Press Release
Company News - "New York Philharmonic in North Korea"
PHILHARMONIC’S GROUND-BREAKING CONCERT IN NORTH KOREA FEBRUARY 26
Thirteen/WNET To Broadcast Premiere February 26 At 8 P.M., PBS on February 28 at 9 P.M.
The New York Philharmonic will make history when it performs in North Korea on February 26 and Video Thirteen (http://video.thirteen.org) and the Great Performances companion site (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf) will stream the eagerly anticipated concert live. The raw footage from the isolated nation will be available for anyone, anywhere to watch. The web cast will take place beginning at 4 a.m. (ET) on the morning of Tuesday, February 26. Later that day, it will become available for on-demand viewing on both sites exclusively for the two days prior to the national broadcast. That evening at 8 p.m. (E.T.), Thirteen/WNET will premiere the edited program on the station’s Great Performances series, which will include "behind-the-scenes coverage" from ABC News correspondent Bob Woodruff. Two days later, on February 28 at 9 p.m. (E.T.) (check local listings), the program will premiere on PBS stations nationwide.
This marks the first live stream for Video Thirteen (http://video.thirteen.org), a new online destination for on-demand access to Thirteen and PBS programs. From Thirteen's national productions -- Wide Angle, Great Performances and Secrets of the Dead -- to its local series and specials -- New York Voices and Reel 13 -- Video Thirteen hosts a wide variety of the quality programming that Thirteen and public television are known for. Developed with New York's Diversion Media, LLC and in beta test release since December 2007, Thirteen Video continues to grow, adding footage from the station's archive, its new productions and new sources.
Visitors to Video Thirteen and the Great Performances website will get a front-row seat at the East Pyongyang Grand Theatre as The New York Philharmonic's Music Director Lorin Maazel leads the orchestra in Dvorák's Symphony No. 9, From the New World; Gershwin's An American in Paris; and Wagner's Prelude to Act III of Lohengrin.
Great Performances is funded by the Irene Diamond Fund, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, public television viewers, and PBS.
Thirteen/WNET New York is one of the key program providers for public television, bringing such acclaimed series as Nature, Great Performances, American Masters, Charlie Rose, Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly, Wide Angle, Secrets of the Dead, NOW With David Brancaccio, and Cyberchase -- as well as the work of Bill Moyers -- to audiences nationwide. As the flagship public broadcaster in the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut metro area, Thirteen reaches millions of viewers each week, airing the best of American public television along with its own local productions such as The Ethnic Heritage Specials, The Thirteen Walking Tours, New York Voices, and Reel New York. Thirteen extends the impact of its television productions through educational and community outreach projects -- including the Teaching and Learning Celebration -- as well as Web sites and other digital media platforms. More information can be found at: www.thirteen.org.
Diversion Media (www.diversionmedia.com) is a New York-based provider of video publishing solutions. Diversion's video sites include Travelistic.com, the largest user-generated travel video community on the web, and Snowvision.com, a broadband video service for the snowboard community. Diversion's technology development customers include Video Thirteen and Sling Media. Diversion was founded by former MTVi CEO Nicholas Butterworth and Tatum Lade, former VP/Engineering, iFilm.