BLC Belo Corp.

DALLAS, May 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Belo Corp. (NYSE:BLC) announced today that its television stations held major giving campaigns in 2007 in their local communities that helped raise more than $25 million in cash donations, collect 457,000 toys for needy children, and gather 3.5 million pounds of food. Many of the campaigns were supported by televised and online promotional air time provided by Belo owned stations valued at more than $18 million. "People gave generously last year to help those in our local communities," said Dunia Shive, Belo's president and Chief Executive Officer. "Our television stations are proud to assist so many individuals and families through these campaigns. These efforts reflect Belo's commitment to addressing critical community needs through worthwhile charitable causes, while also providing quality journalism to the communities we serve." A summary of the many fundraising campaigns, by market, follows below: Belo Television Station 2007 Community Impact Campaigns WFAA-TV: WFAA collected 75,000 toys, valued at more than Dallas/Fort Worth $750,000 as part of its 38th annual Santa's Helpers Toy Drive. The toys were distributed to more than 50,000 children in the North Texas area. As part of the campaign, more than $104,000 was raised through cash and online donations to purchase additional toys. WFAA annually sponsors approximately 75 nonprofit organizations in the Dallas/Fort Worth area by producing and airing PSA's to promote their community events. The station aired more than 12,000 PSA's for a total of more than $6 million in donated air time. KHOU-TV: KHOU is involved in two programs that help fill the Houston pantries of Houston area food banks. In 2007, the 20th Annual Spirit of Texas Food Drive collected a total of 305,671 pounds of food and $340,057 in monetary donations. KHOU also held the 1st Annual Souper Bowl of Caring Food Drive, which collected 1.6 million pounds of food. In addition, the station held the Spirit of Texas Blood Drive, which generated 1,873 pints of blood. During the holidays, KHOU organized the Spirit of Texas Toy Drive and collected 37,000 toys and more than $365,000 for the Salvation Army. KING-TV, KONG-TV, KING held the "Home Team Harvest" Food Drive NorthWest Cable News: supporting the Northwest Harvest Food Bank and Seattle/Tacoma collected 189,249 pounds of food and $150,000. The station also held an on-air campaign called Northwest Response to help victims of natural disasters such as the California wildfires and the Washington state flooding, collecting more than $555,000. During the holidays the Regence Toy Drive collected more than 5,000 toys and $1,000 in cash to benefit the Boys & Girls Clubs in the area. KTVK, KASW-TV: KTVK collected more than 90,000 bottles of water, Phoenix 250,000 hats and $50,000 for the Salvation Army's Project Hope program, which provides for the Valley's homeless during the summer months. The station raised $1.5 million for the Muscular Dystrophy Association of Arizona during the MDA Telethon. KTVK joined The Salvation Army in a one-day turkey drive, collecting 1,200 turkeys and raising $61,500 for area families. As part of its Annual Christmas Angel program, the stations collected clothes and 163,300 toys for 54,000 children. In partnership with a statewide grocer, they held the Arizona's Family Food Drive collecting $130,000 for local food banks. KMOV-TV: The Variety Club Telethon produced by KMOV raised St. Louis more than $3 million for the St. Louis Variety Club, which benefits disabled and disadvantaged children. KMOV also participated in Home for Hope where KMOV provided the equivalent of $30,000 of in-kind support to build a home for a local family through Habitat for Humanity. More than $150,000 was raised for Forest Park Forever, a St. Louis charity whose mission is to restore the beauty of the 132-year-old Forest Park. Sponsored by KMOV, the March of Dimes golf tournament raised $10,000 and the Thanksgiving Day Parade raised $5,000 for St. Louis Crisis Nursery and Gateway Homeless Services. Additionally, KMOV's Kids Caring 4 Kids, a toy and food drive, collected 20,000 toys, 55,000 food items and $7,800 in cash donations. KGW-TV: The Fourth Annual KGW Northwest NewsChannel 8 Great Portland Food Drive generated more than one million pounds of food for 894 hunger-relief agencies across Oregon and Southwest Washington. KGW supported the Portland Race for the Cure event, one of the largest in the country, by airing more than 300 PSA's. More than 60,000 people participated in the event, raising $2 million for the Oregon and Southwest Washington Komen Foundation affiliate. WCNC-TV: WCNC held the Loaves & Fishes Food Drive and Charlotte collected 84 tons of food, which benefited the non-profit organization that provides groceries to families in