2000 Today

2000 Today was an internationally broadcast television special to commemorate the beginning of the Year 2000. This program included New Year's Eve celebrations, musical performances, and other features from participating nations.

Most international broadcasts such as the Olympic Games coverage originate from a limited area for worldwide distribution. 2000 Today was rare in that its live and taped programming originated from member countries and represented all continents including Europe, Asia, Africa, South America and North America & Oceania.

Development
2000 Today was conceived as part of the Millennium celebrations, given the numerical significance of the change from 1999 to 2000. 2000 Today was commissioned by the BBC as one of the five main millennium projects that were broadcast across TV, radio and online services throughout 1999 and 2000.

Most nations that observe the Islamic calendar were not involved in 2000 Today. However, a few predominantly Muslim nations were represented among the programme's worldwide broadcasters such as Egypt (ERTU) and Indonesia (RCTI). Africa was minimally represented in 2000 Today. The only participating nations from that continent were Egypt and South Africa. Portugal-based RTP África distributed the programme to some African nations.

Antarctica was mentioned on the programme schedule, although it was unclear if 2000 Today coverage was recorded or live.

Production
The programme was produced and televised by an international consortium of 60 broadcasters, headed by the BBC in the United Kingdom and WGBH in Boston, United States. The editorial board also included representatives from ABC (Australia), CBC (Canada), CCTV (China), ETC (Egypt), RTL (Germany), SABC (South Africa), TF1 (France), TV Asahi (Japan), TV Globo (Brazil) and ABC (USA). The BBC provided the production hub for receiving and distributing the 78 international satellite feeds required for this broadcast. The idents for the programme were designed in the UK by Lambie-Nairn and the BBC for use by all the participating broadcasters taking part in the event. The linking theme throughout all the idents and promotions was a distinctively shaped stone engraved with the year 2000. The themes were: desert, fire, ice, lasers and water; plus a special BBC News ident.

Up to 5,000 staff worked on 2000 Today, 1,500 of them in BBC Television Centre in West London, where all eight television studios were used during the 28-hour broadcast. Each participant financed and produced its own contributions and shared the core costs proportionately to its size and wealth. It is estimated to have cost $6 million to produce and broadcast.

2000 Today was nominated for "Best Visual Effects and Graphic Design" at the 2000 British Academy Television Craft Awards.

Programme timeline
2000 Today's core international broadcast was 28 hours long, following the beginning of the New Year 2000 across the world's time zones. The programme was tailored by individual broadcasters to provide local content and hosts.

The broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom started on 31 December 1999 at 09:15 UTC. 2000 Today started its international feed at 09:40 UTC, with the Kiribati Line Islands celebrating the arrival of 2000 at 10:00 UTC.

Most of Europe celebrated midnight at 23:00 UTC. Broadcasting celebrations from many countries under Central European Time posed a particularly complex broadcast challenge. 2000 Today chose to rapidly air each nation's midnight observances in succession, using tape delays in most cases. This hour of the broadcast included a blessing by Pope John Paul II from Vatican City and the pyrotechnic display of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. ABC 2000 Today however decided to use Paris for its broadcast in the United States while French broadcasters TF1 and France 2 covered the festivities live from the Eiffel Tower. In addition, Italian broadcaster Rai used the pope's blessing for its Millennium - La Notte Del 2000 broadcast.

2000 Today's international feed finished shortly after midnight celebrations were broadcast from Samoa on 1 January 2000 at 11:00 UTC. BBC One in the United Kingdom continued to broadcast with national features until 13:30. Later the same evening, it aired a two-hour highlights programme, The Best of 2000 Today.

