CableFAX's CableWORLD

The 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...

Heading up one of Charter's biggest divisions, Brown grabbed the spotlight last year for his work during the California wildfires, which ravaged a good part of Charter's area. An admitted early adopter, Brown has been a tenacious advocate within Charter for launching new services. He is responsible for introducing several new services, such as DVRs and HD tiers, in Charter's Western systems.

Denson is the ultimate gatekeeper when it comes to deciding which networks should have carriage on Insight systems. Coming from a programming background (he spent two years at MTV and nine at ABC), Denson also helps shape Insight's on-demand, HDTV and tiering strategies. He's found success with VOD tiers, on the theory that subscribers will pay for stronger brands.

Cox's Arizona system is one of the most advanced in the country. Doris, a 15-year veteran of the cable industry, is responsible for continuing to push out the most advanced versions of video, telephony and high-speed data. Doris originally made a name for herself in Latin America, where she headed up programming and marketing for Cablevision Argentina.

Since taking over the post of chief people officer in April 2000, Douglas has been diligent about promoting diversity in the MSO's ranks, creating a diversity council and showing hiring managers how to use recruitment tools to find diverse candidates. Douglas joined Cox in 1995 as a manager of employee relations for the MSO's advertising sales division CableRep.

The role of auditor has become crucially important at cable companies after the prosecutions and investigations of the past couple of years. At a company such as Comcast, which places a lot of stock in ethics, Ralph and Brian Roberts entrusted Dua with the job of making sure the biggest MSO toes the line. He's made a name for himself by successfully implementing the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

Epps has been the most aggressive executive at combating piracy in Charter systems. Though his responsibilities include dealing with compliance and ethics matters, Epps made a name for himself by introducing programs aimed at signal theft reduction, such as setting up a system of audits. Epps joined Charter in December after years in private practice as an attorney.

Gaston worked his way to the top of Comcast's cable law department after serving as an attorney with the MSO for eight years. He was promoted to general counsel in July when Terry Bienstock left to return to private practice. A recreational boater and avid deep-sea fisherman, Gaston became known for his work in handling franchise renewals.

Jain gained a bigger profile in the industry after Kim Kelly stepped down as president/COO in August 2003, 18 months after he joined the MSO from NTL. Jain has made the circuit with a simple approach to pushing digital penetration. "We have a negative legacy to overcome," he told a Bear Stearns conference earlier this year.

McCollum has a big reputation in the cable industry, thanks to his work at Cox's Northern Virginia system, which counts many federal lawmakers among its subscribers. He led a turnaround at the system, which is now known as one of Cox's showcase systems. Only two years previously, it had been known for its poor service and even worse community relations.

One of the brightest stars of Comcast's marketing department, McCrae travels the country to make sure marketing departments have the tools to work effectively. The 20-year cable vet joined Comcast in 1997, and has been one of the executives responsible for a marketing strategy that turned around the basic subscriber losses in the former AT&T Broadband systems.

A 22-year employee of Time Warner Cable's Cincinnati division, McDonald was promoted recently to take on the important task of overseeing all public affairs, government relations, media relations and community affairs for the system. That's a far cry from her first job with the system, as a customer service representative.

While an executive with Canal+ Technologies four years ago, Arthur Orduna frequently spoke of the benefits of video on demand. Now, a VP with Bright House Networks, he's been ahead of the curve when talking about DVRs. At CTAM Summit last year, he challenged the industry to come up with an affordable way to roll out DVRs.

Vines started in the cable industry in 1984, when Time Warner Cable hired her out of college to be a receptionist. She joined Cox in 1992, as director of human resources for the New Orleans system. She eventually came to Baton Rouge in March 2000, and oversaw massive upgrades of the 12 systems under her control.

One of the top lieutenants in Comcast's customer service division, Waters is one of Comcast's point people with JD Power, which has been skewering cable's customer service reputation for years. Comcast execs credit Waters with helping to improve that relationship. Though it finished eighth among pay-TV providers this year, Comcast narrowed the gap in overall satisfaction.

One of the highest-ranking minorities in the business, Westbrook is president/CEO of Millennium Digital Media, the 22nd largest MSO in the country. In 1997, he founded the St. Louis-based operator, which boasts more than 150,000 subscribers. Before starting Millennium, Westbrook managed and operated systems with Charter through his previous company, LEB Communications.

The point person in getting operators aboard his company's digital/VOD channel introductions, Ahn also was a factor in the 2004 Summer Olympics multichannel presentation last month. He expects to be in the mix on the multichannel--and multi-platform--Olympics ahead. Before joining NBC, Ahn worked in HBO's finance department.

Alonzo makes sure Lifetime has the time, talent and resources to carry out effective marketing campaigns. She balances those responsibilities with spearheading minority initiatives on NAMIC's board. One of the industry's most visible executives, Alonzo celebrated her 10th anniversary at Lifetime last January.

