PRNewswire - November 24, 2003

NEW YORK, Nov. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- KNOW HIV/AIDS, the ground-breaking cross-platform media campaign launched in January 2003, will support World AIDS Day (Dec. 1) through a series of events, cable television programming, public service announcements (PSAs) and online activities. The campaign, which delivers HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention messages to millions of people around the globe and features media placements valued in excess of $120 million, is a partnership of Viacom, one of the largest media companies in the world, and the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, a leader in health information and research.

As part of the World AIDS Day activities, Viacom's cable networks will air nearly 20 HIV/AIDS-related specials and news updates, and will give KNOW HIV/AIDS PSAs prime placement and frequency across the company's television, radio and outdoor properties. Viacom's properties include the broadcast networks CBS and UPN; cable networks MTV, BET, VH1, CMT: Country Music Television, TV Land, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, The N, Showtime, Spike TV and Comedy Central; 185 Infinity Broadcasting radio stations in the top 50 markets, and billboards, buses and bus shelter advertising faces in the nation's largest markets.

In addition, to heighten awareness of the business community's commitment to HIV/AIDS, Sumner Redstone, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Viacom, and John Demsey, President of MAC Cosmetics, will ring the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange on December 1. They will be joined by Rory Kennedy (MoxieFirecracker Films), SuChin Pak (MTV News), Linda Ellerbee (Nick News) and Big Tigger (BET's Rap City: Tha Bassment). Both Viacom and MAC Cosmetics are members of the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS.

Today, as many as 40 million people worldwide are living with HIV/AIDS and more than 20 million people have died. Yet, UNAIDS projects that nearly two- thirds of all new HIV/AIDS infections worldwide could by eliminated by 2010 with more effective education and prevention.

Drew E. Altman, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, Kaiser Family Foundation, said, "The KNOW HIV/AIDS campaign is demonstrating the critical role that media can play in informing people about HIV/AIDS and ways that they can protect themselves."

Mr. Redstone said, "AIDS is on a fast track of becoming the worst epidemic in history. As one of the world's largest media companies, we are proud to use our dynamic brands and worldwide reach to break the silence about HIV/AIDS."

Mel Karmazin, President and Chief Operating Officer of Viacom, said, "The people around the world who are most at risk are the exact audiences that we reach every day. KNOW HIV/AIDS has been delivering lifesaving information to our viewers while empowering them to act, to protect themselves and to get tested. In observance of World AIDS Day, we are placing a heightened emphasis on these messages."

Year-to-date, more than five million people have visited the campaign's Web site and more than 200,000 have called one of the toll-free hotlines supported by the initiative. A recent survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 44 percent of American adults either recognized the "KNOW HIV/AIDS" brand or had seen at least one of the PSAs. In two of the key target audiences, African-Americans and Latinos, recognition was 51 percent.

KNOW HIV/AIDS World AIDS Day Activities:

* Nickelodeon, The N, The Kaiser Family Foundation and UNICEF will host World AIDS Day 2003: Youth Speak About HIV/AIDS (Dec. 1), a discussion led by Stephen Lewis, Secretary-General's UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, who is moderating a panel of HIV- positive young people before an audience of 200 high school students from the New York area. The event, which includes keynote speakers Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of UNICEF, and Linda Ellerbee, host of Nick News, will feature a screening of excerpts from Nick News: The Courage to Live: Kids, South Africa and AIDS and The N's A Walk in Your Shoes: Living with HIV/AIDS.

* Nickelodeon will air The Courage to Live: Kids, South Africa and AIDS (Dec. 1), a look at how AIDS is affecting the country's kids and what's being done about it. More people die of AIDS in South Africa than in any other country on earth, and with upwards of a thousand people dying each day, many children are left without parents. Nick News and award-winning journalist Linda Ellerbee traveled to South Africa for this special.

* Nickelodeon and The N will premiere The N's A Walk in Your Shoes: Living with HIV/AIDS (Dec. 1), a special that features an HIV- negative teen "walking in the shoes" of an HIV-positive teen. The N and Cable Positive will hold screenings of this special (Nov. 24) for Cable Positive chapter members and cable operators and their kids in three markets: New York, Los Angeles, and Denver. The N will also premiere four new KNOW HIV/AIDS PSAs and feature an online quiz (http://www.the-n.com/know/) that will help its viewers test their knowledge about HIV/AIDS.

* MTV's sexual health campaign Fight For Your Rights: Protect Yourself will premiere Social History of HIV/AIDS (Nov. 26), a show that combines testimonial-style interviews of young people who have been directly affected by HIV/AIDS with historical information on the epidemic and expert interviews; Crashing With Good Charlotte (Nov. 29), a special that follows platinum-selling rockers Good Charlotte performing a free concert after MTV and SIECUS hosted a sexual health forum in Punxsutawney, Pa. The campaign will also premiere two new PSAs and support local grassroots events across the country, including free HIV testing throughout December in New York, a youth forum in Seattle (Dec. 1), and other events in Oregon and Idaho.

* MTV channels worldwide, along with VH1 and Infinity Broadcasting radio stations in the U.S., will premiere 46664 - The Concert in Association with MTV's Staying Alive (Dec. 1). The 90-minute all- star concert from Cape Town will feature performances by Beyonce, Bono, Eurythmics, Anastacia and many others, as part of Nelson Mandela's global HIV/AIDS awareness campaign and fundraising initiative for South Africa. Infinity radio stations across the country will also air the PSAs associated with the concert. In addition, the concert is being offered rights free to all radio and TV broadcasters globally.

