Conference Broadcast on the Internet

The October 1999 general conference marked the first time live audio and video broadcasts of sessions were widely available worldwide via the Internet. Audio was available in numerous languages through LDSWorld.com, a Web service operated by Millennial Star Network, Inc. Video was available through Brigham Young University’s NewsNet service, which helped pioneer audio broadcasts of previous general conferences on a limited scale. In total, an estimated 100,000 members worldwide participated in the Internet general conference broadcast.

“With the Church growing throughout the world, Internet technology offers us yet another means of communicating with Latter-day Saints wherever they may be,” said Church spokesman Dale Bills. “In areas where there is no satellite coverage, Church members have to wait several weeks to receive conference messages. The possibility of hearing President Hinckley and other Church leaders live is a great blessing.”

Millennial Star Network is a new, Church-owned enterprise working to “colonize an electronic global community of members and friends of the Church,” according to company president Franklin Lewis. Audio archives of October 1999 conference addresses are available at www.generalconference.com in Cambodian, Cantonese, English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Laotian, Mandarin, Navajo, Portuguese, Samoan, Spanish, and Tongan.

In other Internet-related news, the Church recently redesigned its official Web site. Located at www.lds.org, the site offers information for members, media representatives, and interested visitors. Printed versions of conference are currently available at this Web site in the following languages: Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, Samoan, Spanish, Swedish, Tongan, and Ukrainian.