Jason Davis/Getty Images for the Muscular Dystrophy Association(CHICAGO) — A Labor Day television tradition is no more.
The Muscular Dystrophy Association has announced it is discontinuing its annual telethon, the origins of which trace back to the mid-1950s.
The telethon was mainly associated with Jerry Lewis, who hosted it for more than four decades and memorably sang “You’ll Never Walk Alone” on the show. He was dropped as host by the MDA in 2011.
Steven M. Derks, MDA president and CEO, said in a post on the organization’s website, “In its heyday, the MDA telethon sparked an era of giving and volunteerism across America inspired by courageous MDA families who became household heroes. …While televisions and telephones are still in play today to engage supporters, cost-effective digital media are now the preferred channels of choice.”
The telethon welcomed numerous celebrities through the years, from John Lennon and Michael Jackson to Carrie Underwood and Jennifer Lopez. ABC aired a shortened, two-hour version of the telethon the past two years.
The MDA says the telethon raised a total of more than two billion dollars in donations.
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