All major TV networks will carry Jackson memorial service

Showing the service in theaters allows fans to experience it "as part of a community," AEG Network Live president John Rubey said.

Added Jonathan Dern, president of Cinedigm's Content and Entertainment Group: "This live broadcast is in recognition of a music legend and acknowledgement of his historic impact on our lives. We are proud to play a role in broadcasting this memorial service and we appreciate the permission of the Jackson family to bring this important and special event to movie theaters."

All the major TV networks will carry the star-studded Jackson memorial service.

Hundreds of millions of people around the world are expected to watch.

Networks airing the service include NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN,CNN International, HLN (formerly Headline News), Fox News Channel, MSNBC, E!, BET, MTV and TV One. Coverage of Jackson's death and its aftermath has boosted ratings at several networks.

Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, Kobe Bryant and Brooke Shields are slated to be part of the all-star tribute at Jackson's memorial.

Representatives for Jackson's family released a list of participants that includes Motown founder Berry Gordy, Lionel Richie, John Mayer and Jennifer Hudson and Atlanta pop star Usher.

Longtime friends of Jackson, Martin Luther King III and his sister Bernice King, are on the guest list. They will join Atlanta music producer Jermaine Dupri and Jackson's sister, Janet, who lives part-time here. Janet Jackson was about to begin filming "Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too?" in Atlanta at the time of her older brother's death.

Atlanta singer-songwriter-producer Akon is also scheduled to be at the service.

Locally, WXIA-TV's "Days of Our Lives" will be pre-empted, plus part of a repeat of "Martha."

WGCL-TV is shifting much of its daytime lineup, moving "Price is Right" moves to 3 p.m. and "The Young and the Restless" to 11 a.m. "As the World Turns" will be pre-empted.

But WAGA-TV won't be taking the national Fox feed. Instead, it will keep airing its judge shows during the service.

In East Atlanta, the Midway Pub is expecting a little bigger crowd than normal for the service, which will be shown on the pub's TVs.

A national spokeswoman for the Hard Rock Cafe chain said there are no plans to show the memorial service.

Jackson died at age 50 on June 25 after going into cardiac arrest in the bedroom of his rented mansion. The cause of death has not been determined.

The memorial service could draw one of the biggest TV audiences of all time, though numbers are difficult to confirm. But it would be hard to top Princess Diana's 1997 funeral. The BBC estimated that 2.5 billion people watched that service.

--Staff writers Richard Eldredge, Rodney Ho and the Associated Press contributed to this report.