Horowitz Research will revive its Cultural Insights Forum conference this November after a six-year hiatus.

The forum, which focuses on how brands and media companies can drive business by reaching and serving diverse, multicultural audiences, will take place November 14 at the Telemundo Center in Miami, according to Horowitz. 

The conference's theme is “Polycultural R/Evolution: Content, Creative, and Connections in a Diverse America,” and will center on such topics as the cultural shifts and trends and how those shifts impact the way brands can and should speak to diverse consumers today, as well as engaging with today’s diverse consumer segments and audiences in an increasingly complex and fragmented digital media landscape, said the company.

The conference, which launched in 2000, has been on hiatus since 2018 due to the pandemic and during the past two years with the transition of ownership of Horowitz Research to M/A/R/C Research, according to the company. Registration for the forum will open soon, according to Horowitz officials.

“We are thrilled to bring back the Cultural Insights Forum to meet the demand for a research-and-strategy focused conference that brings together the best minds in the industry,” Horowitz Research executive VP, insights and strategy lead Adriana Waterston in a statement. “We look forward to unveiling our agenda which will be packed with top-notch speakers and insights related to today’s most pressing strategic questions. It’s a must-attend event for brands, advertisers, and media companies hoping to drive ROI by investing in America’s diverse audiences.”

NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises senior VP of strategy and insights Federico Garza also said of the forum: ‘Polycultural R/Evolution: Communities, Connections, and Content in a Diverse America’ aligns perfectly with our commitment to celebrate and elevate the rich tapestry of cultures that make up our audience. By partnering with Horowitz Research for this conference, we are not only highlighting the interconnectedness of diverse communities but also exploring how media can be a powerful tool in fostering connections and understanding across different cultural backgrounds. Together, we aim to inspire and drive the conversation forward on the evolving multicultural narrative of America.”

The T. Howard Foundation will honor several industry leaders for their commitment to promoting inclusion at its annual Diversity Awards Dinner on April 10 in New York.

The diversity organization, under the event theme “We’re Paying it Forward Together,” will present its Executive Leadership Award to BET Media Group president and CEO Scott Mills, and its Executive Trailblazer Award to Accenture chairman and CEO Julie Sweet, T. Howard said.

Carlsen Resources founder and CEO Ann Carlsen will receive the foundation's Lifetime Achievement Award, while Cablefax editorial director Amy Maclean will receive the organization’s Diversity Advocate Award. 

The fundraising event, hosted by CBS Saturday Morning co-host Michelle Miller, will also present Special Alumni Recognition awards to ABC News producer Jonathan McDougle (Rising Star) and Essence VP of communications Alexandra Ebanks (Career Influencer).

Gracenote, Nielsen’s content metadata unit said it added a Diversity Spotlight feature to its Studio System that will make diverse content creators and talent more discoverable and accessible.

Gracenote worked with the advocacy groups IllumiNative, Gold House, RespectAbility, National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) and Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment (CAPE) to develop the system to meet diversity criteria and open new casting, funding and collaboration opportunities.

“In conversations with the industry, we’ve heard repeatedly that difficulty finding diverse creators to work with and inclusive projects to bring to screens is slowing the transformation everyone agrees is needed,” said Trent Wheeler, Gracenote’s chief product officer. “The expertise of our advocacy group partners, combined with the unmatched scale of Gracenote data and the reach of Studio System, holds the promise to accelerate representative content creation and bring real change to Hollywood.”

Also Read: Nielsen’s Gracenote Providing Data on On-Screen Diversity

Despite pledges to improve diversity, equity and inclusion, people of color, people with disabilities as well as members of the LGBTQIA community remain underrepresented in TV content, Gracenote said.

For example, Latinx representation in programming is only 5.7% although the group makes up 20% of the U.S. population, according to Gracenote Inclusion Analytics data. Representation of disabled people is only 6.6% even though one in four Americans has a disability.

“As we are working to drive representation of Native talent and projects in entertainment, a solution like Gracenote Diversity Spotlight takes our work to the next level — where Native creatives can be discovered with a tool that is already a trusted source for the decision-makers in the industry,” Crystal Echo Hawk, CEO and founder of IllumiNative, said. 

 After decades of primetime exclusion, diverse creators and audiences are finally making progress and getting new options and representation thanks to the rise of innovative streaming services. A 2023 UCLA study found that “women and people of color are finding more job opportunities in streaming release” and in 2021 Nielsen reported that “Americans want more diversity on TV and they’re increasingly finding more of it on streaming platforms.” Moreover, culturally specific streaming services like AllBlk and Pantaya have emerged giving diverse voices exciting new opportunities to find audiences and succeed. 

But this long-sought progress is now being threatened by a pressure campaign orchestrated by a small number of powerful traditional broadcast TV groups. They want the government to impose outdated cable regulations on internet streaming, which would force streamers to carry more of these broadcasters’ programming, and pay more for it. A June 2023 letter from Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) asks the FCC to review the issue.

