, MSN is a world leader in delivering compelling programmed content experiences to consumers and online advertising opportunities to businesses worldwide. MSN is located on the Web at http://www.msn.com/.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

* Soapbox on MSN Video is available worldwide (except in China) in
English.

Microsoft and MSN are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

For more information about the greening processes of Live Earth venues and the campaign to combat global warming: Visit http://www.liveearth.org/.

Photo: NewsCom:

http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070707/CLSA007
AP Archive:

http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: Microsoft

CONTACT: Brynn Vitale, Waggener Edstrom Worldwide for Microsoft,
+1-212-907-6649, bvitale@waggeneredstrom.com; or Rapid Response Team, Waggener
Edstrom Worldwide for Microsoft, +1-503-443-7070, rrt@waggeneredstrom.com;
Yusef Robb, Live Earth Press Team, +1-323-384-1789

Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/
http://www.liveearth.org/
http://liveearth.msn.com/

NOTE TO EDITORS: If you are interested in viewing additional information on Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft(R) Web page at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass on Microsoft's corporate information pages. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may since have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft's Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/contactpr.mspx.

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