CABLE NEEDS MORE MINORITIES, ESPECIALLY HISPANICS, STUDY SAYS

NAMIC’s conference kicks off industry’s “Diversity Week,” which traditionally has drawn cable executives for variety of events. Sachs pointed to projections that minorities would make up 1/3 of U.S. population by 2020 and half of population by 2060. It just makes “good business sense,” he said, for cable to keep up with trend in its programming and in its corporate leadership. NAMIC Pres. Patricia Andrews-Keenan, who also is vp-communications, Chicago area, AT&T Broadband, urged cable operators to measure minority hiring in spite of FCC decision to relax reporting requirements.

New NAMIC study, Minority Employment in Cable II, showed that minority representation in management group that spanned corporate dir. to corporate vp now stood at 15%, but among CEOs and members of corporate boards, was only 7%. Study also cited 1999 data showing that total minority representation in cable industry work force was 30%, compared with 26% representation in total U.S. work force. “But there’s more to be done,” Sachs said. “Despite major strides and solid records in assembling diverse work forces and programming, most of the boards and senior teams of our operating companies, networks and vendors are considerably less reflective of the populace,” he said. He also took swipe at broadcasters, saying that, while they sought “preferential” must-carry status on cable systems, “it should be remembered that it’s cable which has brought diversity to television. Twenty years ago, Black Entertainment Television pioneered diversity in cable programming by reaching out to African-Americans. Today, what other medium serves women better than networks such as Lifetime, Oxygen and WE: Women’s Entertainment?” Sachs asked.

Sachs said that cable as industry carried more than 2 dozen foreign language channels and that even mainstream networks often focused on diversity, citing such cable shows as Queer As Folk on Showtime and The Brothers Garcia on Nickelodeon. NCTA’s board is scheduled to meet with that of NAMIC later in week, Sachs said, to work toward more diversity and focus on how NCTA’s diversity committee, led by Showtime CEO Matthew Blank and Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt, can further that effort.

On first panel, group of CEOs generally admitted they needed to do better job of recruiting minorities, but when asked by moderator Fred Katayama of CNN Business News to tell audience what percentage of their work forces were minorities, none offered figures. Later, in interview, Andrews-Keenan said: “It shouldn’t be that a CEO can tell you his digital penetration and yet not be able to tell you how many minorities work for the company.” In her opening comments to conference, she said FCC no longer required cable companies to report on their minority hiring efforts but urged cable companies to do so anyway, saying that “what gets measured, gets done.” Asked later whether she thought more regulation were appropriate, she said that wasn’t answer, that cable companies needed to measure and ensure minority representation because, if they don’t, they will lose minority customers to competition.

Insight Communications CEO Michael Willner, on early panel, insisted regulation wasn’t necessary on any front in cable, whether it be its accounting practices, minority recruitment or other issues. “This is an industry that has real experience with what regulation can do on the negative side,” said Willner, pointing to 1992 Cable Act. “It absolutely cut off the capital expenditures. The rebuilds were just shut down for 4 years. There was no new programming being developed because there was no capacity out there. It’s a perfect example of the unintended consequences that can occur when one runs to Washington and looks for a solution.” E! Entertainment TV CEO Mindy Herman said she thought there might be more regulation in future because of accounting scandals affecting industry “for reasons of politics potentially rather than real need.” National Cable TV Co-op CEO Michael Pandzik said it would be “very risky business” for industry to look to Congress or White House to solve any of its internal problems. “It’s kind of like when you were a kid having a fight with your younger brother. Your mom could resolve the issue but you wouldn’t like what you would get.” Nevertheless, he said he believed there was “a time and a place” for regulation when all other avenues had been tried. Specifically, he said cost of cable programming was squeezing his constituents, small cable operators, to point where regulation might be necessary.

Willner readily admitted that his company needed to work harder at recruiting minorities but said many of Insight’s systems were in Midwest, which didn’t have same population as N.Y.C. or L.A. “We've struggled to find people,” he said. Herman said her company lost many of its best minority staff to Black Entertainment TV (BET) several years ago and only now was getting its minority rolls up. Herman said she believed there needed to be more minority-oriented channels such as BET, suggestion that was met by applause. Asked why such channels hadn’t been launched already, Herman, whose E! is owned by Comcast, said she thought media mergers among companies that didn’t have minority representation in their own senior management had played role. “So it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy,” she said. Liberate Technologies CEO Coleman Sisson said 10% of his company’s work force was black and 30% Asian. Nickelodeon Pres. Herb Scannell said his company’s networks, which also include TV Land and TNN, were among most diverse in terms of programming.

NAMIC study found that compared with their representation in general population (29%) and in private sector work force (29%), “minorities remain underrepresented across all cable management positions.” Study focused on 14 companies, representing 18 networks and 4 MSOs. Those companies comprise 72% of industry work force, NAMIC said, and 13 of them are general, non-ethnic-specific organizations. Study found that percentage of minorities in uppermost management categories had increased 2% since 1995, with total of 24 persons in those positions, 14 of them men and 10 women. Among them cited at conference was new AOL Time Warner CEO Richard Parsons, who wasn’t at conference Mon. Similar study also was commissioned by NAMIC in 1999. Latest study showed blacks were better represented in management ranks than were Hispanics. At 7% in MSOs and 6% in general, non-ethnic-specific companies, blacks in key positions “are somewhat closer to par with their representation in the total population (12.3%).” At 3% in MSOs and 1% in general companies, Asians in key positions are closest to being on par with their representation in population (3.6%), study said. But it said Hispanics were “severely underrepresented” in key management positions, 1% at MSOs and general companies, while they make up 12.6% of population. Study was based on mail and phone surveys of companies. Researchers also surveyed NAMIC members for their perceptions.

Among study’s recommendations were that cable companies do better job of participating in survey. Originally,46 major cable companies (10 MSOs, 36 networks) were asked to participate. Response rate was 30%. Study said companies should provide “ready access” to documentation and data on minorities “so that progress in this area may be accurately monitored.” It recommended companies provide funding for survey, as well as for leadership training and mentoring programs. It recommended that NAMIC develop better outreach to Hispanics and that cable industry comply with federal Equal Employment Opportunity rules. Sachs in his speech said cable already was complying with FCC rules on EEO, despite fact that those rules were struck down by courts.