MJ

One wonders that if the internet and the boom in cable broadcasting had been around in 1977 just how many more people would have attended Elvis Presley's funeral. As it was, over 100,000 people descended on Memphis for the event, the largest of its kind for a private citizen at the time.

Michael Jackson's memorial service promises to drawf even this huge crowd thanks to the internet and wall-to-wall television coverage of his death.

Take a look at this story:

More than a million fans from around the world applied for 17,500 free tickets to Michael Jackson's public memorial service next week, organizers said on Friday as a massive security operation got underway.

The life and music of the self-proclaimed "king of pop," who died of sudden cardiac arrest last Thursday, will be celebrated on Tuesday at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles.

Officials on Friday unveiled an online lottery that will allow fans to attend either the televised service at the arena or watch the proceedings on a big screen at the nearby Nokia Theater.

The alternative is a live stream of the service, and no doubt cable networks will carry it.