Cable Positive and NY1 News Launch 25 Stories for 25 Years of AIDS

NEW YORK, NY — November 21, 2006

What started as a PSA campaign of 25 stories for the 25 years of AIDS turned into a project to help local TV channels customize their own stories in the fight against AIDS and HIV.  Cable Positive, the cable and telecommunications AIDS action organization is joining forces with Time Warner Cable's NY1 News to raise HIV and AIDS awareness through a new campaign called 25 Stories for 25 Years of AIDS.  NY1 created 25 public service announcements (PSAs) to share the personal stories of New Yorkers who have joined the fight against HIV and AIDS.  But that didn't seem to be enough so NY1 also lifted the graphic templates from these powerful PSAs to form easy-to-follow toolkits that will be distributed through Cable Positive to cable companies and broadcast affiliates across the country.  Using the graphic templates and toolkits as a guide, local cable companies and broadcast affiliates will now be able to easily produce and assemble their own 25 Stories for 25 Years of AIDS public service announcements (PSAs) that promote the fight against HIV and AIDS.

"We knew we had to share this with other cable companies and broadcast affiliates across the country so that the message could speak to each community and be more personal," said NY1's Creative Services Director, Pat Obermeier.  "So we took the campaign and created a simple graphic design that pretty much anyone could use to produce their own PSAs which evolved into the template and toolkit."

For more than a decade, Cable Positive has utilized the power of cable television to raise AIDS awareness, promote HIV prevention and reduce stigma and fear surrounding the disease through award-winning public service announcements (PSAs). Now Cable Positive turns to New York's only 24 hour local cable news channel to help spread this powerful message.

"I was sitting in the audience at the Cable Positive POP Awards, watching the PSAs that were produced last year and thought, "I have to do something!" said Obermeier.  "I figured we could produce a couple of PSAs at NY1, maybe 2 or 3. Then I spoke with the President and CEO of Cable Positive, Steve Villano and Wham! In a single phone call we came to create the 25 Stories for 25 Years of AIDS concept.  Two or three turned into 25 and it all came to life in that one conference call."

”Pat Obermeier, Alex Gonzalez and their colleagues at Time Warner Cable NY1 symbolize the kind of personal and professional commitment which make the cable industry’s fight against HIV/AIDS so effective,” said Steve Villano, President & CEO of Cable Positive.  “They put their time, talent and resources to work immediately in NY and have come up with an amazing prototype that can have a great impact on AIDS education and awareness nationwide.

25 Stories for 25 Years of AIDS promos can be seen on NY1 News and on Cable Positive’s website beginning on Worlds AIDS Day, Friday, December 1st.

Cable Positive will start distributing the graphic toolkit and PSAs beginning on Friday, December 1st, and will be available for download on the Cable Positive website.

ABOUT CABLE POSITIVE

Cable Positive is a national non-profit organization founded February 1992 by three concerned cable executives with the mission of organizing cable’s resources in the fight against AIDS.  Cable Positive will mobilize the talents, resources, access and influence of the cable and telecommunications industry to raise HIV/AIDS awareness; support HIV/AIDS education, prevention and care; and strive to end stigma by creating a more compassionate climate for people whose lives have been affected by HIV or AIDS.  Cable Positive has grown to include supporters from every major cable network, multiple system operator, cable system, hardware manufacturer, trade association, media publication, and affiliated industry vendors and suppliers.  Since 1992, Cable Positive has raised more than $16 million in the fight against AIDS.  For more information about Cable Positive, call 212.459.1502 or www.cablepositive.org

About NY1 News

NY1 News, a division of Time Warner Cable is available to more than two and half million subscribers on channel 1 on the following cable systems: Time Warner Cable of New York and New Jersey (serving Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island and portions of Brooklyn), Bergen and Hudson Counties in New Jersey, parts of Westchester and the Hudson Valley and Cablevision Systems of New York City (serving the rest of Brooklyn and the Bronx).  It can also be seen on channel 122 on Time Warner Cable Rochester, channel 111 on Time Warner Cable Syracuse, channel 1011 on Time Warner Cable Binghamton and channel 515 on Time Warner Cable Albany as well as being shown on closed-circuit television in the state capitol.  NY1 News is available on the World Wide Web at http://ny1.com.