August 19, 1999: The Family Friendly Programming Forum will honor The Cosby Show for lifetime achievement at the first annual Family Program Awards in Los Angeles on September 9.

The Forum, comprising over 30 major companies - all members of the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) - seeks to encourage the TV networks, studios and production community to produce more programs during prime time that are relevant and interesting to a broad audience and that the average parent would enjoy viewing together with a child.

"The Cosby Show is the gold standard," says Robert L. Wehling, co-chair of the Forum and Global Marketing Officer, Procter & Gamble. "It gave viewers a poignant look at family life by portraying the joys and frustrations of parenthood with tremendous humor, sensitivity and insight."

The show profiled a close-knit family with strong, loving parents who disciplined their children. The concept was born over a dinner with TV producers Marcie Carsey and Tom Werner.

"Producing The Cosby Show was the highlight of a lifetime," said Tom Werner. We have learned so much from Bill Cosby - who we feel is a genius - and are enormously pleased to see the show recognized by The Family Program Awards."

At its height in 1986, over half the viewing public watched The Cosby Show every Thursday night. The series ran for 198 episodes from 1984 -1992 and was number one in the prime time Nielsens for five consecutive seasons.

The Cosby Show is credited with reviving the TV sitcom as a viable and enduring program form, with paving the way for numerous other series featuring African-American families and with launching NBCÕs long run as the dominant television network.

"Bill Cosby stands alone as a creator of outstanding family-friendly television programming," said Andrea Alstrup, co-chair of the Forum and Vice President, Advertising, Johnson & Johnson. "Perhaps more than any other TV program, The Cosby Show demonstrates that positive role models and uplifting messages can be the basis of enormously entertaining television that the whole family can enjoy together."

In addition to bestowing The Lifetime Achievement Award on The Cosby Show, The Family Program Awards will honor several current TV shows and announce a scholarship program to encourage student interest in family friendly programming.

Recently, the Family Friendly Programming Forum launched a special initiative in conjunction with the WB Network to underwrite development of scripts for new family friendly TV shows.

The Family Friendly Programming Forum comprises these companies: ACE Hardware Corporation, American Airlines, Ameritech Corporation, AT&T;, Bell Atlantic Corporation, BellSouth Corporation, Bestfoods, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, The Coca-Cola Company, Federal Express Corporation, Ford Motor Company, General Motors Corporation, Gillette Company, Hallmark Cards, Inc., Hershey Foods Corporation, Hunt Wesson, Inc., IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Kellogg Company, McCormick & Company, Inc., McDonalds Corporation, Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, NestlŽ USA, Inc., The Pillsbury Company, Pfizer Incorporated, The Procter & Gamble Company, Sears, Roebuck and Co., SmithKline Beecham Consumer Healthcare, State Farm Insurance Companies, Warner-Lambert Company, Welch Food Inc., Wendy's International, Inc.