BET Rolls Out a Weekend of Stellar HIV-Themed Programming Commemorating World AIDS Day

BET Rolls Out a Weekend of Stellar HIV-Themed Programming Commemorating World AIDS Day

WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- BET today announced a lineup of special HIV-themed programming to commemorate World AIDS Day on Friday, December 1, 2006. The cable network's 2006 World AIDS Day programming line-up concludes a successful year of grassroots efforts, screenplay competitions, and a special "25 Heroes" public service announcements (PSA) menu that highlighted the 25 years of extraordinary people battling the epidemic. Since 1998, BET and the Kaiser Family Foundation, through their Rap-It-Up partnership have worked to inform and raise awareness about HIV/AIDS, which disproportionately impacts African Americans.

Kicking off the special World AIDS Day weekend line-up is BET's popular music countdown show 106 & PARK: BET'S TOP 10 LIVE on Friday, December 1 at 6:00 p.m. ET/PT with a LIVE 90-minute telecast. Produced in partnership with Kaiser, and hosted by hot veejay duo Terrance & Rocsi, the LIVE music special will tackle the issue of HIV/AIDS and the risky behaviors associated with contracting the disease. The program will also feature celebrity guests and health experts to address healthy life choices and provide important information about HIV testing and prevention methods to viewers.

Throughout World AIDS Day, BET News will air special 60-second HIV-tagged news briefs entitled "Red Blood, Green Dollars and Black Skin" that touch on the impact of HIV/AIDS throughout Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America and the United States, and features interviews with celebrities and HIV advocates including Alicia Keys, Richard Gere, Magic Johnson and Marvelyn Brown among others. The cable network will also provide special HIV-themed online content on http://www.bet.com/ including informative articles about the disease and treatment; exclusive BET News video reports; and interactive components such as an "Online Diary of an HIV+ dater," chats with doctors, and online quizzes & polls.

Special HIV-themed episodes of the GIRLFRIENDS sitcoms -- that were developed as part of the KNOW HIV/AIDS initiative, a joint venture between CBS Corp. and Viacom in partnership with Kaiser -- leads the Saturday primetime lineup on December 2 at 9:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. respectively; followed by a special one-hour broadcast of the BET News' special THE DOWNLOW EXPOSED at 10:00 p.m., which takes a probing look into the undercover world of men who openly lead heterosexual lives but secretly engage in sex with other men. The provocative special also examines various risky behaviors contributing to the spread of HIV/AIDS including sex among men in prison; the "don't ask, don't tell" policy among the Black community; and the overall risk of HIV/AIDS that exists for the female partners of men who secretly partake in the "down low" lifestyle. Authors Terri McMillan and J. L. King are also featured in the special documentary, detailing their personal experiences related to the "down low" phenomenon.

Rounding out the cable networks' World AIDS Day weekend lineup is the Rap- It-Up short film, LET'S TALK, the 2nd winning film from the BET, Kaiser Family Foundation and Black AIDS Institute's 2005 Rap-It-Up film competition airing on Sunday, December 3 at 1:00 p.m. The poignant short film which features Lamman Rucker and Jillian Reeves, tells the story of beautiful, intelligent, soulful Essence, a teacher and spoken word poet, who becomes involved with Maurice, a handsome and socially conscious teacher at a school for the deaf. As their relationship evolves, the issue of HIV testing raises a new level of discussion between them.

Since 1998, the cable network has worked diligently to raise awareness to HIV/AIDS and its impact on the African-American community. To date, the network's Rap-It-Up HIV/AIDS public education initiative in partnership with the Kaiser Family Foundation has helped to test over 9,000 people nationwide for HIV; hosted the Rap-It-Up "Choices" forums in 32 markets nationwide for over 10,000 young adults; received over 1.1 million calls to its toll-free hotline; distributed over 400,000 HIV/AIDS information brochures, and have received numerous awards and accolades including NAACP, Cable Positive, and NAMIC awards and an Emmy nomination.

ABOUT BET NETWORKS

BET Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom, Inc. (NYSE:VIA)(NYSE:and)(NYSE:VIA.B), is the nation's leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs television programming for the African-American audience. The primary BET channel reaches more than 83 million households according to Nielsen media research, and can be seen in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. BET is the dominant African-American consumer brand with a diverse group of businesses extensions: BET.com, the Number 1 Internet portal for African Americans; BET Digital Networks - BET J, BET Gospel and BET Hip Hop, attractive alternatives for cutting-edge entertainment tastes; BET Event Productions, a full-scale event management and production company; BET Home Entertainment, a collection of BET-branded offerings for the home environment including DVDs and video-on-demand; BET Mobile, a service venture into the lucrative world of ring tones, games and video content for wireless devices; and BET International, an extension of BET network programming for global distribution.

ABOUT RAP-IT-UP

Since 1998, the Kaiser Family Foundation and BET Networks have partnered on a extensive public education campaign to inform young people about sexual health issues, including HIV/AIDS and other sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs). The partnership includes special programming, public service advertisements (PSAs), online content on bet.com, and a free resource and referral service. In 2000, the campaign launched a grassroots initiative to complement the on-air and online components of Rap-It-Up. Program elements include teen forums, mobile HIV testing events, and middle and high school curricula about HIV/AIDS. The campaign has received numerous awards, including 10 Cable Positive POP Awards, a 2005 NAACP Image Award Nomination for "Walking on Sunshine", the 2002 CTPAA Joel Berger Award, and the 2002 Academy of Television Arts & Science TV Cares "Ribbon of Hope" Award. Additionally, the campaign has received 3 Emmy nominations for Best National Public Service Announcements (2002/2003, 2003/2004, and 2004/2005).

ABOUT THE HENRY J. KAISER FAMILY FOUNDATION

The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation is a non-profit, private operating foundation 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 http://www.kaisernetwork.org/, the Foundation's free health information service.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: BET Networks

CONTACT: Lyntina Townsend of BET, +1-202-608-2745,
Lyntina.Townsend@bet.net; or Rob Graham of the Kaiser Family Foundation,
+1-650-854-9400, rgraham@kff.org

Web site: http://www.bet.com/
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/
http://www.kff.org/

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