
Why This Matters: ABC and cable networks are using non-sports live events to draw viewers inside when the weather's nice.
When Nik Wallenda steps onto the high wire 25 stories above Times Square on ABC June 23, it represents yet another live special, as networks increasingly aim to corral viewers to tune in for day-and-date programming. Wallenda aims to walk 1,300 feet on the wire, with his sister, Lijana, starting from the opposite end and the siblings crossing mid-wire.
Acrobat Nik Wallenda
ABC is doubling down, in the words of Rob Mills, senior VP, alternative series, specials and late night, on live events. That includes last month's Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear's All in the Family and The Jeffersons special, and perhaps a live musical.
Our network doesn't have the NFL, Mills said. These become our NFL.
A number of networks are set to run bold live events. The same night the Wallendas traipse above Times Square, National Geographic Channel kicks off four-night Yellowstone Live, with the national park coming to life after a long winter, and a range of animals doing their thing. Evel Live 2 airs on History July 7, with fearless motocross athletes attempting harrowing stunts.
First Responders Live, a Dick Wolf show offering a peek at first responders as they answer emergency calls across the country, debuted on Fox June 12, and A&E ordered 10 additional episodes of Live PD spinoff Live Rescue, also offering a close-up of emergency responders, bringing the season-one total to 19 episodes.
Live programs are mostly DVR-proof and eminently social media-friendly, network executives say. Eli Lehrer, History executive VP and head of programming, mentions the immediacy they bring and the excitement they generate for viewers. There's an urgency to watch right now you don't want to miss it.
High-Flying Wallendas
In 1928, the Great Wallendas performed in Madison Square Garden, and Nik Wallenda said he will pay homage to that performance nearly a century after it happened. There's something alluring about New York, he said.
Adding intrigue to Highwire Live in Times Square with Nik Wallenda is Lijana, who will step onto the high wire for the first time since a 2017 incident where she fell 30 feet from one.
Executive producer Mark Bracco said watching such an event on the day after does not do it justice. If you are not watching live, you miss something amazing that happens in the moment, he said. And you just can't experience something like that in the same way if you watch it the next day.
Dick Clark Productions is producing the event. Wallenda previously did high-wire stunts over Niagara Falls in 2012, which ABC News produced, and the Grand Canyon in 2013, which aired on Discovery. Mills cites Evel Knievel stunts that used to air on Wide World of Sports in saying that Wallenda is right at home on ABC. It fits into the heritage of the network, he said.
Evel Genius
Evel Live 2 will be filmed at the San Bernardino International Airport in California. Travis Pastrana did motorcycle stunts in Live 1, and co-hosts this summer, leaving the daredevil stuff to Vicki Golden and Axell Hodges. Golden will speed through a series of flaming boards, and Hodges plans to soar over two dozen trucks to break a record Knievel set in 1971. Later, he'll aim to set the record for motorcycle jump distance, which stands at nearly 380 feet.
Evel Live 1 reached 14.5 million total viewers in live plus seven ratings, according to History, and 3.5 million in live plus same day. Lehrer called it an incredible success for us.
He promises bigger stuff in this summer's three-hour special. We learned a tremendous amount from a TV standpoint, he said, in terms of how to produce a live event.
Park and Rec
Yellowstone Live is co-hosted by Josh Elliott and Chris Packham, with Jenna Wolfe the roving reporter. The event takes place across Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. The 25 cameras capturing the action include a Burrow Cam, showing prairie dogs underground, and Bison Cam, affixed to the massive mammal. Yellowstone After Dark deploys thermal cameras to showcase the animal action at night.
Geoff Daniels, executive VP of global unscripted entertainment at National Geographic, promises a bigger and bolder event than last year's. We cover a bigger area, and have the ability to cover so many more intimate animal stories, he said.
Social Grace
Daniels also promises a social media takeover for Yellowstone Live, and social is a giant part of what makes the live specials right for 2019. For its part, Evel Live had 103,000 social interactions last year, said History, citing Nielsen, far and away the most social program for the network last year, according to Lehrer.
While live events have their risks, whether it's foul weather, flubbed lines or a motorcycle malfunction, executives said they are keen to bring more to their network. It's certainly a space we're always looking at, Lehrer said, noting that a couple are in development at History.
ABC may do a live musical as soon as in the fall, Mills said, likely something from the Disney library. It also plans to turn the Lear live special into an annual event.
National Geographic will depart Yellowstone Park to tackle Alaska Live next summer. One of the beauties of live is, it's a communal experience, Daniels said. It's in the moment and it's unpredictable. You saw it first you didn't hear about it.
Why This Matters: ABC and cable networks are using non-sports live events to draw viewers inside when the weather's nice.
When Nik Wallenda steps onto the high wire 25 stories above Times Square on ABC June 23, it represents yet another live special, as networks increasingly aim to corral viewers to tune in for day-and-date programming. Wallenda
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
24/04/2026
AgileTV presents in Las Vegas its technological proposition to power safer, more scalable and efficient TV ecosystems for telecom operators, ISPs and entertainm...
24/04/2026
Canada's C gep de Jonqui re and Calrec take five with a substantial TV studio upgrade Underscoring its global reputation as one of Canada's most renowne...
