Viewers give ‘Earth’ cold shoulder

Live Earth may have been the largest global entertainment event in history, as its organizers claim, but back on planet America it couldn’t even beat ABC repeats of the kids’ animated movie “Monsters, Inc.” and “America’s Funniest Home Videos” in the Nielsen ratings.

NBC’s three-hour broadcast of concert highlights Saturday night, featuring musical acts such as the Police, Bon Jovi and Kanye West, averaged 2.7 million viewers -- a figure that put it in last place among the four major networks.

Still, organizers put the best spin on the 24-hour musical event staged to raise awareness of global environmental issues. MSN said it set a new record for most viewers of an online concert: 8 million.

“Live Earth is officially the largest global entertainment event in history,” said former Vice President Al Gore, one of the organizers. “And the numbers are still coming in.”