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T"3 3tWES7 SB St ~g~SS RELEASE WJc1oo NYqK N v FOR RELEASE FRIDAY, MAY lt coNrAC1. -" AN6ELASOLoMON (?171~~-!?bb ERISTOL-MYERS UNDERWRITING PUBLIC TF. LE'JISIOtt SCIEUCE SERI;:S One of the most ambitious public television ver.tures iri the ,., r field of scienti.E;,; docume•t?tsr.ies :s being made possible by a$675;iffl0' I i grant from the Bristol-Myers Company, it was announced today by John Jay Iselin, President of WNET/13, and Richard L. Gelbj President of Bristol-Myers. "The Killers" -- s five-part docuubentary series on the medical conditions that cause three out of every four daaths in Ame'xica today -- will be seen coast to coast over the 234 interconnected stations o.: tht Puklic Broadcasting Service beginning in October, 1973. 1•roduced by the WNET/13 Science Program Group, the programs -- eacn of the:,i 90-minutes in length-- will cover cancer, heart discas:., Efnetic defects, pulmonary disease ar6d trauma. Executive producer for the series is David Prowitt, who has spc:cial•ized in science prograaming for the past eight years and wt,-:se BBC/WNET program, "The Restless Earth," last week uon a Peabody Award. The program was a r.c-production of the British Broadcasting Coxpgratir. and WrET/13. Each documentary will explore in depth the latest state-of-thn- art in diagnosing and treating the v ictims of one of the fiVo "Ki1ic:. ccvering both what is being done and where it is being done, to thc: pain and add to the lifetimes of those who are afflict:d witr, •?>>° oi the:.e fatal medical conditions. -more-

- 2 - A unique emphasis of the series will be the encouragemeni, of "Commurity Outreach Projects" in the local areas served by the Public Broadcalctin; Service, which will enable local communities to build con- tinuing efforts for preventtve and emergency care. Providing a focus for this community ect ion, local pub?.ic teTc- vfsion stations throughout the country W ill be encouraged to produce their own local programs to follow each national "Killdrs" telecast. These programs will proviie expert information on the resources and nceds of the individual coaomunities and of plans for the future. Bristol-Myers, in addit ion to underwriting the cost for productior. of the documentaries, is assisting the effort s of the WNET/13 Science Program G•:oup to utilize television as a catalyst for community action. hcc,)rdir.g to :tichard L. Gelb, President of Br istol-Myeirs, "We are very impressed with the plans of the Science Program Group to build the 'Ccr,.munity Outreach Project' as a way of encouraging lbcal cdmemunitie.-a to use the information prcvided by these documentaries for the ur- grading of their own medical care facilities." In the past, Rristol-Myers has supported public television by providing $600,000 in 1966-1967 for "Sunday Showcase," a national'ser- ies, and, last sur-u1er, providing $30,000 to make possiblc the schcduli of "Sesane Street" and "The Electric Company " over WNET/13. Eristol-Nycrs has recently produced two health specials over ccez,ercial television networks, "Life, Healt h and The American Wcmbn," and "Hota To Stay Alive," concerning heart disaase in men. A third sPccial, covering mental health, will be air ed during the fall. ~~riter: B,M, May 9, 1973