National hosts

 * Argentina (Canal 13 – El Día del Milenio)
 * Mónica Cahen D'Anvers and César Mascetti (presenters of Telenoche)
 * Marley
 * Julián Weich
 * Pancho Ibañez
 * Luís Otero
 * Santo Biasatti
 * Guillermo Andino
 * Mercedes Sosa and Alejandro Lerner
 * Lito Vitale
 * Coro de Buenos Aires
 * Julio Bocca and Eleonora Cassano
 * Australia (ABC Australia)
 * George Negus
 * Maxine McKew
 * Deborah Kennedy
 * Mike Bailey
 * Andrea Stretton
 * Caroline Baum
 * John Lombard
 * Jennifer Byrne
 * James O'Loghlin
 * Daniel Marsden
 * Peter Thompson
 * Kathy Bowlen
 * Ken Radley
 * Nicholas Opolski
 * Mary-Ann Henshaw
 * Taylor Owynns
 * Jeremy Scrivener
 * Shane McNamara
 * Brazil
 * (Rede Record)
 * Boris Casoy
 * Eliana
 * José Luiz Datena
 * Eleonora Paschoal
 * Virgínia Nowicki
 * Dalton Vigh
 * Fábio Jr
 * Raul Gil
 * (BAND)
 * Otaviano Costa
 * Márcia Peltier
 * Fernando Vannucci
 * Susana Alves
 * Marcos Hummel
 * Luciano do Valle
 * Silvia Poppovic
 * Canada
 * (CBC)
 * Peter Mansbridge (primary host, most hours)
 * Laurie Brown (00:00–08:00 UTC, with Mansbridge)
 * Alison Smith (13:00–18:00 UTC)
 * (Radio-Canada)
 * At the time, technicians at Radio-Canada were on strike. Transmissions were seen as scheduled, but using only the main feed from the BBC, with a French voice-over. Also, as a consequence, 2000 footage from Canada was scarce on SRC's presentation, while footage from Quebec was not available at all worldwide (though the CBC did manage to get the only Quebec coverage on their own network—a video shot of midnight fireworks in Hull, Quebec, shot from Ottawa, Ontario).
 * Chile (TVN)
 * Jennifer Warner
 * Mauricio Bustamante
 * Jorge Hevia
 * Margot Kahl
 * Karen Doggenweiler
 * Felipe Camiroaga
 * Pedro Carcuro
 * Rafael Araneda
 * Andrea Molina
 * Colombia (RCN Televisión)
 * Claudia Gurisatti
 * William Calderón
 * Iñaki Berrueta
 * Czech Republic (Czech Television)


