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5 Music Channels to Air Prince Special
(AP, 04/26/2004 4:39 PM)

By Michelle Simonelli

Get ready for five channels of Prince. MTV, MTV2, BET, VH1 and VH1 Classic will simultaneously broadcast a 30-minute Prince concert special on Wednesday at 9 p.m. EDT, network executives told The Associated Press.

The concert, recorded live last week before an audience at New York's Webster Hall, includes performances of material from Prince's new album, "Musicology," plus some of his classics. The telecast also includes interviews, with certain segments reserved for the individual stations.

"The networks have never done this before," said Will Botwin, president of Prince's record label, Columbia.

"We wanted to do something unprecedented," said Judy McGrath, MTV Networks group president.

McGrath, who was at the taping, said the show was "like a party" with a few hundred audience members at the small club. Prince wanted an intimate feel to the show, she said.

Although Prince has been out of the spotlight for a few years, Botwin said he wasn't concerned that the teen audience won't want to watch him. Kids have learned about Prince through their brothers and sisters, he said.

"There's another generation getting turned on to Prince," Botwin said.