NEW YORK – Kansas City, Missouri-based TV station WDAF-TV (FOX 4) was recognized today with the Ad Council’s 2016 Crystal Bell award. The award was presented at Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB) Forward 2016, the trade association’s annual local broadcast outlook conference hosted at Pier Sixty in New York. Each year, this award is presented to one broadcast TV station for its extraordinary support of the Ad Council’s public service campaigns.
“We’re so pleased to recognize WDAF-TV (FOX 4) for going above and beyond. Their tremendous support for a number of Ad Council campaigns demonstrates a sincere commitment to social change, and we’re grateful to have their support.”
The Ad Council, a national non-profit organization, is the largest U.S. producer of public service campaigns. Through partnerships with non-profit organizations and federal government agencies, along with leading advertising and media companies, the Ad Council works to drive change on public issues through innovative communications programs. All Ad Council campaigns run in donated media time and space, and the broadcast TV industry ranks among the Ad Council’s top supporters, providing more than $232 million in donated airings in 2015.
This year’s Crystal Bell Award was presented to WDAF-TV (FOX 4), a Tribune Media-owned television station serving the Kansas City, Missouri market. The station was honored for its commitment to driving change around important safety issues and the example they set in their community. Last year, WDAF-TV (FOX 4) supported a wide range of Ad Council campaigns including Texting and Driving Prevention, Stroke Awareness, Safe Firearms Storage and Child Passenger Safety, helping Tribune Media earn a place among Ad Council’s top ten supporters in 2015.
WDAF-TV (FOX 4) also contributed to the record-breaking success of the 2015 Project Roadblock, a six-day TV station roadblock aimed at reducing drunk driving fatalities during the holiday season, as part of the Ad Council’s Buzzed Driving Prevention campaign, sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). In Project Roadblock’s most successful year yet, Tribune Media, among the top three supporters of the campaign, helped the Ad Council and NHTSA extend their reach during the holiday season, educating more people nationwide about the consequences of impaired driving.
“Our local broadcast TV partners play a huge role in helping our campaigns’ important messages reach the American public, and we’re forever thankful for the work they do,” said Lisa Sherman, President and CEO of the Ad Council, “We’re so pleased to recognize WDAF-TV (FOX 4) for going above and beyond. Their tremendous support for a number of Ad Council campaigns demonstrates a sincere commitment to social change, and we’re grateful to have their support.”
“At FOX 4, we take our commitment to serve our community very seriously, and part of this service is reflected in our ability to provide support for important causes that make our country and community better,” said Cheryl McDonald, President and General Manager, WDAF- TV (FOX 4). “We are pleased to air public service messages from the Ad Council because they are always timely and of high quality. And we are honored to be recognized with the prestigious Crystal Bell Award for the work we do in our community.”
According to NHTSA data, between Christmas and New Year’s alcohol-impaired driving accounts for nearly one-third of motor vehicle crash fatalities. Over the last twelve years, TVB, the Ad Council and NHTSA have worked in partnership with local broadcast television stations to launch Project Roadblock, an annual multiplatform anti-drunk driving campaign. Each year, between December 26 and 31, local broadcast stations voluntarily participate by airing Buzzed Driving Prevention PSAs during the concentrated six-day period, with a special push at 10 p.m. local time on New Year’s Eve. This partnership helps raise awareness of the dangers of impaired driving and has helped ensure people stay safe on the roads.
“The holiday season can take a tragic turn when drivers get behind the wheel drunk,” said NHTSA Administrator, Dr. Mark Rosekind. “Project Roadblock is an important initiative that helps deliver important safety messages to the public. We thank the TVB, the Ad Council, WDAF-TV (FOX 4) and all of the participating stations for helping us in our fight against drunk driving and getting the word out about the dangers.”
2015 was the most successful year to-date for Project Roadblock; the initiative received widespread support from local broadcast affiliates, including 65,000 placements of donated on-air, digital sub-channel, online and mobile time and space, resulting in $8.1 million dollars of airtime over the six-day period. Since its inception in 2004, broadcast TV stations across the nation have donated more than $49.4 million.
“Project Roadblock continues to be an integral effort for TVB and we are honored to continue our work in partnership with the Ad Council and NHTSA to support this imperative life-saving PSA campaign,” said Steve Lanzano, President and CEO of TVB. “We commend the 1,000+ TV stations for their commitment to promoting safety in their communities, and particularly WDAF-TV’s recognition by the Ad Council this year for their exemplary efforts in making public service campaigns a priority, a significant contribution to their local community in Kansas City.”
NHTSA
For more than four decades, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has served as the key federal agency charged with improving safety on our nation’s roadways. As part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, NHTSA is working to reduce traffic-related deaths and injuries by promoting the use of safety belts and child safety seats; helping states and local communities address the threat of drunk drivers; regulating safety standards and investigating safety defects in motor vehicles; establishing and enforcing fuel economy standards; conducting research on driver behavior and traffic safety; and providing consumer information on issues ranging from child passenger safety to impaired driving. For more information, visit www.nhtsa.gov.
The Ad Council
The Ad Council is a private, non-profit organization with a rich history of marshaling volunteer talent from the advertising and media industries to deliver critical messages to the American public. Having produced literally thousands of PSA campaigns addressing the most pressing social issues of the day, the Ad Council has affected, and continues to affect, tremendous positive change by raising awareness, inspiring action and saving lives. To learn more about the Ad Council and its campaigns, visit www.adcouncil.org, like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or view our PSAs on YouTube.
TVB
TVB is the not-for-profit trade association of America’s local broadcast television industry. Its members include television broadcast groups, advertising sales reps, syndicators, international broadcasters, associate members and over 800 individual television stations. TVB actively promotes local media marketing solutions to the advertising community, and in so doing works to develop advertising dollars for the medium’s multiple platforms, including on-air, online and mobile. TVB provides a diverse variety of tools and resources, including www.tvb.org, to support its members and to help advertisers make the best use of local ad dollars.
Tribune Media Company
Tribune Media Company (NYSE: TRCO) is home to a diverse portfolio of television and digital properties driven by quality news, entertainment and sports programming. Tribune Media is comprised of Tribune Broadcasting’s 42 owned or operated local television stations reaching more than 50 million households, national entertainment network WGN America, whose reach is approaching 80 million households, Tribune Studios, and Gracenote, one of the world’s leading sources of video, music and sports metadata, powering electronic program guides in televisions, automobiles and mobile devices. Tribune Media also includes Chicago’s WGN-AM and the national multicast networks Antenna TV and THIS TV. Additionally, the Company owns and manages a significant number of real estate properties across the U.S. and holds other strategic investments in media. For more information please visit www.tribunemedia.com.