* As part of MTV International's Staying Alive campaign, MTV channels around the world will premiere Roll Call, a new 30-minute special (hosted by MTV UK & Ireland's Tim Kash) that will salute young people whose lives have been affected by HIV/AIDS. MTV channels will also re-broadcast Meeting Mandela: A Staying Alive Special, a 60-minute show (hosted by Beyonce) where young people from diverse backgrounds discuss topics such as HIV/AIDS with the great humanitarian and former President of South Africa. A new print campaign for Staying Alive UK will premiere (Dec. 1), and the results of Staying Alive 2003 Global Sexual Behavior Study that surveyed young people in 29 countries will be announced tomorrow.

* MTV India, MTV Philippines and MTV Thailand will each premiere locally-produced concerts dedicated to HIV/AIDS awareness featuring local and international artists, as well as political figures. In Germany and Austria, a special edition Staying Alive condom will go on sale (Dec. 1) in a partnership with Condomi, Europe's largest condom manufacturer. MTV Russia has produced nine short-form specials addressing HIV/AIDS for their anti-drug campaign, Live. The short-form episodes will be edited together for a 30-minute special (premiering Dec. 1), which will also mark the launch of the Staying Alive Web site (http://www.staying-alive.org) translated into Russian.

* VH1 will air VH1 News Presents: AIDS: A Pop Culture History (Dec. 1), a one-hour documentary (hosted by Ashley Judd) that reveals how pop culture influenced the way the public has experienced HIV/AIDS over the past 20 years. The network will post a tolerance survey on its Web site (http://www.vh1.com/interact/know_HIV/) in conjunction with the news special. In addition, VH1 is sponsoring a fundraiser for Cable Positive (Dec. 1) with the Broadway show Taboo, which is a musical portrait of two young men, Leigh Bowery and George O'Dowd (Boy George), who find their expression during the flamboyant 1980's London scene.

* Showtime will exhibit Longtime Companion (Dec. 1), an Oscar- nominated film that chronicles the lives of close friends affected by HIV/AIDS. The network will also premiere NYU Filmmakers-KNOW HIV/AIDS (Dec. 1), six short films (hosted by Alec Baldwin) that explore AIDS-related themes from young filmmakers at the Kanbar Institute of Film and Television, NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.

* BET will air 106th & Park (Dec. 1), a special live telecast featuring hosts AJ and Free, celebrity guests Alicia Keys and Wyclef Jean and medical experts discussing the impact of HIV/AIDS on young people; Naked Truth 2 (Dec. 1), an award-winning documentary that explores the personal journey of six African-American women who are either affected or infected with the devastating disease; and Rap City: Tha Bassment (Dec. 1), a special two-hour episode that highlights important HIV testing information. BET Nightly News (hosted by Jacque Reid) will also feature special HIV-related segments. And BET's sexual health campaign Rap-It-Up will launch a celebrity charity auction supporting HIV/AIDS organizations, and will support its first Rap-It-Up film competition, focusing on AIDS awareness in the African-American community.

About KNOW HIV/AIDS

KNOW HIV/AIDS is an unprecedented, global media campaign that combats HIV/AIDS through public service messages (PSAs), television and radio programming, and free print and online content. The multi-year effort combines the public health expertise of the Kaiser Family Foundation with the power of Viacom's media brands and unmatched audience relationships to foster awareness of the disease and its prevention. Viacom and the Kaiser Family Foundation, in collaboration with the National AIDS Trust, extended KNOW HIV/AIDS under the Staying Alive brand in the United Kingdom. Funding is being provided by Viacom, the Kaiser Family Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Mel Karmazin Foundation and Sumner Redstone. More information about KNOW HIV/AIDS is available through the initiative's comprehensive Web site, http://www.knowhivaids.org, or toll-free number 1-866-344-KNOW (5669).

About Viacom Inc.

Viacom is a leading global media company, with preeminent positions in broadcast and cable television, radio, outdoor advertising, and online. With programming that appeals to audiences in every demographic category across virtually all media, the company is a leader in the creation, promotion, and distribution of entertainment, news, sports, music, and comedy. Viacom's well- known brands include CBS, MTV, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, VH1, BET, Paramount Pictures, Infinity Broadcasting, Viacom Outdoor, UPN, TV Land, Comedy Central, CMT: Country Music Television, Spike TV, Showtime, Blockbuster, and Simon & Schuster. More information about Viacom and its businesses is available at http://www.viacom.com.

About The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation

The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation is an independent national health philanthropy dedicated to providing information and analysis on health issues to policymakers, the media, and the general public. It is not associated with Kaiser Permanente or Kaiser Industries. Information on HIV/AIDS is available at http://www.kff.org, and a daily news summary report on developments in HIV/AIDS is available on kaisernetwork.org, the Foundation's free health information service.

SOURCE Viacom Inc.

CONTACT: Kristi Gates, +1-212-846-6261, kristi.gates@viacom.com, or Imara Jones, +1-212-258-6363, imara.jones@viacom.com, both of Viacom; Rob Graham, +1-650-854-9400 x237, robg@kff.org, or Tina Hoff, +1-650-854-9400 x210, thoff@kff.org, for The Kaiser Family Foundation

Web Site: http://www.knowhivaids.org

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