Viacom Focuses on AIDS Prevention

Broadening a public service campaign that began on MTV seven years ago, media giant Viacom Inc. announced on Wednesday the allocation of $120 million in advertising time to target HIV/AIDS prevention and education.

Viacom’s two-year project is unprecedented in its focus and reach: It will span all Viacom’s media platforms. Its stable of properties includes broadcast networks CBS and UPN; seven cable networks; publisher Simon & Schuster; Blockbuster Video; 184 radio stations; the largest billboard company in North America; and several TV production companies, including Paramount.

“Never before has a media company across all of its units committed this much time and space and energy to trying to address a single issue like AIDS,” said Matt James of the Kaiser Family Foundation, which is helping target messages to those most at risk.

Viacom spokesman Carl Folta said eight TV shows, including NBC’s “Frasier,” which is produced by Paramount Television, and “The District” on CBS, have volunteered to fold in HIV/AIDS story lines by season’s end. Other shows, such as UPN’s “Girlfriends,” have a story line ready to roll out in January.