Tag Archives: PSA

Comcast Foundation Donates $2 Million in Airtime

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A scene from one of the First Nations PSAs, shot at Santo Domingo Pueblo in New Mexico

The Comcast Foundation has donated $2 million in airtime on Comcast’s Xfinity cable TV system to run First Nations’ public service announcements (PSAs) during June and July 2014.

This is the second year that the Comcast Foundation has made a significant contribution of broadcast time for First Nations’ 30-second television spots. During 2013, the foundation and Comcast Corporation donated more than $1.5 million in airtime, which resulted in the airing of First Nations’ announcements more than 113,000 times in 13 market areas around the United States. The Comcast Foundation also donated $20,000 in cash for production of the two TV spots.  For 2014, the First Nations spots will run in 30 market areas from coast to coast. The spots can be seen online here: http://www.firstnations.org/psa/psa.html.

“This generous gift of airtime will go a very long way toward building awareness of the critical economic development and asset-building needs of struggling Native American communities, and how First Nations plays a key behind-the-scenes role in that,” said First Nations President Michael E. Roberts. “We are deeply grateful to Comcast for continuing its significant support of our efforts.”

Bill Black, vice president and executive director of the Comcast Foundation, said, “We are excited to partner with First Nations on this important initiative for a second year. At Comcast, we are committed to leveling the playing field so that everyone, regardless of income, has an opportunity to improve their life.”

Production Underway on New Television PSAs

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On location at the Institute of American Indian Arts, IAIA’s Luke Reed is taped in the campus garden.

Through a generous grant from Comcast and the Comcast Foundation, First Nations will be launching two PSAs (public service announcements) later this year.  The television “commercials” will run on Comcast cable TV systems in several markets around the U.S.

In early May 2013, folks from First Nations and its production company, Red 76 Creative in Denver, Colorado, traveled to Santa Fe, New Mexico, to do the on-location videotaping for the PSAs.  We are especially grateful to Santo Domingo Pueblo and the Institute of American Indian Arts for helping us secure various locations, along with numerous volunteer tribe members, students, staffers and officials to be our “actors.”

Some of the video footage will be used for two 30-second PSAs, and other footage will be

A scene from one of the Comcast PSAs: Shana Coriz holds seeds at Santo Domingo Pueblo.

used for a short video that First Nations will use on its website, on its social media pages, and on its YouTube channel. We don’t want to give away the “plots” of the PSAs quite yet, but one is tentatively titled “Seed” and one is called “Dream.”

We first announced the grant back in January 2013.  The Comcast Foundation provided $20,000 to fund production of the PSAs, plus $1 million worth of airtime from Comcast to broadcast them. The grant was in recognition of Comcast’s commitment to the communities where its customers and employees live and work.

Michael Roberts, president First Nations Development Institute.

At the time, Michael E. Roberts, president of First Nations, said:  “There is such an urgent need in American Indian communities for the economic development work that we do, but we can only grow our reach, capacity and successes by building more public awareness and understanding of the issues involved with Native American communities.  This grant will be a huge step toward creating that heightened awareness and understanding, plus hopefully attracting more charitable dollars for our efforts.”

Bill Black, vice president and executive director of the Comcast Foundation, said, “First Nations is universally recognized as the longtime leader in economic development in Indian Country, and Comcast is proud to be their partner in this important initiative. Comcast and the Comcast Foundation are committed to helping improve communities nationwide so that everyone, regardless of economic circumstances, has an opportunity to pursue a better life.”

By Randy Blauvelt, First Nations Senior Communications Officer