 * Marek Beneš
 * Vladimír Jiránek
 * Karel Gott
 * Břetislav Pojar
 * Pavel Koutský
 * Jiří Lábus
 * Ota Jirák
 * Václav Postránecký
 * Petr Haničinec
 * Petr Skoumal
 * Jiřina Bohdalová
 * Blanka Bohdanová
 * Jiri Salamoun
 * Karel Cernoch
 * Martin Klásek
 * Jan Balej
 * Karel Fiala
 * Zdenek Miler
 * Alena Munkova
 * Jiri Munk
 * Robert Hájek
 * Kristýna Květová
 * Petr Narozny
 * Josef Dvorak
 * Jiri Barta
 * Marek Eben
 * Ludek Sobota
 * Ludek Munzar
 * Bolek Polivka
 * Waldemar Matuska
 * Martin Dejdar
 * Iveta Bartosova
 * Jiri Suchy
 * Josef Mlady
 * Petr Jablonsky
 * Ilona Csakova
 * Jan Nedved
 * Jaroslav Uhlir
 * Jaroslav Sveceny
 * Hana Zagorova
 * Petr Bobek
 * Eva Pilarova
 * Jitka Molavcova
 * Ivan Mladek
 * Josef Alois Náhlovský
 * Jiří Korn
 * Petr Vacek
 * Lucie Vondráčková
 * Boris Hybner
 * Karel Zich
 * Josef Laufer
 * Lenka Plackova
 * Petr Vitek
 * Zdenek Smetana
 * Emil Viklicky
 * Estonia (TV3)
 * There was no in-vision commentary or studio used for the broadcast and was aired without commentary between midnight and 6:00 UTC.
 * Ene Veiksaar (9:40–12:00 UTC)
 * Lauri Hussar (9:40–12:00 UTC)
 * Jüri Aarma (12:00–15:00 UTC)
 * Priit Aimla (12:00–15:00 UTC)
 * Rein Lang (15:00–18:00 UTC)
 * Kiur Aarma (15:00–18:00 UTC)
 * Harri Tiido (18:00–21:00 UTC)
 * Vello Rand (18:00–21:00 UTC)
 * Mart Luik (21:00–00:00 UTC)
 * Märt Treier (06:00–09:00 UTC)
 * Kätlin Kontor (06:00–09:00 UTC)
 * Enn Eesmaa (09:00–11:00 UTC)
 * Finland
 * Katariina Lillqvist
 * France (TF1 – Le Millénium)
 * Jean-Claude Narcy
 * Valérie Benaïm
 * Christophe Dechavanne
 * Carole Rousseau
 * Jean-Pierre Pernaut
 * Évelyne Dhéliat
 * Claire Chazal
 * Patrick Poivre d'Arvor
 * Charles Villeneuve
 * Germany (RTL Television)
 * Peter Kloeppel
 * Antonia Rados
 * Bernd Fuchs
 * Heiner Bremer
 * Michael Karr
 * Birgit von Bentzel
 * Ireland (RTÉ One – Millennium Eve: Celebrate 2000)
 * Miriam O'Callaghan
 * Mark Little
 * Geri Maye
 * Pat Kenny
 * Liz Bonnin
 * Joe Duffy
 * Israel (Keshet 2)
 * Miki Haimovich
 * Ya'akov Eilon
 * Italy (RAI – Millennium - La notte del 2000)
 * Bruno Pizzul
 * Monica Maggioni
 * Carlo Conti
 * Gigi Proietti
 * Valeria Marini
 * Clarissa Burt
 * Japan (NHK - Kōhaku Uta Gassen)
 * Masato Kubota
 * Kihachiro Kawamoto
 * Junko Kubo
 * Nakamura Kankurō V
 * Ryuji Miyamoto
 * Shigeru Miyamoto
 * Haruo Minami
 * Saburo Kitajima
 * South Korea (MBC)
 * Sohn Suk-hee
 * Shim Hye-jin
 * Mexico
 * (Televisa)
 * Ernesto Laguardia
 * Mayra Saucedo
 * Marco Antonio Regil
 * Guilliermo Ochoa
 * Guilliermo Ortega
 * Lolita Ayala
 * (Once TV)
 * Adriana Perez Cañedo
 * Jose Angel Dominguez
 * Sergio Uzeta
 * Christina Pacheco
 * Rocío Brauer
 * Lilia Silvia Hernandez
 * Netherlands (NOS)
 * Astrid Kersseboom
 * Jeroen Overbeek
 * Kees Prins
 * Siem van Leeuwen
 * Philippines (GMA Network — GMA Ayala Millennium Party)
 * Mike Enriquez
 * Jessica Soho
 * Mel Tiangco
 * Jay Sonza
 * German Moreno
 * Angelique Lazo
 * Vicky Morales
 * Paolo Bediones
 * Karen Davila
 * Arnold Clavio
 * Mickey Ferriols
 * Miriam Quiambao
 * Ryan Agoncillo
 * KC Montero
 * Suzi Entrata
 * Kara David
 * Bernadette Sembrano
 * Luchi Cruz-Valdes
 * Ninna Castro
 * Lyn Ching
 * Margaux Salcedo
 * Arnell Ignacio
 * Susan Enriquez
 * Tisha Silang
 * Antoinette Taus
 * Francis Magalona
 * Dingdong Dantes
 * Martin Andanar
 * Butch Francisco
 * Vic Sotto
 * Joey de Leon
 * Cacai Velasquez
 * Janno Gibbs
 * The Eraserheads
 * Jaya
 * Michael V.
 * Side A
 * Verni Varga
 * Lolit Solis
 * Rudy Fernandez
 * Bobby Nalzaro
 * Tek Ocampo
 * Noly Calvo
 * Jeja Rose Pornan-Simeon
 * Orly Mercado
 * Connie Angeles
 * Susan Valdez
 * Mildred Ortega
 * Gina de Venecia
 * Rose Clores
 * Nonoy Zuñiga
 * Jimmy Santos
 * Jose Mari Chan
 * Poland (TVP2)
 * Halina Filek-Marszalek
 * Portugal (RTP2)
 * José Rodrigues dos Santos
 * Manuela Moura Guedes
 * Singapore
 * Fann Wong
 * Tanya Chua
 * Elsa Lin
 * Slovakia (Jednotka)
 * Julius Pantik
 * Marián Slovák
 * Spain (Televisión Española)
 * Jesús Álvarez Cervantes
 * Alfredo Urdaci
 * Helena Resano
 * Ramón García
 * Anne Igartiburu
 * Nuria Roca
 * Ukraine
 * Vlad Ryashyn (Inter)
 * Svitlana Leontyeva (Inter)
 * Yuriy Makarov (1+1)
 * United Kingdom (BBC One)
 * David Dimbleby
 * Michael Parkinson
 * Michael Buerk
 * Peter Sissons
 * Peter Snow
 * Philippa Forrester
 * Jamie Theakston
 * Gaby Roslin
 * Huw Edwards
 * Shauna Lowry
 * Tim Vincent
 * Siân Lloyd
 * Noel Thompson
 * Kate Thornton
 * Fergal Keane
 * Tony Robinson
 * Jackie Bird
 * Kirsty Wark
 * Sian Williams
 * John Kettley
 * Dale Winton
 * Steve Wilson
 * Emma Ledden
 * Katy Hill
 * Alan Dedicoat
 * John Cunliffe
 * Ken Barrie
 * United States
 * (ABC – ABC 2000 Today)
 * Peter Jennings
 * Barbara Walters
 * Diane Sawyer
 * Charles Gibson
 * Elizabeth Vargas
 * Jack Ford
 * Sam Donaldson
 * Connie Chung
 * Cokie Roberts
 * Deborah Roberts
 * Carole Simpson
 * Morton Dean
 * Dick Clark
 * (PBS)
 * Various participants
 * (Univision - ¡Feliz 2000!)
 * Don Francisco
 * Raúl de Molina
 * Vietnam (VTV – Chào năm 2000)
 * Nguyễn Thanh Lâm
 * Thu Uyên
 * (HTV – Thế giới chào đón năm 2000)
 * Mạnh Linh
 * Nguyệt Sa
 * Lê Hưng
 * Ngô Hồng

