The Association of Cable Communicators (ACC) at a dinner ceremony last night (June 4) announced the winners of the 2015 Golden Beacon and Beacon Awards, honoring excellence in cable communications and public affairs. The Golden Beacon, the association’s highest honor, went to Univision Contigo's Semana de la Salud 2014, a Latino-focused health and wellness campaign by Univision Communications Inc.
The campaign also won a Community Relations Beacon, while Univision's Contigo's Pequeños y Valiosos - Accioìn por los Niños campaign won a Beacon for Integrated Communications. Stephen Keppel, Univision's enior director, empowerment initiatives (pictured), accepted the awards.
ACC also presented 49 Beacon Awards representing work by MSOs, cable systems, programming networks, and cable associations in categories such as community relations, public service announcements and social media communications, the association said in a release. The Beacon Awards Ceremony rounded out Thursday events during ACC’s annual conference FORUM 2015: Innovation and Disruption: Telling Cable’s Story in Times of Change, in Silver Spring, Md.
“This year’s Beacon Award winners have affected change by using cable as a tool to provide access and education, not only empowering the communities they serve, but showcasing the power of cable on a national platform” Chris Albert, 2015 Beacon Awards chair and senior vice president, communications worldwide and talent relations, National Geographic Channels, said in the release. "The Beacon Awards celebrate the significant role cable communicators play in our industry’s success and recognize the best of those efforts."
The 2015 Golden Beacon honors a communications or public affairs initiative that has made an impact within the cable industry and enhanced cable’s image nationwide.
Here's what ACC had to say about the campaign and other Beacon honorees:
Univision is the most-watched Spanish-language broadcast television network in the country, reaching 96% of U.S. Hispanic households. As the heartbeat of Hispanic America, Univision has earned a special trust and unequalled connection with this community. Hispanics today have higher rates of high cholesterol, diabetes and obesity, compared to their Caucasian counterparts. In 2014 for example, one-in-four Hispanics in the U.S. lacked health insurance, the highest rate of any racial or ethnic group in the country. In an effort to reverse these trends, the company held its second annual week-long health and wellness effort “Semana de la Salud 2014” (Health Week 2014), a weeklong multiplatform campaign under the health umbrella of the company's Univision Contigo empowerment initiative. In partnership with The California Endowment, Covered California, and the Ford Foundation, “Semana de la Salud 2014” took place between August 23-30, aimed to inform the U.S. Hispanic community about important health and wellness topics, give access to exclusive health-related online and mobile tools, and empower the community by providing free health screenings and other valuable resources in markets across the nation.
ACC members chose the 2015 Beacon Award winners during an extensive two-round judging process. The high-quality Beacon Award entries submitted this year continue to demonstrate the cable industry's commitment to communications and public affairs and represent company initiatives implemented over the past year in areas such as events and observances, integrated communications and Web sites.
The 2015 Beacon Awards Winners listed by category are:
Best Use of Twitter
Cox Virginia WiFi Scavenger Hunt
Cox Communications – Chesapeake, VA
Cause Marketing
Cox Las Vegas -- Proud To Show Our PRIDE!
Cox Communications – Las Vegas, NV
Community Relations
Studio21 – Music to the Community’s Ears Charter Communications – Newtown, CT
Time Warner Cable "Capital Region Science Festival 2014"
Time Warner Cable – Schenectady, NY
Physics Behind Skateboarding
Time Warner Cable – El Segundo, CA
STEM in Sports with the Anaheim Ducks
Time Warner Cable – El Segundo, CA
Univision Contigo's Samana de la Salud 2014 Univision Communications Inc. – Miami, FL
Say Yes to the Prom
Discovery Communications – Silver Spring, MD
Education Comprehensive Campaigns
Encuentro STEM
Time Warner Cable – El Segundo, CA
MSG Classroom 2014 Fall Semester
MSG Networks – New York, NY
National Geographic Channels Comprehensive Education Campaign National Geographic Channels – Washington, DC
Educational Materials
Developing Impactful Afterschool STEM Programs Time Warner Cable – El Segundo, CA
STEM to Story with 826 National
Time Warner Cable – New York, NY
Remembering the Great War: WWI Centennial Education Outreach
A+E Networks – New York, NY
Events/Observances
Time Warner Cable CAMM Celebration
Time Warner Cable NYC – New York, NY
Bright House Networks Launch Event Announcing Free Wi-Fi for Tampa Riverfront Parks Bright House Networks, Central Florida – Maitland, FL
Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge Discovery Communications – Silver Spring, MD
Time Warner Cable’s Earth Month 2014
Time Warner Cable – New York, NY
Events/Premieres
The 48th Annual NAACP Image Awards VIP Screening Cox Louisiana – Baton Rouge, LA
American War Generals Premiere
National Geographic Channels – Washington, DC
Government Relations
"Fighting for Fort Polk"
Suddenlink Communications – Central Louisiana
Cox Las Vegas 2014 Community Development Report Cox Communications/Las Vegas System – Las Vegas, NV
Internal Communications
Internet Essentials Ambassadors Program
Comcast – Washington, DC
NBCUniversal Corporate Leadership Values Campaign Hispanic Enterprises and Content, NBCUniversal – Hialeah, FL
Integrated Communications
2014 Austin Image Campaign
Time Warner Cable – Austin, TX
Time Warner Cable Places Great Value on Diverse Perspectives and Experiences Time Warner Cable – El Segundo, CA
Univision Contigo's Pequeños y Valiosos - Accioìn por los NinÞos Univision Communications Inc. – Miami, FL
Look Different
MTV – New York, NY
Mobile Apps
DIG Mobile Apps Activations - Snapchat and DIG Decoder USA Network – Universal City, CA
Virginia Cable Show App
Virginia Cable Telecommunications Association – Richmond, VA
Multicultural Public Relations
Suddenlink Celebrates Black History Month with TV One Suddenlink Communications – St. Louis, MO
C-SPAN's Historically Black Colleges & Universities Tour C-SPAN Networks – Washington, DC
Media Relations Programming Publicity
LSU Gameday Live
Cox Louisiana – Baton Rouge, LA
COSMOS: A Spacetime Odyssey Media Relations National Geographic Channels – Washington, DC
Media Relations-Technology/Product
Cox Launches Gigabit Internet in Las Vegas Cox Communications – Las Vegas, NV
Charter's Road to All-Digital: A Spectrum of Success Charter Communications – Stamford, CT
WatchESPN
ESPN, Inc. – New York, NY
Public Service Announcement
Connect2Compete “Local New Orleans PSA Campaign”
Cox Louisiana – Baton Rouge, LA
Cablevision & The Lustgarten Foundation’s curePC Campaign – The curePC Courage Project Cablevision Systems Corporation – Bethpage, NY
Look Different
MTV – New York, NY
Programming Series
Studio21
Charter Communications – Newtown, CT
LSU Gameday Live
Cox Louisiana – Baton Rouge, LA
ESPN Films "30 for 30"
ESPN, Inc. – Bristol, CT
Programming Special or Miniseries Event
History: Sons of Liberty
A+E Networks – New York, NY
Reputation/Brand Management
The Midway/Cox Legacy: From America’s Greatest Generation to Future Generations Cox Communications - California – San Diego, CA
Taking Back the Gigabit Narrative
Cox Communications, Inc. – Atlanta, GA
The Civil Rights Act of 1964: A Long Struggle for Freedom Exhibit
A+E Networks – New York, NY
Social Media Integrated Communications
TLC Loves Canada
Discovery Communications – Silver Spring, MD
Website
Internal - Transformation Hub Website
Cox Communications, Inc. – Atlanta, GA
