The Top 50 Most Influential Minorities in CableThe fact that cable sets aside one week each year to focus on diversity issues sets this industry apart from most others. What began as a single fundraising dinner quickly morphed into "Hell Week," as NCTA, NAMIC and Kagan began scheduling activities to go with the Walter Kaitz Foundation Dinner, and it eventually became "Diversity Week" as political correctness asserted itself.
The constant criticism of the week, as voiced in T. Howard Foundation president Curtis Symonds' guest column in this issue, is that it has become window dressing for the industry. It allows cable executives to focus on diversity for one week, and seemingly ignore it the remaining 51 weeks of the year.
Our first annual list of the 50 most influential minorities in cable shows that people of color aren't in the highest executive suites yet. But they are knocking on the door, filling important jobs in the industry. By all accounts, cable still has a long way to go. But it is getting there. Here's a quick look at how...and who...
Programmers:
- Kim Bondy VP, franchise units, CNN
- Broderick Byers pres., The Employment & Career Channel
- Kerry Chandler SVP, HR, ESPN
- Keith Dawkins VP/GM, Nicktoons
- Yolanda Foster VP, programming promos, Telemundo
- Lino Garcia GM, ESPN Deportes
- Rob Gerrard EVP/general counsel, Scripps
- Donovan Gordon SVP/affiliate sales, BET
- Bob Johnson CEO, BET
- Alfred Liggins III chairman, TV One
- Wonya Lucas EVP, The Weather Channel
- Sandra Mitchell SVP/GM, affiliate ops, HBO
- Jose Luis Rodriguez CEO, HITN-TV Dominique Telson VP, original programming, Showtime
- Kathy Johnson executive director, NAMIC
- Benita Fitzgerald Mosely president, WICT
- Michael Powell chairman, FCC
- Debbie Smith executive director, Kaitz Foundation
- Amir Bassan-Eskenazi co-founder/CEO, BigBand Networks
- Adam Tom CEO, RGB Networks
How can CableWORLD have a list of the most influential minorities in cable and not include BET CEO Bob Johnson, Time Warner chaiman/CEO Dick Parsons and FCC chairman Michael Powell?
Though they are three of the most powerful people in the business, each was kept off the list for different reasons.
He's the only person of color to have been honored at a Kaitz Foundation dinner, but BET CEO Bob Johnson is spending most of his time these days with the NBA expansion team that he owns, the Charlotte Bobcats. Debra Lee is more responsible for BET's day-to-day operations these days.
While Dick Parsons is one of the most powerful executives in media, he didn't make the list because his scope extends beyond cable. With Warner Bros., AOL, New Line Cinema, The WB, magazines and books under his purview, he's more a media guy than a cable guy.
And Powell was kept off the list--even though he's the most influential regulator covering the industry-- because, frankly, he hasn't had a good year (how many more court defeats can he take?), and he's expected to leave the FCC soon after the November election.
--John P. Ourand