Music performers
Musical artists were part of the 2000 Today broadcast, including:


 * Africa
 * Jean Michel Jarre – Giza pyramid complex, Egypt
 * Asia
 * Maki Ohguro – Nara, Japan
 * Ketsumeishi - Tokyo, Japan
 * Regine Velasquez – Makati, Philippines
 * Europe
 * Björk – Reykjavík, Iceland
 * Frantisek Ringo Cech, Prague, Czech Republic
 * C&K Vocal - Prague, Czech Republic
 * Maria Podhradska - Bratislava, Slovakia
 * Richard Canaky - Bratislava, Slovakia
 * Charlotte Church – United Kingdom
 * The Corrs – London, England, United Kingdom
 * Eurythmics – United Kingdom
 * Ronan Keating – Dublin, Ireland
 * Manic Street Preachers – Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom
 * Martine McCutcheon – United Kingdom
 * Natalie MacMaster – Ireland
 * Robyn – Sweden
 * Ruslana – Kyiv, Ukraine
 * Simply Red – London, England, United Kingdom
 * Spice Girls – London, England, United Kingdom
 * North America
 * Bee Gees – Miami, Florida, United States
 * Juan Gabriel – Mexico
 * Great Big Sea – St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada
 * Kenny G – New York City, New York, United States
 * Neil Diamond – Denver, Colorado, United States
 * Phish – Big Cypress Indian Reservation, Florida, United States
 * The Tragically Hip – Toronto, Ontario, Canada
 * Oceania
 * Split Enz – Auckland, New Zealand
 * Kiri Te Kanawa – Gisborne, New Zealand
 * South America
 * Los Fabulosos Cadillacs – Ushuaia, Argentina
 * Alejandro Lerner and Mercedes Sosa – Iguazú Falls, Argentina
 * Lito Vitale and Estudio Coral de Buenos Aires – Perito Moreno Glacier, Argentina

Participating broadcasters
The following nations broadcast 2000 Today. Some nations were licensees of the broadcast, rather than formal members of the broadcast consortium.


