White House, Media Launch New Coronavirus Broadcast PSA Campaign

The White House has officially unveiled a COVID-19 messaging campaign in conjunction with the Ad Council and major media outlets, including digital platforms.

All the PSA airtime will be donated by the media and coordinated through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Health and Human Services.

Related: White House, Ad Council Working on Coronavirus PSAs

The campaign will include PSAs about social distancing, personal hygiene and mental health.

Among the Administration members appearing in national broadcast PSAs will be First Lady Melania Trump, Surgeon General Jerome Adams, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and Dr. Deborah Birx.

According to the White House:

Related: Five TV Sectors Impacted by COVID-19

NBCU will create videos and graphics in both English and Spanish to inform high-risk populations about what they can to do stem the spread.

Viacom/CBS will deliver PSAs on "public health imperatives." Along with the Ad Council, ViacomCBS’ Entertainment & Youth Brands led by MTV, Comedy Central, Paramount Network, CMT, and VH1 have launched the #AloneTogether social campaign "that educates audiences on the importance of social distancing and drives unity through entertainment."

That campaign will be backed by Nickelodeon, BET, CBS and CBS All-Access, Awesomeness, Pluto TV, and Showtime.

CBS is launching a "We're in This Together" campaign featuring "essential public health messages," and Nickelodeon is developing PSAs targeted to kids on things like hand washing and the availability of educational library content for kids home from school.

iHeartMedia will carry social distancing and high-risk population messaging on its network of radio stations.

ABC/Disney will promote "priority messaging" for parents and families.

Related: NAB Launches Coronavirus PSA Campaign

TV stations across the country are already airing a PSA campaign launched last week by the National Association of Broadcasters, which has already signaled it would also support this latest campaign. 

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.