NEW YORK, June 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GBC) announced today that it will recognize Viacom (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B) with its prestigious Leadership Award for Business Excellence at its June 9th annual celebration. The GBC, an organization of more than 220 companies united to keep the fight against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria a global priority, is honoring Viacom for its more than twenty-five year history of helping to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS. Leveraging the power of its brands and the strength of its audience relationships, Viacom and its BET Networks, MTV Networks and Paramount Pictures units have continually found innovative and effective ways to educate audiences about how HIV/AIDS is transmitted and how it can be prevented. The award will be presented to Sumner M. Redstone, Viacom's Founder and Executive Chairman, at the GBC's annual dinner.
"We are proud to honor Viacom for its more than two decades of unwavering leadership against the HIV/AIDS epidemic," said John Tedstrom, Executive Director of GBC. "Over the years Viacom has utilized its unparalleled media platforms to reach millions of at-risk people with critical health education messages. Their initiatives set the standard for others to achieve. Global leaders like Viacom possess the skills, resources and influence to achieve otherwise inconceivable outcomes. We need many, many more to make their own contribution."
Mr. Redstone said, "Here in the U.S. and around the globe, we are all impacted by the continuing spread of HIV/AIDS. It is a truly worldwide disease with broad social and economic implications. The GBC has played an invaluable role in organizing the world's business, government and non-profit leaders to help fight this pandemic. Over the past quarter century, HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness has become an integral part of Viacom's culture, and we are committed to continuing to educate our audiences about how to protect themselves, as well as providing the information and understanding to wipe out the devastating stigma that fosters the spread of the disease. It is a great privilege and honor to receive this recognition from the GBC."
Through its ongoing efforts to educate audiences about HIV/AIDS, Viacom and all its divisions have leveraged the extensive international reach of its media platforms and brands to connect with those most at risk for contracting the disease, young people. Campaigns such as MTV Networks International's Staying Alive, MTV's It's Your (Sex) Life and BET's Rap-It-Up program, encourage viewers to take action by getting tested for HIV and practicing safe sex. Similarly, digital initiatives, like mtvU's new video game, POSorNOT.com, reaches audiences online to challenge stereotypes and break down the barriers that may prevent people from talking openly about HIV/AIDS.
The GBC is presenting nine Awards for Business Excellence at its annual dinner in New York. Instituted in 1988, the GBC Awards for Business Excellence recognize and honor outstanding private sector companies for their help in preventing HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will attend this year's dinner, which will be hosted by Nicholas Kristof. Grammy Award-winning violinist, Miri Ben-Ari will perform.
About Viacom
Viacom, consisting of BET Networks, MTV Networks and Paramount Pictures, is the world's leading entertainment content company. It engages audiences on television, motion picture and digital platforms through many of the world's best known entertainment brands, including MTV, VH1, CMT, Logo, Harmonix, Nickelodeon, Noggin, Nick at Nite, AddictingGames, Neopets, COMEDY CENTRAL, Spike TV, TV Land, AtomFilms, Gametrailers, BET, Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Vantage. Viacom's global reach includes approximately 160 channels and 325 online properties in 160 countries and territories.
For more information about Viacom and its businesses, visit www.viacom.com.
About GBC
The Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GBC) is a coalition of more than 220 companies united to keep the fight against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria a global priority. The Coalition's members share learnings from the front lines of the fight, and GBC provides tailored support so that companies can take an active role in defeating the pandemics. GBC also organizes collective actions among companies, and links the public and private sectors in ways that pool talents and resources. The official focal point of the private sector delegation to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, GBC maintains offices in New York, Paris, Johannesburg, Beijing, Geneva, Nairobi, Moscow, and Kyiv.
For more information about business action against global epidemics, visit: http://www.gbcimpact.org
SOURCE Viacom