 * Argentina: El Trece
 * Australia: ABC
 * Austria: ORF
 * Belgium: VRT (Dutch) and RTBF (French)
 * Brazil: Rede Record and BAND
 * Canada: CBC (English) and Radio-Canada (French)
 * Cape Verde: RTP África
 * Caribbean: CBU
 * Chile: TVN
 * China: CCTV
 * Colombia: RCN Televisión
 * Czech Republic: ČT
 * Denmark: DR and TV3
 * Ecuador: Teleamazonas
 * Egypt: ETV
 * Estonia: TV3
 * Fiji: Fiji TV
 * Finland: YLE
 * France: TF1
 * Germany: RTL
 * Greece: ERT
 * Guinea-Bissau: RTP África
 * Hong Kong: ATV
 * Hungary: MTV (MTV1, selected coverage; MTV2, full coverage)
 * Iceland: IBC
 * India: Doordarshan and Zee TV
 * Indonesia: RCTI, TVRI
 * Ireland: RTÉ
 * Israel: IBA and ICP
 * Italy: RAI
 * Japan: TV Asahi, NHK, TV Tokyo and Nippon TV
 * Jordan: JRTC
 * Lebanon: MTV
 * Lithuania: TV3
 * Macau: TDM (possibly also Channel 32 and Channel 30)
 * Malaysia: RTM
 * Malta: Super One
 * Mexico: Once TV
 * Mozambique: RTP África
 * Netherlands: NPO
 * New Zealand: TV3
 * Norway: NRK and TV3
 * Oman: Oman TV
 * Panama: Telemetro
 * Paraguay: Telefuturo
 * Peru: Panamericana Televisión
 * Philippines: GMA Network
 * Poland: TVP
 * Portugal: RTP
 * Romania: Antena 1 (licensee)
 * Russia: VGTRK and Prometey AST
 * Samoa: Samoa TV
 * São Tomé and Príncipe: RTP África
 * Singapore: TCS, CNA, STV12 and SCV
 * Slovakia: (licensee) STV 1
 * Slovenia: POP TV (licensee)
 * South Africa: SABC
 * South Korea: MBC
 * Spain: TVE
 * Sri Lanka: MTV
 * Sweden: TV3 and SVT
 * Switzerland: SRG SSR
 * Taiwan: PTS
 * Thailand: BBTV Channel 7
 * Tonga: TBC
 * Ukraine: Novyi Kanal, Inter, 1+1
 * United Kingdom: BBC
 * United States: ABC and PBS
 * Uruguay: Teledoce and TNU
 * Vietnam: VTV and HTV
 * Venezuela: RCTV

Recorded time broadcasts

 * Longest time broadcasts: HTV (42 hours 30 minutes)
 * Shortest time broadcasts: VTV (6 hours)

Ratings
2000 Today had an estimated worldwide audience of 800 million people, with an audience of 12.6 million people on the BBC alone.

Soundtrack
2000 Today: A World Symphony for the Millennium is a television soundtrack album of music commissioned by the BBC for its internationally broadcast television special, 2000 Today and released by Sony Classical Records in December 1999. The music was composed and conducted by multi award-winning composer Tan Dun, and performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra, London Voices choir, New London Children's Choir, and a group of world instrument performers from around the world. It was featured on PBS and ABC throughout the promotions leading up to the broadcast and throughout the broadcast itself, providing musical "stepping stones" from country to country, culture to culture, day to night.

The programme's theme song was a cover version of Bob Marley's song "One Love" performed by the Gipsy Kings, Ziggy Marley, Tsidii Le Loka and the Boys Choir of Harlem. This version was released as a single in Europe. "One Love" was performed live by Gipsy Kings as part of the broadcast from Miami, Florida.

Personnel

 * Tan Dun – composer, conductor, producer
 * Charles Harbutt – engineer, post production
 * Mary Lou Humphrey – liner notes
 * Photonica – photographer
 * FPG International – photographer
 * Grace Row – producer