The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, produced by AEG Live, has signed an agreement to let Mark Cuban’s AXS TV broadcast the venerable seven-day music event live across the nation.
The question now is, will AEG Live next allow a live broadcast of its two Indio music festivals, Coachella and Stagecoach?
That probably won’t happen soon. AEG Live’s subsidiary and partner in the festivals, Goldenvoice, provides live event streaming through Coachella.com. It has never allowed TV news cameras at Coachella or Stagecoach inside the Empire Polo Club gates.
On the other hand, Goldenvoice doesn’t have a television contract that would prohibit such a deal. And sellouts at Coachella were never a given until this decade.
AXS TV, which is carried by DirecTV, the Dish Network, Verizon and Charter but not Time Warner Cable, will broadcast live segments of the event known as Jazz Fest in its nightly program, AXSLive, April 26-May 5. It will present continuous live festival coverage from May 3-5.
Festival producer/director Quint Davis said he is allowing Jazz Fest to be simulcast for the first time to “further our goal of placing New Orleans and Louisiana culture alongside the biggest names in music and bringing this one-of-a-kind celebration to the world.”
The 44th annual Jazz Fest will present more than 500 bands on 12 stages performing a vast range of music. Acts include Fleetwood Mac, Billy Joel, the Dave Matthews Band, Maroon 5, The Black Keys, John Mayer, Widespread Panic, Phoenix, B.B. King, Frank Ocean, Willie Nelson, Band of Horses and Gary Clark Jr. The festival is not sold out.
An AXS TV press release says its partnership with the Jazz Fest gives Mark Cuban a possible opportunity to broadcast other AEG Live promotions.
“With production facilities at AEG’s owned and operated L.A. LIVE (which includes venues such as Staples Center, Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE, Club Nokia and The Grammy Museum’s Clive Davis Theater), as well as their access to their worldwide network of the busiest venues of all sizes,” the release said, “AXS TV has the inside track to programming that connects audiences with the complete live experience.”
Besides appearing on specific cable channels, AXS TV programming, including live Jazz Fest coverage, can be seen On Demand on DirecTV, the Dish Network, Charter and other cable networks besides TWC.