MTV AND KAISER FAMILY FOUNDATION EXTEND SEXUAL HEALTH INFORMATION PARTNERSHIP FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

As Part of FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHTS: PROTECT YOURSELF Campaign, Partnership Is Renewed for 9th Year

More than One Million Viewers Have Called Campaign’s Hotline; Nearly 100 Million Viewers Have Seen Sexual Health Programming

February 15, 2005 – New York, NY – MTV: Music Television and the Kaiser Family Foundation today announced they have extended their partnership to promote sexual health among young people. This marks the ninth year of collaboration between MTV and Kaiser on the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning Fight For Your Rights: Protect Yourself campaign, a joint effort to inform and empower young people on sexual health issues, including such issues as HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), responsible sexual health decision-making, abstinence, and more open communication with partners, providers and parents.

The joint campaign’s critically acclaimed sexual health programming has been seen by nearly 100 million viewers since the partnership began in 1997. In addition, there have been more than one million calls to the campaign’s toll-free hotline (1-888-BE SAFE 1), through which callers can receive additional information or be connected to a counselor at the Center for Disease Control & Prevention.

“We are very proud of the impressive results that our partnership with Kaiser has produced and look forward to continued success with our Fight For Your Rights campaign,” commented Van Toffler, President, MTV Networks Music & Logo Group. “Our goal with our pro-social campaigns, including Protect Yourself, is always to empower young people by giving them the tools they need to make informed decisions. Through our partnership with Kaiser, we are thrilled to help give young people control of their sexual health.”

“With more than one in two new HIV infections occurring in this country among people under the age 25, and the impact of other STDs even greater, sexual health is an issue of foremost concern for America’s youth,” said Matt James, Senior Vice President, Kaiser Family Foundation. “To reach young people with the information they need to make wise decisions, we realized long ago that we needed to go where they go. Our research shows these messages are being heard.”

In a national survey conducted by the Foundation in 2003, more than one in two (59%) 16-to 24-year-olds nationwide recognize the campaign, and many say they have acted on what they have seen. Among young people who saw the campaign and have not had sex, 66% said they were more likely to wait to become sexually active because of the partnership’s PSAs and programming. Among those who have already had sex, 73% said they were more likely to use condoms, 69% said they were more likely to talk with a partner, and 65% said they were more likely to get tested for STDs because of the campaign. The National Survey of Teens and Young Adults on Sexual Health Public Education Campaigns was a nationally-representative, random-digit-dial telephone survey of 1,100 young people age 16-24, conducted from January 27 through April 6, 2003. Parental permission was obtained for respondents under age 18. The full report is available online at: http://www.kff.org/entmedia/Reaching-the-MTV-Generation.cfm

The multi-faceted Fight For Your Rights: Protect Yourself campaign includes targeted public service announcements (PSAs); extensive online resources housed at FightForYourRights.mtv.com and available through MTV.com; and longform programming, which has included documentaries on abstinence, HIV/AIDS prevention, sex education, sexual politics, and STD prevention. The campaign has been recognized by the National Academy of TV Arts & Sciences for the last three consecutive years with the Emmy for the best national public service campaign, and last year was awarded, along with its parent company, Viacom, a Peabody Award for the initiative.

The most recent PSA campaign, “Get Perspective,” featured young people talking candidly about sexual health issues. The most recent special, “The Campus Guide to Safer Sex,” premiered on World AIDS Day 2004 and followed MTV News correspondents Gideon Yago and SuChin Pak as they toured colleges across the U.S. to find out how young people are protecting themselves and dealing with STDs, HIV/AIDS, and unintended pregnancy. In addition to sexual health PSAs that will air multiple times daily throughout the next year, new targeted PSAs will debut during top-rated programs including the Video Music Awards and MTV Movie Awards. In addition to the MTV News reports, Kaiser and MTV will also co-produce at least one long-form documentary on a topic of protecting young people’s sexual health.

Kicking off the renewed partnership, MTV News will produce a series of sexual health news segments to air throughout the year. The first MTV News report, pegged to National Condom Day, premiered yesterday and addresses some of the myths and misconceptions many young people have about sexual health. To date, the partnership has produced more than 50 unique PSAs, and more than two dozen longer-form programs.

For more information, please visit FightForYourRights.mtv.com.

Since 1997, MTV and the Kaiser Family Foundation have partnered on an Emmy- and Peabody Award winning public education campaign to inform young people about sexual health issues, including HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). In 2002, the effort became Fight For Your Rights: Protect Yourself, which includes special programming; public service messages; one of the most comprehensive sexual health websites for youth; grassroots events and advocacy opportunities; and an extensive resource and referral service, including a toll-free hotline and sexual health guide. Originally launched in 1999 with the Take A Stand Against Violence campaign, Fight For Your Rights is an MTV series of yearlong comprehensive on-and-off air campaigns, designed to educate and empower young people about the issues that concern them most. In 2001, MTV launched Fight For Your Rights: Take A Stand Against Discrimination.

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 www.kff.org, and a daily news summary report on developments in HIV/AIDS is available on www.kaisernetwork.org, the Foundation’s free health information service.

MTV Networks
MTV Networks owns and operates the cable television programming services MTV: Music Television, MTV2, mtvU, Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite, TV Land, VH1, CMT: Country Music Television, and Spike TV, as well as The Digital Suite from MTV Networks, a package of thirteen digital services, all of which are trademarks of MTV Networks. MTV Networks also operates and offers joint ventures, licensing agreements and syndication deals whereby its programming can be seen worldwide.

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