New York, NY, September 14, 2023 – Allen Media Group (AMG) received the 2023 Catalyst Award for their outstanding support of Ad Council public service campaigns over the past year, particularly their dedication to the anti-buzzed driving campaign, Project Roadblock. This year marks the 20th anniversary of Project Roadblock, a critical initiative aimed at reducing drunk driving fatalities during the holiday season.
The Ad Council's Catalyst Award, presented annually, recognizes communications companies that play a pivotal role in advancing meaningful social change through strategic programs. Allen Media Group has consistently demonstrated their dedication to this mission by leveraging all their broadcast television stations, in 21 markets across the United States, to provide outstanding donated media support of Ad Council campaigns throughout the year.
The award was given at The Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB)’s live Executive Summit, a local broadcast television leadership gathering part of its annual Forward Conference events, which draw 5,000+ broadcast TV station and sales leaders, managers, account executives, media agencies and advertisers.
AMG saw 100% station participation across 21 markets for Project Roadblock and generously supported the Ad Council in this campaign.
"Allen Media Group's exceptional support of Ad Council campaigns, and their participation in Project Roadblock in particular, reaches millions of Americans and positively changes lives," said DJ Perera, Chief Media Officer of the Ad Council. “Their unwavering commitment to road safety makes them truly deserving of this year's Catalyst Award.”
"We are very proud to accept this recognition from The Ad Council,” said Byron Allen, Founder and Chairman of Allen Media Group. “Our goal at Allen Media Group is to use our position in the media landscape to effectuate change for the greater good. We want to use media to unite us as one, and bring out the best in all of us.”
Project Roadblock, which began in 2004, leverages local TV stations' donated media to raise awareness of the dangers of impaired driving during the holiday season. The partnership between TVB, the Ad Council, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), and local broadcast television stations is now entering its 20th year.
Project Roadblock 2022 had nearly 85K placements of donated on-air, digital sub-channel, online, and mobile time and space by over 1,000 TV stations, reaching 99.96% of all U.S. households, resulting in $7.8 million of donated local media over the six-day period. Since its inception, local broadcast TV stations across the nation have donated more than $181 million in support.
“For twenty years, the local broadcast TV industry has reaffirmed its enduring commitment to serving local communities by actively participating in Project Roadblock, a life-saving campaign that enhances road safety during the holiday season,” remarked Steve Lanzano, President and CEO of TVB. “We take pride in our continuous involvement with Project Roadblock since its inception in 2004 and are eagerly anticipating the 20th year to be the most impactful yet. Broadcasters across the U.S. play a crucial role in raising awareness of the dangers of impaired driving. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Allen Media Group and all participating TV stations for their unwavering commitment to this campaign and their dedication to saving lives.”
For more information about Project Roadblock, please visit tvb.org/projectroadblock and follow the campaign online using the hashtag #ProjectRoadblock on Facebook and X, formally known as Twitter.
About the Ad Council
The Ad Council convenes creative storytellers to educate, unite and uplift audiences by opening hearts, inspiring action and accelerating change around the most pressing issues in America. Since the non-profit’s founding, the organization and its partners in advertising, media, marketing and tech have been behind some of the country’s most iconic social impact campaigns – Smokey Bear, A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Waste, Love Has No Labels, Tear the Paper Ceiling and many more. With a current focus on mental health, gun safety, the opioid epidemic, skill-based hiring and other critical issues, the Ad Council’s national campaigns encompass advertising and media content, ground game and community efforts, trusted messenger and influencer engagement, and employer programs, among other innovative strategies to move the needle on the most important issues of the day.
To learn more, visit AdCouncil.org, join the Ad Council's communities on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter, and view the creative on YouTube.
About Allen Media Group
Chairman and CEO Byron Allen founded Allen Media Group in 1993. Headquartered in Los Angeles, it has offices in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, and Charleston, SC. Allen Media Group owns 27 ABC-NBC-CBS-FOX network affiliate broadcast television stations in 21 U.S. markets and twelve 24-hour HD television networks serving nearly 300 million subscribers: THE WEATHER CHANNEL, THE WEATHER CHANNEL EN ESPAÑOL, PETS.TV, COMEDY.TV, RECIPE.TV, CARS.TV, ES.TV, MYDESTINATION.TV, JUSTICECENTRAL.TV, THEGRIO TELEVISION NETWORK, THIS TV, and PATTRN. Allen Media Group also owns the streaming platforms HBCU GO, SPORTS.TV, THEGRIO, THE WEATHER CHANNEL EN ESPAÑOL, THE WEATHER CHANNEL STREAMING APP and LOCAL NOW--the free-streaming AVOD service powered by THE WEATHER CHANNEL and content partners, which delivers real-time, hyper-local news, weather, traffic, sports, and lifestyle information. Allen Media Group also produces, distributes, and sells advertising for 73 television programs, making it one of the largest independent producers/distributors of first-run syndicated television programming for broadcast television stations. With a library of over 5,000 hours of owned content across multiple genres, Allen Media Group provides video content to broadcast television stations, cable television networks, mobile devices, and multimedia digital. Our mission is to provide excellent programming to our viewers, online users, and Fortune 500 advertising partners.
About TVB
TVB is the not-for-profit trade association representing America’s local broadcast television industry, including linear and digital platforms. Its members include the U.S. television stations, television broadcast groups, advertising sales reps, syndicators, international broadcasters and associate members. TVB actively promotes local media marketing solutions to the advertising community and 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 its website, to support its members and to help advertisers make the best use of local ad dollars.
Media Contacts
Walter Deleon
The Ad Council
Wdeleon@adcouncil.org