MSN Live Earth testimonial

Designed to trigger a global movement to combat the world’s climate crisis, Live Earth, a 24-hour, 7-continent concert series, took place on July 7, 2007. With a goal of reaching 2 billion people around the world, the concert was broadcast via all media platforms—TV, radio, Internet, and wireless. As a world leader in delivering compelling content experiences, MSN knew it wanted to be part of what promised to be a historic global event. And the feeling was mutual. Impressed by the fact that MSN reaches more than 465 million unique users worldwide every month, the Live Earth organization was excited to have MSN broadcast the live event via the Internet. While MSN had historical data from previous large-scale live events—such as LiveAID, the NCAA Final Four, and the FIFA World Cup—there was nothing to compare to the scale of this worldwide concert and it wasn't certain what to expect. What the company did know is that, for such a high-profile event of this size, it needed to provide a flawless experience for online viewers. As a Web-savvy company with vast experience delivering rich-media experiences online, MSN knew that it needed help overcoming Internet performance and reliability issues beyond its control.

Having used Akamai to support a number of streamed events in the past, it was natural for MSN to turn to Akamai for the Live Earth event. MSN knew that Akamai has extensive expertise delivering superior user experiences and that it could be up and running on the Akamai global network in a short timeframe. On the day of the event, MSN and Akamai delivered more than 15 million live video streams in multiple formats to 8 million people in all corners of the world, with peak simultaneous viewership of 237,000 people. "With so many logistics to address for an event of this scale, we wanted a partner we could trust to not only get us implemented quickly and easily, but also to deliver the event without fail. Akamai was the only logical choice for us. This was the greatest day in the history of MSN, both due to record-breaking traffic and the superior customer experience we delivered,"explains Lisa Gurry, Senior Director at MSN who managed the LiveEarth project.

"Our long-standing relationship with Akamai not only gives us confidence that we'll deliver a great customer experience, but is critical to successfully delivering an event of this scale"
—Lisa Gurry, Senior Director, MSN