Ah, December. A season to celebrate those things that really matter: friends, family and life itself. What better time to express your gratitude to your viewers by making damn sure they stay alive this holiday season?

That’s the bottom line of Project Roadblock, the Television Bureau of Advertising’s monumentally-successful collaboration with the Ad Council to combat drunk driving with holiday-themed PSAs. And make no mistake, drunk driving remains the leading cause of death among younger Americans, especially young men.

This project is a roadblock in three ways, according to TVB Executive VP Abby Auerbach. “We’re creating a national roadblock of stations. We’re concentrating the campaign over a short number of days, with increased exposure on New Years’ Eve. That creates a broadcast ‘roadblock’ of messages. And, of course, we hope the campaign works like an automotive roadblock, which can physically stop drunk drivers before they hurt somebody.”

In other words, if you’re watching television on New Year’s Eve, you’re very likely to encounter these messages. And no wonder. The campaign now runs in 207 of 211 television markets. Since its 2004 launch, the number of participating stations has grown from 517 to 842. TVB estimates that last year stations ran the PSAs over 23,000 times, donating airtime valued at almost $4 million.

But the success doesn’t stop there, says Auerbach. “The Ad Council does an annual post-campaign survey to measure the number of people who recall the campaign and the number who say it’s influenced their personal behavior.” 

Those numbers are significant and they’ve grown every year. In 2006, more than 30 percent of the target audience (men 21-35) recalled seeing the PSA. Even more striking, more than 20 percent of adults who had seen the PSA said that they had taken action to stop a friend or family member from driving under the influence.

Not too shabby. But the TVB thinks stations can do even better.

“This year we’re giving stations creative they can use on their Web sites,” says Auerbach. “And we’ve added another roadblock-within-a-roadblock element. We have a really terrific text message that stations can push out to their local subscribers.”

So on Dec. 31, at 8 p.m. sharp local time, cell phones in every market will ringtone in the New Year with a station-branded bulletin reminding viewers not to drink and drive.

But all those PSAs are merely part of the campaign in many markets. A growing number of stations amplify the messages with news series, local vignettes, community partnerships and even such direct services as free cab rides for inebriated viewers.

The most ambitious of these efforts is presented with a special Silver Bell Award, the Ad Council’s highest honor for public service. Winning stations include WANE Fort Wayne, Ind. (2004), WHBF Davenport, Iowa (2005) and WSTM-WSTQ Syracuse, N.Y. (2006).

Not content to rest on last year’s laurels, the Barrington Broadcasting Syracuse duopoly has already begun to expand the campaign, according to Community Relations Director Laura Hand.

“Drinking and driving is a major concern in Central New York, so we make an effort to get safety awareness out, even before Christmas and New Year's. The night before Thanksgiving is also a big party night here, so we had live reports from our bar area, stressing police patrols and [we publicized] the availability of safe rides home through the I’m Smart safe driver service.”

To preview the PSAs, graphics and other Project Roadblock campaign elements click here. And if keeping precious viewers alive another year isn’t enough incentive, there’s even a potential profit incentive. One set of PSAs,  titled Innocent Victims is deliberately produced without use of SAG talent, so as to permit local sponsorship.

If you’re still among the stations that have not signed up for 2007, TVB makes it easy to register and join. But don’t delay. The next satellite feed is next Tuesday, Dec. 18. The C-Band analog transmission is via Vyvx. Here are the details:

Date: Tuesday, Dec. 18
Time: Recovery Feed 16:45-17:00 ET
Satellite: Galaxy 25
Transponder: 14
Downlink frequency: 3980 H
Audio: 6.2 MHz (left) and 6.8 MHz (right)

“Broadcast television is still the No. 1 medium,” says Auerbach. “It’s still the most effective, most influential and most persuasive medium of them all. Year after year, we’re seeing the viewer recall numbers grow and we’re changing those behaviors. And we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to make this holiday season even safer than the last.”

Every Monday Market Share by Arthur Greenwald showcases another winning station sales and marketing promotion. So what’s going on at your station promotion-wise, sales-wise, and marketing-wise? There’s a three wise men joke in there somewhere. While we search for it, let us know what you’re up to. Write to Arthur at greenwald@tvnewsday.com.