BBC live from Carling Weekend: Reading and Leeds Festival

• 15th Jun 2006

Organisers of the Carling Weekend: Reading and Leeds Festival, Mean Fiddler, are delighted to announce that BBC TV will continue their
commitment to music television this summer by broadcasting direct from
the sites.

The legendary event will be shown live on BBC Three from 7pm each evening over the August Bank Holiday and the main bands and highlights from the festival will be shown on BBC2 each night over the weekend. Music from the amazing artists on the bill will be broadcast
each day along with live reports from around the sites and VT packages
taking the viewer behind the scenes at the longest-running event in the
UK festival season.

The coverage will have a major interactive and online element with
viewers able to press the red button to see a choice of different
performances from the biggest and best acts from the music world lined
up at the live highlight of summer 2006. Coverage will be led by Mark
Cooper, Creative Head of Music Entertainment at the BBC (Later /
Glastonbury). The BBC TV coverage will be complemented by live
broadcasts, reportage and coverage on BBC Radio 1 over the course of the weekend.

The BBC's choice of the Carling Weekend: Reading and Leeds Festival
confirms the festival's position as the leading event in the summer
calendar of outdoor music, not only in the UK but across Europe. Over 30
years old, Carling Weekend: Reading and Leeds Festival is the biggest
event of its kind and is agreed by performers and fans alike as the best
by far. Each year the event brings the biggest and best bands, and the
newest and most talked about acts, from across the music world to
perform in front of thousands of fans at the most exciting and
established event in its field. This year's event includes exclusive UK
festival performances from the three headliners plus entertainment from
across the spectrum on the various stages including the hot new bands of 2006, dance acts, comedy, cabaret and unsigned bands.

Melvin Benn, Managing Director of Festivals, Mean Fiddler said “I could
not be happier. I have worked alongside BBC TV for the last four years
at Glastonbury and seen the extraordinary coverage Mark and his team
have achieved there and I am delighted that the best music festivals in
the world are now to be screened by the best TV broadcaster in the
world.”

Julian Bellamy, Controller BBC Three said “This signals BBC Three's
intention to have more live music events of real scale on the channel;
I'm particularly excited to be bringing BBC Three viewers coverage of
the Reading and Leeds festivals for the first time.”