Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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The New York Times - Sunday, January 18, 2004
Melinda Ligos
Next month on "The Parkers," a comedy on the UPN network, one of the lead characters will meet the girl of her dreams, only to find out that she's H.I.V.-positive. The story may have been dreamed up by the show's writers, but they got a little nudge from Mel Karmazin, president and chief operating officer of Viacom Inc., which owns CBS, MTV and Showtime, as well as UPN.
The show's theme is part of an effort by Viacom and the Henry J. Kaiser Foundation, which provides information on health issues, to foster awareness of H.I.V. and AIDS. The linchpin of the effort is a push by Mr. Karmazin and Sumner M. Redstone, the chairman and chief executive of Viacom, to have its networks broadcast shows with H.I.V. story lines.
"We realized that, as a media company, we may not be able to sit at a lab and cure cancer, but we had tremendous power to educate people," Mr. Karmazin said.
Last Monday night, in a meeting with MTV's sales staff of about 500, Mr. Karmazin rattled off names of dozens of television programs that would use H.I.V.-related plots this year. He said he received a standing ovation. "It was the only thing they applauded me for," Mr. Karmazin joked. "When I started talking about what I expect in revenues and cash flow for the year, they became very quiet."
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