Maya Angelou, through her association with Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Cards, has taped two sets of public service announcements in support of two cable industry public affairs initiatives: the first for the new “Take Control. It's Easy.” campaign from the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) and the second for Cable Positive's newest HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention campaign.
Maya Angelou, distinguished author, actor and historian, is featured in several 30-second PSAs for the “Take Control. It's Easy.” campaign which are available in generic, customizable and Spanish-language versions.
The PSAs are part of the cable's industry's $250 million campaign to educate consumers about parental controls which kicked into high gear this week with the distribution to participating cable networks and cable systems of new Public Service Announcements (PSAs). More than 100 cable networks, and multiple systems operators serving more than 85 percent of cable subscribers, have agreed to air the “Take Control” spots that have been produced as part of the initiative.
The PSAs feature the tag line, “Take Control. It's Easy.” to emphasize that parental control features provided by cable operators are accessible and easy to use. The majority of cable customers already have parental control technology available to them because it is a feature built in to the “set-top” box that is provided to all digital and many analog cable subscribers, and 100 million TVs have built-in V-chips that can block programming based on TV ratings.
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The PSAs were distributed by the NCTA via satellite in two feeds scheduled May 18 and 19. The spots currently are available for viewing at the industry's parental controls website, www.ControlYourTV.org .
Angelou is also featured in two different 30-second PSAs to support Cable Positive's “Join the Fight,” the organization's current HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention campaign. These spots are also available in national and local taggable versions and will be distributed to cable networks and systems in support of Cable Positive's National HIV Testing Day, June 26, efforts.
“We are most appreciative of Maya Angelou's commitment to offer her extraordinarily credible voice to this vitally important industry initiative,” said Paul FitzPatrick , Executive Vice President and COO, Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movie Channel.
“Maya Angelou lends a very powerful voice to our efforts to help families learn about parental controls and responsible TV viewing,” said Jill Luckett , Senior Vice President, Program Network Policy, NCTA. “Hallmark Channel's efforts to help us spread the word will greatly benefit cable viewers and customers around the country.”
“ Cable Positive is honored to have Maya Angelou support our Join The Fight HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention campaign by communicating important messages about HIV and AIDS to millions of Americans," said Steve Villano, President & CEO, Cable Positive. "We thank Hallmark for providing the opportunity for Cable Positive to work with Dr. Angelou in the fight against HIV/AIDS.”
Poet Maya Angelou is celebrating three years, sharing words of encouragement and inspiration, through her greeting card writings found at Hallmark Gold Crown® stores. The 2005 Maya Angelou Life Mosaic Collection from Hallmark features the first-time published poem Continue , written to commemorate the milestone birthday of a close friend. The Maya Angelou Life Mosaic Collection was introduced to the public in January 2002. This year, Hallmark is offering 104 greeting cards, 25 new gifts, and four stationery designs in the line.
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NCTA is the principal trade association of the cable television industry in the United States . NCTA represents cable operators serving more than 90 percent of the nation's cable television households and more than 200 cable program networks, as well as equipment suppliers and providers of other services to the cable industry.
Cable Positive is a national non-profit organization that was founded in February 1992 by three concerned cable executives with the mission of organizing cable's resources in the fight against AIDS. Cable Positive will mobilize the talents, resources, access and influence of the cable and telecommunications industry to raise HIV/AIDS awareness; support HIV/AIDS education, prevention and care; and strive to end stigma by creating a more compassionate climate for people whose lives have been affected by HIV or AIDS. Cable Positive has grown to include supporters from every major cable network, multiple system operator, cable system, hardware manufacturer, trade association, media publication, and affiliated industry vendors and suppliers. Since 1992, Cable Positive has raised more than $13 million in the fight against AIDS. For more information about Cable Positive, call 212-459-1502 or log on to www.cablepositive.org . 
Hallmark Channel is a 24-hour basic cable channel that provides a diverse slate of high-quality entertainment programming to a national audience of 68 million subscribers. The program service is distributed through 4,800 cable systems and communities as well as direct-to-home satellite services across the country. Crown Media Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRWNE) owns and operates Hallmark Channel. In 2004, Crown launched its second 24-hour linear channel, Hallmark Movie Channel. Through its subsidiary, Crown Media Distribution, LLC, Crown also distributes titles from its award-winning collection of movies, miniseries and films for exhibition in a variety of television media including broadcast, cable, Video-on-Demand and High Definition Television.