Paris, 18 February 2021 - MIPTV today announces A E Networks as the recipient of the second annual MIP SDG Award which will be presented during Digital MIPTV week (12-16 April).In support of the United Nations, and in line with the Decade of Action for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Reed MIDEM, a member of the SDG Media Compact*, last year launched its annual MIP SDG Award to honour media companies for their action and contribution to delivering the Sustainable Development Goals.
This year's award will be dedicated to Goal #10 - Reduced Inequalities.
Paul Buccieri, President of A E Networks, will be presented with the award on Thursday 15 April, in a dedicated online event featuring stars from A E Networks as well as the UN's Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications, Melissa Fleming.
The award recognises A E Networks' long-standing commitment to reducing inequality, promoting diversity and inclusion and fearlessly bringing controversial topics to the table like sexism, racism, violence against women through a wide range of actions that encompass its programming, internal policies, hiring decisions and corporate outreach initiatives.
Paul Buccieri, President of A E Networks said: We are very grateful to the United Nations and our partners at Reed MIDEM for recognising our team's commitment to equality, justice, diversity and inclusion. At A E Networks, we believe that striving for equality is a never-ending and ongoing journey that we are all on together. Our company has a long-standing history of working towards positive change, and we believe firmly and passionately in using our platforms for purpose. There is more work to be done, and we are honored to continue to join with our partners to achieve these goals.
Lucy Smith, Director of MIPTV, comments: We are delighted to honour Paul Buccieri and A E Networks with this second MIP SDG Award. They are a leading voice in promoting equality and most importantly are committed to taking action and using their platforms to drive change. We are very proud to have a long-standing association with them as founding partners of the MIPCOM Women in Global Entertainment Power Lunch, and the MIPCOM Diversify TV Excellence Awards.
Melissa Fleming, Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications, United Nations, said: The television industry can play a major role in addressing some of our biggest development challenges - including vaccine access and climate action - as we all work to recover better from the COVID-19 pandemic. I congratulate Paul Buccieri and the teams from A E Networks for including the SDGs in programming and I urge others in the TV industry to also play their part in deploying broadcasting for the greater good of humanity.
In recent years A E Networks have spearheaded a number of important initiatives to drive their change agenda and vision for a more equal and inclusive world.
The Broad Focus initiative was designed to provide women with more opportunities to write, develop, produce and direct for the network. A E's Lifetime now exceeds industry averages with 82% of writers, 78% of directors and 67% of producers who are women. The Voices Magnified short form series launched by the network across multiple platforms celebrates people making positive change and challenging inequalities in their communities. Last year saw an impactful campaign to end violence against women launched across their networks. And Peabody Award Winning documentary, Surviving R Kelly, gave voice to victims and provoked a world-wide conversation about the hidden abuse.
Corporately, the business is committed to building a culture of inclusion internally that allows all employees to prosper regardless of race, ethnicity, gender of sexual orientation. They actively partner, sponsor and donate to groups and organizations who share these goals.
Notes To Editors:
*The SDG Media Compact is a United Nations initiative designed to encourage media and entertainment companies to help mobilize action on the Sustainable Development Goals. The Compact currently has 150 members from around the world. For more information, see https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sdg-media-%20compact-about/
About MIPTV/ Digital MIPTV MIPTV is the annual spring market for the international television industry, now in its 58th year. Digital MIPTV 2021 will take place exclusively online from 12-16 April, bringing together global distributors, producers, buyers and commissioners of drama, doc, kids, factual and formats programming for a curated week of personalised business meetings, exclusive market intelligence, conference sessions and global networking. MIPTV is traditionally the biggest global week in unscripted television and this year features MIPDoc and MIPFormats within the main market. www.miptv.com
About A E NETWORKS A E Networks is a global content company comprised of some of the most popular and culturally-relevant brands in media including A&E , Lifetime , The HISTORY Channel , LMN , FYI , VICE TV and Blaze . A E Networks' portfolio extends across platforms and genres, with a scripted production division, A E Studios ; unscripted production through Six West Media ; independent film unit A&E IndieFilms ; watch apps, games, FAST channels, AVOD, and SVOD initiatives including Lifetime Movie Club and HISTORY Vault; and podcasts such as History This Week, through A E Digital ; Experiential/branded live events and Ecommerce through A E Consumer Enterprises ; and branded channels, content distribution and scripted/unscripted co-productions around the world through A E International . A E Networks' channels and branded programming reach more than 335 million households in over 200 territories in 41 languages. A E Networks is a joint venture of Disney-ABC Television Group and Hearst. Follow us on Twitter at twitt
