Earlier this week, as the clock neared 11 p.m. on Liberty Island in New York harbor, the ABC News production team finally had the window they had been waiting for.
David Muir, who had spent hours touring the island and the Statue of Liberty with park rangers, was interviewing singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile, who would follow with a performance of “America the Beautiful” in front of the statue, illuminated in red, white and blue for the country’s 250th anniversary.
The performance and interview is a centerpiece of what ABC News president Almin Karamehmedovic says is “the longest commercial broadcast in history,” a 24-hour marathon of programming that will begin at 10 p.m. on July 3 with the Statue of Liberty light show; the Carlile performance; Muir’s tour of the statue and a “special message” from Walt Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro, and will continue until 11 p.m. on July 4, where Ryan Seacrest will lead Nashville’s Star-Spangled Bash.
But first, the ABC News team needed to get the take. The evening of the shoot, there was frequent hum of tourist helicopters circling the island, and a few party boats blasting music, which threatened to put a damper on the plans. As the evening progressed, however, the noise died down, and the makeshift set at the base of the Statue of Liberty sprung into action, securing a performance without distractions.
As the boat from Liberty Island returned to lower Manhattan not long after, Muir and Carlile stood on the deck and took one last look at the Statue of Liberty, as the light show test continued, teeing up what will be the kickoff program for ABC’s 24-hour broadcast, one that executive producer John R. Green says will be “a spectacle that is worthy of 250 years of hope and dreams.”
“In all of our conversations we kept thinking about these iconic symbols that represent the hope that America has captured over 250 years, and obviously we all kept coming back to the Statue of Liberty,” Green says, adding that conversations with the French government (which is putting on the light show and a military flyover) helped everything come together. “It clicked as an opportunity to use this iconic symbol of America and freedom and hope as a backdrop to do something really spectacular. And always, when you’re doing a marathon broadcast like this, you want to start with spectacle, and that is what it is.”
But the spectacle at the Statue of Liberty is just the start. ABC News and Disney writ large are planning much more coverage, which will continue overnight, through the morning of and afternoon of July 4, culminating in that party in Nashville.
“We just wanted to make a statement with our storytelling and make it big,” Karamehmedovic says.
The result will see nearly every ABC News anchor and correspondent contributing, with segments from all 50 states and more than 60 live remotes. The rest of Disney is getting involved too:
A partnership with Nat Geo will take viewers inside the seven natural wonders of America, including Muir at the Grand Canyon and Michael Strahan at Niagara Falls; special editions of Nightline, Good Morning America and World News; a simulcast of the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest and a special SportsCenter will bring ESPN into the fold. While it won’t air on TV, Disney World and Disneyland are planning special events like military flyovers and patriotic parades, bringing Disney’s theme parks into the celebration. Fireworks at Disneyland will make an appearance during the Nashville broadcast.
Green and Karamehmedovic also note that many anchors and correspondents are using the special to showcase a bit about themselves too.
“You’re going to see the power of those personal connections that will come along with it from most of our anchors,” Karamehmedovic says. “Diane Sawyer, for example, is going to Appalachia, she’s from Kentucky. Robert Roberts is sharing her personal story, where she grew up, and she does multiple pieces in Mississippi, and she goes to Florida, so you will see these personal connections that makes it even more beautiful in a way.”
“Instead of waiting to find out what they would be assigned to do, the correspondents and anchors were coming to us, and just with so much enthusiasm invoking their home states,” Green adds. “So, Sarah Haines from The View grew up in Iowa, and we knew that we wanted to tell the story of the American farmer, and what better place to do that than from Iowa? And she really, really wanted to do that, so she went back to Iowa. Jon Karl, you probably know, spent much of his childhood in South Dakota and had a very strong personal relationship to Mount Rushmore, he climbed Rushmore as a child, and sent us photos of himself as a young boy from atop Mount Rushmore, and so that level of personal engagement, it just fit really well, because most Americans in many ways think of July 4 through the prism of their childhood remembrances, and all of these anchors and correspondents came to us with strong connections and strong memories of what they did when they were young on July 4.”
The culminating event will be Seacrest’s July 4 special from Nashville, which will include a fireworks show and performances from artists like The All-American Rejects, Boyz II Men, NE-YO, Nick Jonas, Reba McEntire, Sublime and Tim McGraw.
But over the course of the entire broadcast, Disney is hoping that every corner of the country gets its own slice of the pie.
“All 50 states and many overseas territories are represented, and in this coverage is really important to all of us that we show all of the nation,” Green says. “I think that starting in New York, and then going into Middle America, into Nashville, there’s something really nice about that, because, as you know, the vibes are different in different parts of the country, and you’ll be there with all-star performers, with spectacular fireworks, and all of the energy that Ryan Seacrest brings, so that’s part of the diversity that we’re talking about, is the geographic diversity and showcasing how people celebrate July 4 in different parts of the country.”
For a holiday with no shortage of options of what to watch on TV (Fox has a series of popular soccer matches, for example), ABC and Disney are betting that they have something that can stand out.
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