As regional network VP, Armstrong is one of the executives responsible for Hallmark passing the 60 million households mark this year. She is the matriarch of a cable family that includes daughter Danielle (a Bright House Networks' marketing VP) and son Michael (who handles international marketing partnerships at MTV).

Brown is certain to shoot up our list next year, given ESPN's expanded intentions for high-speed broadband, interactive TV and VOD content. He makes our list this year as one of the best schmoozers in cable, a talent he has nurtured while overseeing local/regional cable distribution and promotion relationships for the all-sports network.

Carter is the chief recruiter and diversity centerpoint at A&E, which is developing more original programming--job opportunities to follow--for diginets Biography Channel and History Channel International. She serves on both NCTA's diversity council and the Cable TV Human Resources Association board.

The go-to exec for carrying out VOD and ITV developments for the ABC Cable Networks Group, Cheng has helped develop economic and distribution models for most ABC Cable services. With a public profile that's definitely on the rise, Cheng looks to be cementing a spot on this list for years to come.

Cooper is looking to pioneer local sales and marketing deals among Fox Cable-carrying systems; he's the first exec to hold such a job at Fox Cable. He is no stranger to pushing envelopes, displaying that skill while managing Court TV's VOD activity before moving over to Fox. He is expected to play a role in launching Fox Reality Channel next winter.

Gutierrez headlines Showtime's employee relations, diversity and training operations. His HR direction at Telemundo (pre-Sony and NBC ownership) prepared him for the demands of his job at Showtime (which include all those multipay offshoots). A passionate advocate for diversity, Gutierrez serves on the NAMIC and Cable Positive boards.

Her title may sound funny, but Hamilton's focus is clear: Make sure the IntelliStar technology behind TWC's local weather updates doesn't suffer outages or other electronic mishaps. She created the portion of TWC's weather.com website that offers affiliates tech support. Hamilton is marking her ninth year with TWC.

The man who wrote the industry's affiliate relations' rule book at USA Networks now evaluates new cable strategy and venture opportunities for USA's parent, NBC Universal. The winner of virtually every industry award that exists, Holloway should be a mainstay on this list in years to come. Holloway was honored with NCTA's prestigious Vanguard Award for marketing four years ago.

After making a name for himself in ESPN's affiliate department, Jha took on a new challenge last April by running ESPN's new media division. Jha is looking to develop content for ESPN's VOD, ITV, high-speed and wireless enterprises. One of the industry's leaders in diversity issues, expect Jha to take a more visible role in coming months.

The highest-ranking African-American woman at Viacom, Lee is preparing a new, more ambitious program development push for BET (see feature, p. 28). An industry veteran, Lee has received numerous cable-industry honors, such as last year's NCTA Vanguard Award, plus personal achievement honors from both Cable Positive and NAMIC.

Not only does everything legal at BET go through Marchant's office, so does oversight of several off-net joint ventures. That list includes hotel/casino development with Hilton and theme nightclubs with Walt Disney. Marchant also is involved in his community, serving on Maryland's technical investment oversight committee.

Under McNamara, Telemundo broke new Spanish-language TV ground last month when it produced 169 hours of Summer Olympics coverage from Athens. A blockbuster achievement, the Summer Olympics bonanza fits in nicely with the network's strategy of building a prime-time schedule of U.S.-generated telenovelas and other shows.

Norman is the person most responsible for changing the channel's focus from "behind the music" to behind pop culture. Norman was helped by the network's signature "I Love the..." decade retrospectives and series such as Best Week Ever. Norman also gained acclaim for overseeing VH1's diginet assortment; public buzz is growing for the Classic and Uno services.

In just over three years, Ong has seen her fledgling network orbit past the 50 million subscribers mark. Under the corporate arm of Fox Cable, Ong plans to premiere an infusion of first-run programming soon, and next year Nat Geo will take the rights to National Geographic Explorer from MSNBC. All of which means that Ong should be on course for higher rating and ad sales returns.

It should be no surprise that Ortiz serves up family-friendly Spanish fare for his network, through its distribution agreement with The Inspiration Network. That's because La Familia Network itself is a family affair: Clark's father Carlos founded it in the late 1990s. The son took over the network's leadership in 2000.

As second-in-command at SiTV, Perez is responsible for carrying out day-by-day operations for the fast-growing net. At the top of his to-do list: attracting 18-to-34 Latinos. Perez made a name for himself in the industry by designing and executing Showtime's first Spanish-language advertising campaigns.

Valdez's channel joined the growing number of Gen X/Y English-language/bilingual Latino services last February. Urban Jungle is the net's first signature series, and Valdez (co-creator of Nickelodeon's The Brothers Garcia) promises more unique programs as SiTV surpasses 10 million subs this fall.

