The Ad Council Honors WDAF-TV (FOX 4) TV Station with the 2016 Crystal Bell Award

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Kansas City, Missouri-based TV station WDAF-TV (FOX 4) was
recognized today with the Ad Council’s 2016 Crystal Bell award. The
award was presented at Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB) Forward
2016, the trade association’s annual local broadcast outlook conference
hosted at Pier Sixty in New York. Each year, this award is presented to
one broadcast TV station for its extraordinary support of the Ad
Council’s public service campaigns.

The Ad Council, a national non-profit organization, is the largest U.S.
producer of public service campaigns. Through partnerships with
non-profit organizations and federal government agencies, along with
leading advertising and media companies, the Ad Council works to drive
change on public issues through innovative communications programs. All
Ad Council campaigns run in donated media time and space, and the
broadcast TV industry ranks among the Ad Council’s top supporters,
providing more than $232 million in donated airings in 2015.

This year’s Crystal Bell Award was presented to WDAF-TV (FOX 4),
a Tribune Media-owned television station serving the Kansas City,
Missouri market. The station was honored for its commitment to driving
change around important safety issues and the example they set in their
community. Last year, WDAF-TV (FOX 4) supported a wide range of
Ad Council campaigns including Texting and Driving Prevention, Stroke
Awareness, Safe Firearms Storage and Child Passenger Safety, helping
Tribune Media earn a place among Ad Council’s top ten supporters in 2015.

WDAF-TV (FOX 4) also contributed to the record-breaking success
of the 2015 Project Roadblock, a six-day TV station roadblock
aimed at reducing drunk driving fatalities during the holiday season, as
part of the Ad Council’s Buzzed Driving Prevention campaign, sponsored
by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). In Project
Roadblock’s most successful year yet, Tribune Media, among the top
three supporters of the campaign, helped the Ad Council and NHTSA extend
their reach during the holiday season, educating more people nationwide
about the consequences of impaired driving.

“Our local broadcast TV partners play a huge role in helping our
campaigns’ important messages reach the American public, and we’re
forever thankful for the work they do,” said Lisa Sherman, President and
CEO of the Ad Council, “We’re so pleased to recognize WDAF-TV (FOX 4) for
going above and beyond. Their tremendous support for a number of Ad
Council campaigns demonstrates a sincere commitment to social change,
and we’re grateful to have their support.”

“At FOX 4, we take our commitment to serve our community very seriously,
and part of this service is reflected in our ability to provide support
for important causes that make our country and community better,” said
Cheryl McDonald, President and General Manager, WDAF- TV (FOX 4).
“We are pleased to air public service messages from the Ad Council
because they are always timely and of high quality. And we are honored
to be recognized with the prestigious Crystal Bell Award for the work we
do in our community.”

According to NHTSA data, between Christmas and New Year’s
alcohol-impaired driving accounts for nearly one-third of motor vehicle
crash fatalities. Over the last twelve years, TVB, the Ad Council and
NHTSA have worked in partnership with local broadcast television
stations to launch Project Roadblock, an annual multiplatform
anti-drunk driving campaign. Each year, between December 26 and 31,
local broadcast stations voluntarily participate by airing Buzzed
Driving Prevention PSAs during the concentrated six-day period, with a
special push at 10 p.m. local time on New Year’s Eve. This partnership
helps raise awareness of the dangers of impaired driving and has helped
ensure people stay safe on the roads.

“The holiday season can take a tragic turn when drivers get behind the
wheel drunk,” said NHTSA Administrator, Dr. Mark Rosekind. “Project
Roadblock is an important initiative that helps deliver important safety
messages to the public. We thank the TVB, the Ad Council, WDAF-TV
(FOX 4) and all of the participating stations for helping us in our
fight against drunk driving and getting the word out about the dangers.”

2015 was the most successful year to-date for Project Roadblock;
the initiative received widespread support from local broadcast
affiliates, including 65,000 placements of donated on-air, digital
sub-channel, online and mobile time and space, resulting in $8.1 million
dollars of airtime over the six-day period. Since its inception in
2004, broadcast TV stations across the nation have donated more than
$49.4 million.

“Project Roadblock continues to be an integral effort for TVB and we are
honored to continue our work in partnership with the Ad Council and
NHTSA to support this imperative life-saving PSA campaign,” said Steve
Lanzano, President and CEO of TVB. “We commend the 1,000+ TV stations
for their commitment to promoting safety in their communities, and
particularly WDAF-TV’s recognition by the Ad Council this year
for their exemplary efforts in making public service campaigns a
priority, a significant contribution to their local community in Kansas
City.”

NHTSA

For more than four decades, the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA) has served as the key federal agency charged with
improving safety on our nation’s roadways. As part of the U.S.
Department of Transportation, NHTSA is working to reduce traffic-related
deaths and injuries by promoting the use of safety belts and child
safety seats; helping states and local communities address the threat of
drunk drivers; regulating safety standards and investigating safety
defects in motor vehicles; establishing and enforcing fuel economy
standards; conducting research on driver behavior and traffic safety;
and providing consumer information on issues ranging from child
passenger safety to impaired driving. For more information, visit www.nhtsa.gov.

The Ad Council

The Ad Council is a private, non-profit organization with a rich history
of marshaling volunteer talent from the advertising and media industries
to deliver critical messages to the American public. Having produced
literally thousands of PSA campaigns addressing the most pressing social
issues of the day, the Ad Council has affected, and continues to affect,
tremendous positive change by raising awareness, inspiring action and
saving lives. To learn more about the Ad Council and its campaigns,
visit www.adcouncil.org,
like us on Facebook,
follow us on Twitter or
view our PSAs on YouTube.

TVB

TVB is the not-for-profit trade association of America’s local broadcast
television industry. Its members include television broadcast groups,
advertising sales reps, syndicators, international broadcasters,
associate members and over 800 individual television stations. TVB
actively promotes local media marketing solutions to the advertising
community, and in so doing 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 www.tvb.org,
to support its members and to help advertisers make the best use of
local ad dollars.

Tribune Media Company

Tribune Media Company (NYSE: TRCO) is home to a diverse portfolio
of television and digital properties driven by quality news,
entertainment and sports programming. Tribune Media is comprised of
Tribune Broadcasting’s 42 owned or operated local television stations
reaching more than 50 million households, national entertainment network
WGN America, whose reach is approaching 80 million households, Tribune
Studios, and Gracenote, one of the world’s leading sources of video,
music and sports metadata, powering electronic program guides in
televisions, automobiles and mobile devices. Tribune Media also includes
Chicago’s WGN-AM and the national multicast networks Antenna TV and THIS
TV. Additionally, the Company owns and manages a significant number of
real estate properties across the U.S. and holds other strategic
investments in media. For more information please visit www.tribunemedia.com.

Contacts

Media:
Ad Council
Margaret Files, 212-984-1953
mfiles@adcouncil.org
or
TVB
Abby
Auerbach, 212-891-2279
abby@tvb.org