What will probably be the most viewed funeral of all time will take place at 10AM PDT, 1PM EDT today, as Michael Jackson's funeral takes place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. For those people not lucky enough to win the ticket lottery for 8,750 tickets, or not rich enough to buy them off of eBay or Craigslist, how to watch, particularly if one is at work?
There will be a number of news sites hosting video. The real question is will the Internet be able to handle all the traffic, or will it buckle under the sheer weight of people frantically trying to watch online?
- Hulu, always one of my favorite sites in terms of quality and ability to handle traffic, will start its live feed at 9:55 AM PDT.
- MSNBC will launch live coverage at 9:00 AM PDT.
- TV.com, a CBS property, plans to stream the CBSNews.com content as well.
- CNN plans to stream the memorial service with hosts Anderson Cooper, Larry King, Don Lemon, and Soledad O'Brien.
- ABCNews.com plans to stream live video with commentary from Charles Gibson.
- Fox News will stream live video with host Shepard Smith. Greta Van Susteren and Megyn Kelly will provide live reports from Staples Center.
- Meanwhile, both Facebook and MySpace members will be able to view streams from CNN (Facebook) or AEG, the company behind the UK tour Jackson was preparing for (MySpace).
I also expect a slight downturn in productivity at work during the streaming, and possible a major hit to corporations' Internet lines.
