VIACOM, GATES FOUNDATION STRIKE 'MESSAGE PLACEMENT' PARTNERSHIP (NYT)

By Nancy Tartaglione

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation may be more involved in influencing public attitude toward its causes than the public is actually aware. The New York Times reports that while the foundation has helped shape story lines and insert messages into such TV shows as "ER," "Law & Order" and "Private Practice," it now plans to expand its involvement via a new deal with Viacom. Think of it as "message placement," says the Times.

The foundation, rich with billions of dollars, has myriad projects around the world which help promote health and education.

Last week in New York Bill Gates met with Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman to go over a new partnership that will be called Get Schooled. The initiative involves consultation between Gates Foundation experts and executives at all Viacom networks that make programming decisions. The goal is to weave education-themed storylines into existing shows or to create new shows centered on education.

"We are committing the entire creative power of our organization," Dauman said. "The whole company is really engaged behind this."

Viacom is donating on-air time for public-service announcements while the foundation is also putting up money for production which will indirectly subsidize Viacom's programming.

"We're open to all of that, and we'll figure out how best to use our resources once we get deeper in to it," Allan C. Golston, president for United States programs at the foundation, told the Times.

The effort of philanthropies to influence entertainment programming is not new. The Kaiser Family Foundation has been doing such work for years having worked storylines about H.I.V. and AIDS into programs on CBS and the former UPN.

The Gates Foundation's relationship with Viacom goes back about five years and has centered on efforts to promote education. To start this next phase of the partnership formally, Viacom plans a promotional roadblock for a half-hour on Sept. 8, pegged to the beginning of the school year, reports the Times.