During the past few years, as MTV has become known as one of cable's most socially conscious networks. Every element of MTV's social responsibility campaigns--from Fight for Your Rights to Choose or Lose--has gone through Reidy and her department. Reidy sets MTV's agenda for corporate charity contributions, public service messages, closed captioning and community outreach.

Rochester is best known for implementing Showtime's corporate and affiliate marketing projects under the "No Limits" umbrella. A former Comcast marketing SVP, Rochester recently was honored by the city of Philadelphia with its annual "40 Under 40" award, handed out each year for outstanding business leadership.

One of the most respected programming executives in cable, Rodgers sets the agenda for the industry's latest programming service targeting African-Americans. Rodgers plans to take market share from BET by focusing on entertainment and lifestyle fare. His stint as the head of TV One follows more than two decades of management success at CBS and Discovery Networks, U.S.

The most powerful executive in Spanish TV, Rodriguez heads up the dominant Spanish-language channels--the cable/broadcast-distributed Univision and all-cable Galavision. Under Rodriguez's direction, Univision produced its first issues-centric weekly Spanish drama hour in the United States with Al Filo de la Ley (At the Edge of the Law).

Santos sets the tone for CNN's round-the-clock news network. He stepped into the role two years ago, after nearly a decade with CNN's Spanish-language news coverage, eventually becoming president of CNN en Español and its companion Internet sites in Spanish and Portuguese. Previously, Santos executive produced local and national news programming for Telemundo.

Scannell wants to do for other channels in the MTV Networks fold what he accomplished at Nickelodeon--quantum leaps in diversity on- and off-camera. Kidvid for Latinos and African-Americans increased on his Nick watch, from Dora the Explorer to Kenan and Kel. Scannell started his run as Nickelodeon's president in 1996.

The folks at Landmark have enough faith in Scott to put her in charge of some of the net's most profitable areas, including VOD and local forecast content. She also is one of the executives who ensures that TWC remains one of the best-distributed cable networks. And if the last name doesn't give it away, she's the sister of ESPN anchorperson/Dream Job host Stuart Scott. Booyah!

What does Smalls do for an encore after overseeing The Big Help, a campaign that had more than 40 million kids pledge about 380 million hours of community service? She runs Let's Just Play, the fitness outreach program with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, and she creates pro-social projects for Nick at Nite, Noggin, TV Land and Spike TV.

After spending 25 years working for HBO, Smashum has been elevated to one of the top slots in the affiliate department. She directs branding and affiliate marketing for SVOD on both channels. She also handles multiplex marketing activity for the premium networks. In her pre-HBO life, Smashum worked on Jimmy Carter's presidential campaign.

Graham is overseeing a programming makeover at the business networks, bringing in on-air talent such as Dennis Miller and John McEnroe to bolster a talk/variety prime-time lineup. Also in Graham's sights: expanding CNBC's original weekend lineup and distribution of diginet offshoot CNBC World.

As Scripps' chief diversity recruiter, Graham oversees multicultural employment/retention programs among the company's set of cable channels. She also serves on NAMIC's board of directors. Before joining Scripps, she was a marketing director at Bresnan Communications and previously held marketing roles at Sega Channel and General Mills.

Wilson is responsible for developing all diversity initiatives at Fox Entertainment, making sure that each unit achieves specific diversity goals. Wilson joined the cable industry in 1988 as Times Mirror Cable's manager of management and development, where she oversaw the company's recruitment, career development and retention of people of color.

LifeWorks, an initiative produced by Wright and her HR colleagues, was a big factor in Discovery's recent citation as one of Fortune magazine's "100 Top Companies to Work For." A member of Discovery's executive committee, Wright is an immediate past president of CTHRA. At one point in her Discovery career, Wright was interim GM for the company's Asia channels.

As a founder of the Walter Kaitz Foundation, a Cable TV Pioneer and one of the first African-Americans in cable, Anderson has helped pave the way for others. A veteran of politics at the NCTA, an early senior executive at HBO and a former assistant to the chairman of Time Warner, Anderson has made a mark in the industry.

An 18-year cable-industry veteran, Polk has represented cable before the Federal Communications Commission and other government agencies as they debated the 1996 Telecommuications Act and the 1992 Cable Act. A member of NAMIC's board, Polk also has been influential in legislation covering privacy, children's television, new video technologies, broadband and the Internet.

Though Symonds hasn't had a job in the cable industry since his days at BET and ESPN, he has remained an influential industry gadfly, nudging the industry to embrace diversity 52 weeks per year. As president of the nonprofit T. Howard Foundation, Symonds has been trying to expand the organization's scope to promote diversity in all of telecom, not just the satellite industry.

Where's Johnson? Where's Parsons? Where's Powell?

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