Editing Telethon (section)

==History==

===United States===
On April 9, 1949, [[Milton Berle]] hosted the first-ever telethon, raising $1,100,000 for the [[Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation]] over the course of 16 hours.<ref>{{cite book | last = Breslin | first = Jimmy | year = 1991 | title = Damon Runyon—a life | publisher = Ticknor & Fields | location = New York, USA}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|title=Telethon|url=http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/T/htmlT/telethon/telethon.htm
|publisher=Museum of Broadcast Communications |access-date=2009-06-02
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091009235908/http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/T/htmlT/telethon/telethon.htm|archive-date=2009-10-09}}</ref> The first published appearance of the word "telethon" was in the prior day's newspapers.<ref>{{cite news|work=Springfield News-Sun|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/824455250/?clipping_id=155184161|date=April 8, 1949|title=Telethon|quote=The stunt Milton Berle is to pull on NBC television tomorrow is being called a "telethon."}}</ref>

One of the first continuing annual telethons in the United States was the [[United Cerebral Palsy]] (UCP) telethon. Television executive [[Leonard Goldenson]] and his wife had a daughter with [[cerebral palsy]], and with the help of other affected parents, launched the UCP Telethon in 1950, with early television personality [[Dennis James]] as host. He continued to host New York-based segments on the telethon through the 1980s. The telethon is now defunct, as UCP raises funds through other means, including its website. By 1955 televised telethons had become a familiar enough part of American culture to be [[Parody|parodied]] that year in the [[film noir]] ''[[Tight Spot]]'' as [[comic relief]].

The oldest continuing annual telethon in the United States on the same channel is [[Green Bay, Wisconsin]], station [[WBAY-TV]] (channel 2)'s local Cerebral Palsy telethon,<ref>2017: {{cite web
|url=https://www.wbay.com/content/news/CP-Telethon-continues-fundraising-tradition-on-WBAY-TV-415382573.html
|title=CP Telethon continues tradition, expanding |date=May 3, 2017}}</ref><ref>2020: {{cite web |website=WBAY-TV
   |url=https://www.wbay.com/content/news/CP-Telethon-returns-to-the-airwaves-this-weekend-568544721.html
   |title=CP Telethon returns to the airwaves this weekend |date=March 5, 2020
   |quote=The nation's longest-running local telethon continues its tradition}}</ref>  which helps provide financial support for equipment for Cerebral Palsy, Inc., that began broadcasting as a 22-hour event on the first weekend of March 1954. As of 2025, WBAY has presented the telethon for 71 years.

Close behind the Green Bay telethon in longevity is the [[WHAS Crusade for Children]] in [[Louisville, Kentucky]], which began in October 1954 on [[WHAS-TV]] (channel 11) and [[WHAS (AM)|WHAS radio]] (840 AM).<ref name="2020WHAS11">{{cite web
   |url=https://www.whas11.com/article/features/crusade-for-children/whas-crusade-for-children-raises-4-8-million/417-000c0ddb-4df0-42fb-8a87-9210894e95e7
   |publisher=[[WHAS-TV]]
   |first=C.J.
   |last=Daniels
   |title=WHAS Crusade for Children raises $4.8M during 67th telethon
   |date=August 9, 2020
   |access-date=September 30, 2020
   |archive-date=September 19, 2020
   |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919164142/https://www.whas11.com/article/features/crusade-for-children/whas-crusade-for-children-raises-4-8-million/417-000c0ddb-4df0-42fb-8a87-9210894e95e7
   |url-status=live
 }}</ref> It is still broadcast on the two WHAS stations despite their being owned by different entities for three decades, and has expanded to radio and TV stations in other parts of [[Kentucky]] and [[Indiana]], as well as a live stream on the internet. The Crusade is famous for the legions of [[firefighter]]s who collect money at  intersections throughout the area each May and June.

The most-broadcast telethon to date was January 22, 2010, ''[[Hope for Haiti Now]]'' telethon, to aid the victims of the [[2010 Haiti earthquake|January 10th earthquake]]. Viewers were able to text donations on cell phones, and it raised a reported $58 million by the next day. It was designed to show viewers a stark divide between them and the people surviving this catastrophic event.<ref>{{cite journal|last=McAlister|first=Elizabeth|title=Soundscapes of Disaster and Humanitarianism: Survival Singing, Relief Telethons, and the Haiti Earthquake|journal=Small Axe|date=November 2012|volume=39|issue=3 39|pages=22–38|doi=10.1215/07990537-1894078|s2cid=144995319|url=https://wesscholar.wesleyan.edu/div2facpubs/158|access-date=2019-08-16|archive-date=2019-01-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190106163204/https://wesscholar.wesleyan.edu/div2facpubs/158/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=McAlister |first1=Elizabeth |title=Soundscapes of Disaster and Humanitarianism: Survival Singing, Relief Telethons, and the Haiti Earthquake |url=https://works.bepress.com/elizabeth_mcalister/39/ |website=bepress.com |access-date=2019-06-28 |archive-date=2015-10-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151004062644/https://works.bepress.com/elizabeth_mcalister/39/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Australia===
Melbourne's [[Good Friday Appeal]], which began in 1931, started its telethon in 1957 after the [[Seven Network]] joined as a sponsor.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://rch150.org.au/timeline/our-community/channel-7-joins-good-friday-appeal/|title=1957: Channel 7 joins Good Friday Appeal|date=19 September 2019|publisher=The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne|access-date=30 October 2022|archive-date=30 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221030092832/https://rch150.org.au/timeline/our-community/channel-7-joins-good-friday-appeal/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Adelaide's first telethon was held at the Tynte Street, North Adelaide, studios of NWS9 in December 1960. One fundraiser was [[Barry Jones (Australian politician)|Barry Jones]], then famous as a quiz champion. Viewers could, for a fee, attempt to "stump" him with their favorite question.<ref name=Dove>{{cite book|author=Cora Dove |title=The First 25 Years of Television in South Australia |year=1986 |page=15}}</ref>

Prior to the establishment of [[Channel Seven Perth Telethon|their annual telethon]] in 1968, Perth station [[TVW]] broadcast one-off telethons for [[1961 Western Australian bushfires|bushfire relief in 1961]], and to raise funds for Christmas care packages sent to Western Australian soldiers [[Military history of Australia during the Vietnam War|serving in Vietnam]] in 1966 and 1967.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web|url=https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/telethon/telethon-how-a-chat-on-a-golf-course-led-to-the-creation-of-australias-most-successful-charity-event-c-8621056|title=Telethon: How a chat on a golf course led to the creation of Australia's most successful charity event|publisher=PerthNow|date=October 23, 2022|access-date=October 24, 2022|archive-date=October 25, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221025022407/https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/telethon/telethon-how-a-chat-on-a-golf-course-led-to-the-creation-of-australias-most-successful-charity-event-c-8621056|url-status=live}}</ref>