“For the first time in more than 20 years, the July 4 Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular will not be televised nationally after the CBS Television Network declined to renew a contract with the show’s producers,” write Martine Powers and Eric Moskowitz in Sunday’s (6/16) Boston Globe. “Instead, the performance will only appear locally on WBZ-TV, pushed out of the national market, a local organizer says, by a competing fireworks show in New York City…. ‘The CBS show of the Pops show does not draw the numbers it used to,’ [executive producer David] Mugar said. … In a statement, CBS confirmed that the July 4 show would not air nationally this year, but provided no reason for the decision…. The Boston Pops show, which has in recent years featured A-list stars such as Jennifer Hudson and Martina McBride, will this year have a more local focus, with Susan Tedeschi and Ayla Brown as headliners…. Because the show is not behold to the CBS schedule, it will start an hour earlier, which means that families will not need to stay up so late… ‘It’s brought it back to roots in a sense,’ Mugar said. ‘It’s back so it’s now just a local show, which is wonderful.’ ”
Posted June 17, 2013
