Broadcast, Cable Nets Align for Fundraising Special

LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK: FOX has come on board with ABC, CBS, NBC and several cable networks for a live, commercial-free fund-raising event, Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C), set to air September 10.

The cable networks that have signed up for the live telecast from Los Angeles are VH1, HBO, HBO Latino, TV One, G4, Discovery Health, E!, MLB Network and The Style Network. The funds raised will be used for cancer research. The event will be hosted by evening news anchors Katie Couric, Diane Sawyer and Brian Williams, and produced by Laura Ziskin, herself a cancer survivor.

"Cancer claims one person every minute of every day in the United States—1,500 people every single day," Ziskin said. "This year it will take the lives of more than half a million people in this country, and almost eight million people worldwide… Cancer is a crisis and we want to convey that ALL Americans can play a role in helping the scientists who are working to end it. We’re delighted that the entertainment community is banding together in such a big way to help us get that word out."

The event is also working with Major League Baseball (MLB) on a public service announcement (PSA) starring Jake Gyllenhaal, which will premiere during the MLB All-Star Game on FOX tonight.

The 2008 SU2C telecast was viewed in more than 170 countries and helped raise over $100 million.