Telethons

The first telethon aired in the U.S. on the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) on April 9, 1949. Hosted by comedian Milton Berle (1908-2002), the telecast raised money for the Damon Runyon Memorial Cancer Fund, a research initiative named in honor of the famous newspaper writer and author, who died in 1946. Described by LIFE magazine as “probably the longest sustained vaudeville on record,” the event featured a jazz performance, a quiz show, comedy routines and a visit from Berle’s mother. Throughout the broadcast, female models and dancers fielded phone calls from viewers making donations. The program ran for nearly 16 hours, and generated roughly USD 1.1 million (USD 14.3 million in 2024).

The Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) telethon, hosted by comedian Jerry Lewis (1926-2017), remains the most famous – and longest-running – fundraising broadcast in television history. The telethon debuted in 1956 as the Jerry Lewis Thanksgiving Party for MDA, with Lewis and long-time silver screen partner Dean Martin co-hosting live from New York’s Carnegie Hall. By the mid-1960s the MDA telethon became an annual event, with Lewis hosting the telecast every Labor Day Weekend between 1966 and 2010. Over that span, Lewis helped raise USD 2.6 billion for muscular dystrophy research. The MDA telethon also set the standard for televised fundraising, inspiring similar broadcast specials across the globe.

Despite the MDA telethon’s success as a fundraising mechanism, it also drew criticism. Some activists charged that the event exploited people with disabilities, reducing them to objects of pity in order to attract donations. By depicting “Jerry’s Kids” as victims, the MDA telethon perpetuated an outdated notion of charity, one that failed to view people with disabilities as valuable members of society. Other critics argued that the MDA telethon set unrealistic expectations by emphasizing the search for a cure, rather than focusing on reforms to accommodate the needs of people with disabilities.

Traditional telethons still enjoy success in certain markets – notably in Norway, where the Norwegian Broadcasting Company (NRK) airs an annual television special to engage a national audience in raising money for a particular cause. With the decline of broadcast television, however, this form of donor engagement has largely migrated to streaming and other platforms. Through online events such as Desert Bus for Hope and Games Done Quick, gaming enthusiasts and other influencers have harnessed the power of Internet entertainment to attract new generations of donors. Although the medium has changed, the telethon model remains a viable tool for charitable giving in the digital age.

Contributor: Stephen Meyer