DirecTV to air SXSW 2007

Cory Bergman February 5th, 2007

For all you South by Southwest (SXSW) fans out there, DirecTV just did a deal to bring the music-design-tech event to TV, airing live March 15-17th. Press release…

PRESS RELEASE — For two decades, the SXSW music
festival in Austin, Texas has been the industry’s best kept secret for
breaking new acts such as Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Chiefs and James Blunt.
That’s all about to change as DIRECTV, the nation’s leading satellite
television service provider, teams up with music/entertainment guru Blaze
TV to bring the nation’s biggest music showcase to national television for
the first time in DIRECTV Presents SXSW Live. Exclusively on DIRECTV’s
Channel 101 (The 101), the special will be broadcast live March 15-17 and
feature unprecedented access with upfront performances and
behind-the-scenes footage from the three day musical extravaganza.

Last year’s event featured more than 1,400 bands played at 60 venues in
downtown Austin, Texas. This year proves to provide more action with
appearences by Pete Townshend and Rachel Fuller, The Stooges (with Iggy
Pop), David Byrne, Ozomatli, Taylor Hicks, Amy Winehouse, Buzzcocks,
Interpol, Razorlight, Hot Hot Heat, The Bravery and Booker T.

Blaze TV is working with SXSW to custom-build two state-of-the-art
venues exclusively for the SXSW special on The 101. The Lone Star Lounge,
with a traditional Texas feel, and modern music club The Bat Bar will be
built from the ground up in Austin solely for the live televised
performances. Each venue will be filmed using the most up-to-date
technology, including multi-camera HD with 5.1 surround sound.

“SXSW has been the music world’s best kept secret. It’s to the music
industry what Sundance is to the film business. You can’t move in Austin
when SXSW is on, because of the packs of record company reps and producers
thronging the venues … and the list of bands who have been discovered
there reads like a Who’s Who,” said David Hill, DIRECTV’S President of
Entertainment. “So we figured that for our customers, the mix of hot
established bands and the hot new young bands would make for sensational,
unique music programming, the likes of which has never been seen before.”

“Blaze TV and SXSW share the same vision for creating content of the
highest caliber,” stated Roland Swenson, managing director of SXSW. “And
that coupled with the media power of DIRECTV will change the face of the
festival by bringing it to the masses.”

“We are delighted to take part in SXSW, one of the world’s truly great
festivals,” offered Blaze managing director Conor McAnally. “With the
innovative production approach we will be taking, we are excited to be able
to share the extraordinary performances which SXSW inspires with audiences
through DIRECTV.”

About SXSW

The SXSW Music and Media Conference showcases hundreds of musical acts
from around the globe on over 50 states in downtown Austin. SXSW is the
largest single music festival in the U.S., attended by record company and
music media executives from all over the world, thus giving attending acts
an unparalleled, showcase platform. By day, conference registrants do
business in the SXSW Trade Show in the Austin Convention Center and partake
of a full agenda of informative, provocative panel discussions featuring
hundreds of speakers of international stature. SXSW 2007 will take place
March 14-18, 2007. For more information, visit http://2007.sxsw.com/music.