Golden Beacon Award

Annually, ACC presents the Golden Beacon Award, the association's highest honor, to a communications and public affairs initiative that has made an impact within the cable industry, while enhancing cable's image nationwide. The association is pleased to announce that Nickelodeon's The Big Green Help is this year's Golden Beacon Award winner.

The Big Green Help (TBGH) is Nickelodeon's global campaign to empower kids to take action on the environment. Launched with the goal of spurring a kid-led movement, TBGH provides information and tools to explain climate change to kids and connects them to earth-friendly activities in their daily lives.

In 2008, Nickelodeon collaborated with the Pew Center on Global Climate Change to conduct a research study on kids' and parents' attitudes and behaviors towards the environment and learned that half (50%) of kids 8-14 are not sure how to make a direct impact, but approximately 80% believe they can stop global warming. The network applied these findings to the development of TBGH.

TBGH launched on Earth Day 2008. The campaign featured a series of on-air spots, a dedicated Web site, grassroots components and the first-ever multiplayer online green game—The Big Green Help Global Challenge. The game is available in more than 15 Nickelodeon markets worldwide, including the United Kingdom, Brazil, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Portugal, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Mexico and Argentina, and resulted in more than 2.5 million hours of “green” activity pledged and 26 million game plays.

Throughout the year, Nickelodeon encouraged kids to play the game online, pledge to be green and take actionable steps in the real world through projects in their communities and schools. Nickelodeon also partners with the leading national environmental and youth-focused organizations to build the infrastructure necessary to support young kids taking action and leading the way on environmental change. These partners include the National Wildlife Federation, Natural Resources Defense Council, NFL, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, The NEA Foundation and Girl Scouts of the USA.

Nickelodeon kicked off the second year of TBGH in March 2009 by awarding Leonardo DiCaprio with the first-ever “Big Green Help Award” at the Kids' Choice Awards. On Earth Day, Nickelodeon featured a day of green-themed programming and vignettes, including eco-themed episodes of Nickelodeon hit series such as True Jackson, VP and iCarly, as well as green-themed games and more on Nick.com. At 9 p.m. Nickelodeon's first-ever “Power Down” took place. Nickelodeon suspended programming for 60 seconds and asked kids across the country to turn off lights and appliances in their homes to signal their commitment to improving the environment. Several landmarks also participated in the event, “powering down” in solidarity with kids across the country, including the Empire State Building, Seattle's Space Needle and Chicago's Sears Tower.

Nickelodeon has also unveiled a series of spots highlighting the earth-friendly projects from kids and local organizations across the country that have made a difference in their communities. The network also recently partnered with the NEA Foundation to award $200,000 in grants to public educators across the country. Forty The Big Green Help Grants in Public Education, ranging up to $5,000 each, will be awarded to support the development and implementation of programs teaching green concepts to public elementary and middle school students.