CONTACT: Thomas Dima 212.459.1605 thomas@cablepositive.org

CABLE POSITIVE'S WORK CALLED "UNIQUE" IN KAISER FAMILY FOUNDATION NATIONAL STUDY ON PUBLIC SERVICE ADVERTISING

NEW YORK, NY - March 7, 2002
Calling Cable Positive's work "unique, because it is both a resource for the industry and a vehicle for it to act collectively on a critical issue," the Kaiser Family Foundation recently released a new national study of the presence of Public Service Advertising on a select group of both cable and broadcast networks.

The study, entitled "Shouting to be Heard: Public Service Advertising in a New Media Age", concluded that the broadcast and cable networks surveyed devote an average of 15 seconds per hour to airing public service advertising (PSAs), with most of them running in the middle of the night. The big four broadcast networks-which have a legal obligation to do public service programming-were included in the study, along with only five cable networks-CNN, ESPN, MTV, Nickelodeon and Turner Network Television.

Cable Positive's "unique" work was included as one of only six case studies attached to the Kaiser report and compiled during the 2001 calendar year, and it was headlined "Cable Responds to HIV/AIDS."

While finding that only nine (9) percent of PSAs are run during prime time on broadcast and cable networks, the Kaiser case study on Cable Positive's work highlighted the cable industry's prime time "roadblock" of Cable Positive's PSAs at 8:00 p.m. on World AIDS Day, and National HIV Testing Day. The Kaiser study also noted that "in the month leading up to National HIV Testing Day, for example, Cable Positive estimates that the cable industry provided close to 200 hours of HIV/AIDS programming to 70 million households," and that "all participating cable systems and networks" enable the PSA "roadblock" to happen.

Cable Positive's PSA efforts-which represent an industry-wide public service response from the cable industry without having any legal requirement to provide airtime, as the broadcast industry does-was the only industry-wide PSA response cited in the Kaiser study.

"The organization develops public service advertisements (PSAs) for national broadcast, often working directly with the cable networks to produce ads that are then shown on their channels," the Kaiser study said. "Cable Positive also funds PSAs that raise awareness about local HIV/AIDS services, and it supports educational programs, workplace training, medical research and assistance for cable employees and their families living with HIV/AIDS."

The Kaiser study's report on Cable Positive went on to point out that "every major cable network and cable system participates in Cable Positive's public education efforts by showing HIV/AIDS PSAs, programming or both."

Copies of the Kaiser Case Study & Report are available by contacting Cable Positive at 212.459.1502 or via email at info@cablepositive.org.