First up is a television event, dubbed A Concert for Hurricane Relief, is scheduled for Friday, September 2 at 8 p.m. on NBC, MSNBC and CNBC.. The high-definition broadcast will be live on the East Coast tape delayed in the West.

New Orleans natives Wynton Marsalis and Harry Connick Jr., and Tim McGraw, who hails from Louisiana, are on the bill. Non-music stars including Leonardo DiCaprio will encourage viewers to donate money to relief efforts in the Gulf Coast region devastated by the catastrophic storm and subsequent flooding.

All funds raised will go to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which will provide humanitarian relief in the form of potable water, food, counseling and shelter, among other necessities. Throughout the telethon, viewers will be asked to donate by calling 1-800-HELP NOW or via the Web at www.redcross.org.

Other benefits are on the way. BET will team with the National Urban League and the American Red Cross for another telethon effort, set for September 9. Marsalis and hip-hop heavyweights Russell Simmons and Jay-Z will be on hand to unveil details of the show at a press conference Thursday.

The Dave Matthews Band is expected to announce a benefit concert any time now. The group is said to be adding its talents to effort with a fourth show at Red Rocks Amphitheatre near Denver on September 12.

MTV, VH1, and CMT have announced first stage of a Hurricane Katrina relief campaign – a “multi-artist, multi-genre, multi-platform live performance special” set to air across all three networks on Saturday, September 10th.

The special will seek to raise funds for The American Red Cross and similar organizations as they continue their relief efforts. The campaign will also seek to activate the diverse audiences across MTV, VH1, and CMT to drive volunteerism, donations, and general awareness.

The ongoing relief campaign will kick off with a live programming block from locations in New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Nashville featuring Ludacris, Green Day, Gretchen Wilson, Usher, Alicia Keys, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews Band, Rob Thomas, David Banner, Linkin Park‘s Chester Bennington, and more.

The special will feature performances from country, pop, rock, and hip-hop artists and will be simulcast across all three networks, as well as MTV2, mtvU, VH1 Classic, plus MTV Overdrive and VSpot, the broadband video networks. Additional details will be announced shortly.