crisis. The WCNC Blood Drive collected 351 units of blood for the American Red Cross. The station also collected 2,200 school supplies for children in the area through Pack the Truck, which benefits A Child's Place. Also, the WCNC Magical Toy Drive, which benefits The Salvation Army collected 6,200 toys for children. KENS-TV: KENS collected 481 units of blood through the KENS San Antonio Blood Drive that is held each January. KENS sponsored the Diabetes Expo and donated $78,500 of air time and collected $281,000 for research. KENS also helped raise $65,000 for college scholarships by sponsoring the Poteet Strawberry Festival. KENS sponsors the March of Dimes Walk America and helped raise $750,000 for the March of Dimes services and research. For the San Antonio Sports Foundation, KENS sponsored and promoted the Duck N'Dodgeball Tournament and the Valero Go Kids Challenge. Combined air time value was $149,000 and 52,500 children participated. The station also helped raise more than $50,000 for the Kids Sports Network at the Annual Bruce Bowen Golf Tournament. KENS contributed more than $68,000 in air time, and also provided an unusual auction item of Weatherman for the Day at the Cattle Baron's Gala, which raised $393,000 for the American Cancer Society. WVEC-TV: WVEC joined the Urban League of Hampton Roads to Hampton/Norfolk sponsor Oscar Night Virginia, which raised more than $50,000. WVEC also sponsored Taste of Hampton Roads, an event that raised more than $130,000 for the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia. WVEC teamed up with Farm Fresh Grocery Stores for a special campaign that raised $700,000 for cancer treatment programs at the Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters. More than $100,000 was raised during the Tool Box Bash, an event to raise funds for the South Hampton Roads Habitat for Humanity. WVEC joined Golden Corral restaurants for a special event to raise money for the Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters, which raised more than $43,000. Tastefully Yours, the Peninsula Foodbank's fundraising event, brought in more than $90,000. WVEC promoted the event on news broadcasts and with public affairs interviews. WVEC joined six other organizations for the Write Stuff school supply collection drive. More than $88,400 worth of school supplies was donated serving nearly 3,000 children. The station also sponsored two walks in 2007 benefiting the Alzheimer's Association in Hampton Roads, raising more than $150,000 combined. WVEC also sponsored Fantasy Shopping Night at the MacArthur Center Mall to benefit the Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters, which raised more than $20,000. Again, partnering with Golden Corral restaurants for Military Appreciation Night, WVEC raised more than $73,000 for the Disabled American Veterans and served 11,500 complimentary meals to retired and active duty military. WVEC and the American Red Cross sponsored the Jingle Bell Blood Drive, which collected 720 pints of blood. This year the Angel Tree helped close to 19,300 children in Hampton Roads with gifts valuing $480,700. WWL-TV: WWL's Eye on Crime Prevention campaign included air New Orleans time value of $275,000. The station made great strides with its partnership with United Way and aired a half-hour show and a number of PSA's which is valued at $110,000. A+ Athletes is an ongoing program that awards students who are outstanding in their high school sports and academic efforts. WWL holds a banquet for the students and features each of them in their own 60 second commercial. The air time schedule for all the spots is worth $120,000. The Hurricane Katrina Special was a four-hour remembrance of the storm. Along with this event, PSA's focused specifically on dealing with the effects of the storm including spots that raised money to repair local landmarks and fought hunger and homelessness worth more than $50,000 in air time. In its 20th year, WWL continued its commitment to the New Orleans City Park Celebration in the Oaks fundraiser by airing event information and PSA's requesting donations. Backed by air time worth $225,000, the annual event broke records by attracting 70,000 visitors and bringing in $300,000 in cash. A new campaign, entitled The Spirit of Giving, was a partnership with the Volunteers of America. The program raised donations to support people with disabilities as well as families in crisis. An air time schedule worth $15,000 helped bring in more than $60,000 in donations, the organization's best fundraiser to date. WHAS-TV: WHAS Crusade for Children raised nearly $5.5 Louisville million throughout the entire year to support 201 grants to 164 agencies serving thousands of children with special needs in Kentucky and Indiana. WHAS also raised $570,000 to fight breast cancer by sponsoring the Louisville Affiliate of Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. KVUE-TV: KVUE celebrated breast cancer survivors in the Austin largest 5K race in Austin and 22,000 participants came together and raised more than $1.5 million for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. KVUE made low-cost mammograms available to women who might not otherwise be served. In the heat of the summer, Austin's Humane Society faced an unexpected air conditioning issue. KVUE asked viewers to help and in total more than $200,000 was raised to buy the animals a new air conditioner. KVUE's Habitat for Humanity built a house for a family for the holidays and saluted 10 outstanding volunteers who work daily to make our community a better place to be. KVUE's efforts for children included collecting school supplies for nearly 40,000 children, 30,000 warm winter coats and raised $1 million for March of Dimes WalkAmerica. Throughout the year KVUE supported family events, the ballet and museum art collections that enrich all our lives, in total raising more than $3 million for the community. KMSB-TV, KTTU-TV: KMSB and KTTU were the exclusive TV sponsors of the Tucson, AZ NAMI Walk for Mental Illness. More than $50,000 was raised to support education, outreach and prevention programs. Ducky Derby raised nearly $50,000 for Arizona Lung Association programs and services in Tucson. KMSB was the exclusive TV sponsor of the Fantasy Home Tour, which raised $2,500 for Casa de los Ninos crisis nursery programs. The stations sponsored the Tucson Kiwanis Club Reading Seed car show, which raised $50,000 to enable the continuation of this volunteer reading/education program. KMSB and KTTU were the exclusive TV sponsors of the Tucson Police Foundation's Cops & Rodders car show. The stations also were the TV sponsors of the Tucson Firefighter's Chili Cookoff, on behalf of the Tucson Firefighters' Association's Adopt a Family program where more than $50,000 was raised for food, clothes, toys and assistance for more than 1,000 families. KMSB-KTTU participated in the NAB's Project Roadblock campaign resulting in no local DUI-related fatalities between Christmas and New Year's Day in Southern Arizona. KTVB: KTVB kicked off 2007 with an online and TV charity Boise auction that raised $250,000 for Special Olympics Idaho and the Boys & Girls Club of Nampa. In partnership with Neighborhood Housing Services nearly 100 homes were painted and repaired for low income senior citizens and the disabled. Through KTVB's 7-7-7 Celebration and the Polar Bear Challenge, more than $85,000 was raised for the local Make-a-Wish Foundation granting 14 wishes for terminally ill Idaho children. Also KTVB helped raise $68,000 for the Learning Lab to combat adult illiteracy, $150,000 for the Idaho Food Bank and $18,000 for Boys & Girls Clubs of Ada County. In partnership with the Operation Wish Book campaign more than 24,000 books were collected and distributed to low-income children. KTVB's Christmas Campaign entitled "Season of Hope," in partnership with Regence Blue Shield, collected more than 100,000 pounds of food for the Salvation Army Food Pantry, 80,000 toys for Toys 4 Tots, and created awareness of the Project Share program, which provides winter heating assistance for Idaho's low income families. About Belo Corp. Belo Corp. is one of the nation's largest pure-play publicly-traded television companies, with annual revenue of approximately $775 million. The Company owns and operates 20 television stations reaching more than 14 percent of U.S. television households, including ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CW and MyNetwork TV affiliates, and their associated Web sites, in 15 highly-attractive markets across the United States. Belo stations consistently deliver distinguished journalism for which they have received significant industry recognition including nine Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Silver Baton Awards; nine George Foster Peabody Awards; and 19 national Edward R. Murrow Awards -- all since 2000, and in each case more than any other commercial station group in the nation. Nearly all Belo stations rank first or second in their local market. Belo owns stations in seven of the top 25 markets in the nation, with six stations located in the fast-growing, top-14 markets of Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Seattle/Tacoma and Phoenix. Additionally, the Company has created regional cable news channels in Texas and the Northwest increasing its impact in those regions. Additional information is available at http://www.belo.com/ or by contacting Paul Fry, vice president/Investor Relations & Corporate Communications, at 214-977-6835. DATASOURCE: Belo Corp. CONTACT: Paul Fry, vice president-Investor Relations & Corporate Communications of Belo Corp., +1-214-977-6835 Web site: http://www.belo.com/

Copyright