24/04/2026
Redefining Broadcast Workflows at NAB 2026 with our Most Powerful Hardware, Virtual and Hybrid Audio Lineup Yet We're looking forward to meeting up with you...
24/04/2026
Recognition for incredible advances in broadcast and enterprise control...
24/04/2026
Dalet Takes Home The Best in Show Award for Dalia at 2026 NAB
Brie Clayton April 23, 2026
0 Comments
Media-aware agentic AI wins big for real-world ef...
24/04/2026
Calrec and Grass Valley Unlock Exceptional Choice and Flexibility for Broadcaste...
24/04/2026
Bitfocus Buttons wins NAB Show Product of the Year Award
Brie Clayton April 24, 2026
0 Comments
Recognition for incredible advances in broadcast and e...
24/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
24/04/2026
Media-aware agentic AI wins big for real-world efficiencies and time to value
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, to...
24/04/2026
Mediagenix wins for its Scheduling Optimization capabilities that help broadcasters and FAST operators move beyond traditional scheduling automation toward cont...
24/04/2026
Setplex today announced that it has taken home the NAB Show Project of the Year Award in the Distribution category for its innovative deployment with UVOtv. Dur...
24/04/2026
Media and post-production teams are invited to experience next-level resource planning, project management, and connected media workflows at Stand K59 in The Gr...
24/04/2026
April 24 2026, 00:00 (PDT) Dolby Elevates In-Car Entertainment to New Heights at Auto China 2026
More Automakers, More Models: Dolby-enabled Vehicles Drive...
24/04/2026
April 24 2026, 06:48 (PDT) Dolby Cinema Arrives in Tamil Nadu: Dolby Laboratori...
23/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/04/2026
Partnership between ARRI and SmallHD brings new Hi-5 license
Configurable monitor overlays adapt to individual working styles
Supported by SmallHD monitors ru...
23/04/2026
Lighting Master Cronenweth ASC brings a unique look to each grid world with the help of Astera
Jeff Cronenweth on the set of Disney's TRON: ARES. Photo by...
23/04/2026
DP Chloe Smolkin ( The Late Show, Kidz Bop ) joins director Danielle Beckmann and writer/actor Raji Ahsan behind the camera for the heartfelt short comedy Dr...
23/04/2026
Apply now to join the 2026 Producer Delegation to TIFF: The Market 23 April 2026
Screen Australia, in partnership with Ontario Creates, has opened application...
23/04/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced that Dalia, its agentic AI solution for media & entertainment, ha...
23/04/2026
Six crafts. Six lives.
Six reasons to believe that making things by hand
still...
23/04/2026
The festival programme promises a feast of drama, a bumper packed fringe festiva...
23/04/2026
AI agents have revolutionized developer workflows, and their next frontier is kn...
23/04/2026
Dermot Bannon's Celebrity Super Spaces airs Sunday 26 April and 3 May on RT ...
23/04/2026
GeForce NOW is doubling down on what matters most: gamers. This week's upgra...
22/04/2026
Solid State Logic is advancing its System T platform with a stronger focus on IP...
22/04/2026
From immersive audio to live streaming, Dolby Laboratories is focused on the fut...
22/04/2026
Shallow depth-of-field cameras have taken the industry by storm. Its debut a han...
22/04/2026
Riedel Communications (Booth C4908) announced that Eastern Kentucky University (...
22/04/2026
The NAB Show is in full swing, and the SVG and SVG Europe editorial teams are chasing down the hottest stories from all over the Las Vegas Convention Center. He...
22/04/2026
Blackmagic Design has announced the URSA Cine 12K LF 100G, a new model in the URSA Cine family adding 100G Ethernet for SMPTE 2110 live production output up to ...
22/04/2026
Celebrating its 40th anniversary, NEP is leaning into hybrid production with the...
22/04/2026
NEP VP, Platform Dan Murphy sits down at the 2026 NAB Show to unpack what NEP P...
22/04/2026
Spotify and the New York Liberty are teaming up to give music and basketball fan...
22/04/2026
New 20-minute documentary explores iconic design The Focusrite Room in Mesa, Arizona, where John Aquilino hosts the Studio Console 005.
In 2025, Focusrite co...
22/04/2026
Offers compact wireless solution for pedalboards
Taiwanese audio brand Cloudvocal have announced the availability of a new pedalboard-friendly wireless syst...
22/04/2026
Latest hybrid sampling/synthesis instrument arrives
Arturia's Augmented series offerings rely on a mixture of sampling and synthesis, allowing users to ...
22/04/2026
Combines three distinct analogue EQ emulations
The latest addition to Acustica Audio's ever-expanding collection of analogue-emulation plug-ins combines...
22/04/2026
Final instalment in vintage-inspired instrument series
Analog Empire: Bass & Lead marks the final instalment in Melda Production's vintage hardware-insp...
22/04/2026
Fuzz pedal joins all-analogue Series A line
Given that Strymons reputation was built on unapologetically digital pedals, it was a little surprising to see t...
22/04/2026
SBS names shortlisted brands for 2026 SBS Media Sustainability Challenge
22 April, 2026
Media releases
National broadcaster also releases its second annual...