NEWS ALERT

Jan. 18, 2000

For further information about the Census 2000 Bulletins, contact J. Paul Wyatt of the Public Information Office on 301-457-3052 (fax: 301-457-3670;  e-mail: <pwyatt@census.gov>).

During the months of February and March, Census 2000 will be among the top two or three advertisers in the nation. On television and radio, in magazines and newspapers, Census 2000 will be everywhere, driving home messages about the benefits of census participation and encouraging all U.S.  residents to fill out and return their forms.

Overall, the Census 2000 advertising campaign will comprise 253 different creative elements -- from slick TV ads to posters and billboards -- and more than 130,000 individual media placements.  Since Nov. 1, television ads, targetting undecided or passive audiences, as well as those least likely to respond, have been running during daytime programming. Starting in February, TV ads will appear on every network in the nation, including ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, UPN, WB, Telemundo and Univision, as well as many cable networks, such as the International Channel, MTV, the History Channel and many more.

Radio, too, is a critical component of the Census 2000 advertising campaign. Radio network buys have been supplemented by buys on local stations with formats that range from hip-hop to oldies and talk radio to rock. The census ads are being placed in 17 languages.

Over the course of the Census Bureau's $167 million ad campaign, more than 70,000 radio ads about Census 2000 will be broadcast. And that does not include the many Public Service Announcements (PSAs) that the Census Bureau and some of its 35,000 partners will be placing and the free advertising that comes with news coverage of the census.

Many national magazines have already carried the Census 2000 message, in articles, ads and editorials. In the next couple of months, ads will be appearing in national newspapers and magazines, such as People, Sports Illustrated, Ebony, Time, Ladies' Home Journal, Hot Rod, Vibe, Essence and hundreds of foreign-language publications.

The print ad campaign does not stop there, however. Local magazines and newspapers around the country, chosen by the Census Bureau's regional offices for their penetration in hard-to-enumerate communities, will receive Census 2000 advertising.

Even if a person does not watch television, listen to the radio or read newspapers or magazines, however, they will see the advertising as they wait for a bus, ride on a subway or drive down a highway. Census 2000 ads will be placed on bus shelters and on buses, on billboards and in subways. Mobile billboards will be driven to and around community festivals and electronic ads will be played on baseball scoreboards.

The following is a sample of some of the television programs that will have Census 2000 ads during February and March:

ABC

All My Children

General Hospital

The View

Once and Again

Sports Night

Wonderful World of Disney

The Practice

Spin City

The Hughleys

CBS

The Price is Right

The Young and the Restless

Guiding Light

Family Law

Chicago Hope

Jag

Cosby

Touched by an Angel

Judging Amy

Late Night with David Letterman

NBC

Days of Our Lives

ER

Frazier

Third Rock from the Sun

The West Wing

Dateline

Saturday Night Live

Tonight Show with Jay Leno

Conan O'Brien

Fox

Ally McBeal

X-Files

Simpsons

Beverly Hills 90210

America's Most Wanted

That 70s Show

WB

Felicity

Charmed

The Jamie Fox Show

UPN

Moesha

Grown Ups

Star Trek Voyager

Daytime Syndication

Oprah

Donny and Marie

Sally Jesse Raphael

Rosie O'Donnell

Latifah

Univision and Telemundo

Jamie Bayley

Telenoticias

Cristina

Sabado Gigante

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