But this approach would turn back the clock on American media and erect new barriers for diverse creators trying to gain a foothold on modern streaming services. The broadcasters’ scheme would immediately impact services offering live TV and a mix of channels, such as Hulu Live Plus, YipTV, and YouTubeTV, but could also extend to a diverse mix of on-demand services like Netflix and Disney Plus, as well as ALLBLK and Revry.

The big “local” broadcast groups — actually multibillion-dollar conglomerates of TV stations across the country, like Nexstar Media Group, Sinclair and Gray Television — argue that, because live TV streamers offer multiple shows and channels, they are the same as traditional cable and satellite television systems and should be regulated the same way. The decades-old rules for cable and satellite TV, however — including required channel lineups, mandatory government fees and complicated billing — created the very headaches that American households are finally relieved from with the advent of streaming. 

Those rules also require every cable and satellite subscriber to purchase access to local TV channels, even when they can receive them free over the air! It’s no wonder big broadcasters now want the government to force streaming subscribers to also pay. 

These old cable and satellite regulations led to nationwide consolidation of less diverse local TV broadcasting and more expensive and bloated channel packages from subscription cable and satellite services. Competitive streaming options, on the other hand, offer more variety, less expense and greater flexibility. This free and open competition — which applies across the entire streaming ecosystem from on demand services like Netflix to platform services like YouTube TV — has made it possible for diverse programmers and creators to gain a foothold and bring new options to underserved and underrepresented audiences and communities. 

On-screen and behind the camera, diverse entrepreneurs are creating new programming, companies, and channels that look like, and serve, all of America. But the big broadcasters’ self-serving proposal would tilt the scales against new voices by forcing streamers to pay more for legacy programming owned by traditional media, exhausting funds that would otherwise be available for diverse new shows and channels.

The broadcast groups say they need regulatory help to fund local programming like news, weather, and sports. But these stations can already negotiate with streaming services to license their news and other programming at whatever price the market will bear. They aren’t seeking the right to negotiate — which they already have — they are asking to tilt the playing field for negotiations in their favor so they can get an above market price and gain a captive audience. Which in many cases they then fail to serve with genuinely local voices and programming, bringing in national news and editorial views that are often widely out of step with the communities they claim to serve.

Regulator Skepticism Is Warranted

In 2014, President Barack Obama’s FCC considered this issue in detail and concluded that legacy cable and satellite rules were a bad fit for emerging live TV streaming services. President Joe Biden’s FCC chair, Jessica Rosenworcel, has rightly continued this skepticism — going even further and warning that the laws governing the FCC do not even permit it to apply rules designed for one kind of technology (cable and satellite systems) to another (internet-based streamers). And the thriving and innovative streaming ecosystem consumers are enjoying today — bursting at the seams with new stories, voices, and options — has borne out the wisdom of those judgments.

The FCC should look forward and focus its energies on fixing real programs that plague our digital lives — from misinformation and hate speech online to the lack of internet access in multicultural communities and the lasting problem of the digital divide. It should not wind back the clock on progress by tipping the scales in programming negotiations against diverse new streaming services and options to pad the bottom line of wealthy broadcast chains.

Media buying agency GroupM said it is pledging to allocate 5% of its spending on media outlets owned by or focused on Black, Hispanic, Asian American and Pacific Islanders and LGBTQ+ Americans.

The pledge expands GroupM’s Media Inclusion Initiative. 

“As the largest media investment company in the world, we have a responsibility to accelerate growth through the next era of media,” said Kirk McDonald, CEO, GroupM North America. “That means making our industry more inclusive and  equitable for all publishers. As well as, sharing brands’ products and services with audiences that are representative of the changing face of America in service of growing their businesses.”  

GroupM also said it hired Cynthia Morgan Jenkins as head of supplier diversity to develop and nurture relationships with diverse-owned media and content partners. She reports to Gonzalo del Fa, president, GroupM Multicultural. 

“The Media Inclusion Initiative helps us, and our clients achieve greater equity while supporting the voices, content and editorial written for and by these communities and creating a more diverse media marketplace in the process,”  said del Fa. “Not only have we doubled the number of clients participating in the Media Inclusion Initiative, but we’re also seeing those brands increase their commitments." 

Also Read: Hispanic TV Summit: Latinos Feel ‘Invisible’ and That's a Problem for Marketers

GroupM says that since it launched its Media Inclusion Initiative 18 months ago, its clients have made a triple-digit percentage increase in client spending in Black-owned media. The growth outpaced the industry according to data from Standard Media Index.

“GroupM has shown a commitment to supporting Black-owned media and we’ve seen leading brands within GroupM step up and partner with REVOLT to do impactful work over the past two years,” said Detavio Samuels, CEO of Revolt. “We believe GroupM’s latest initiative will encourage more brands to place bigger bets on Black-owned media companies and this new initiative is a step toward shifting the paradigm moving forward.”

in July 2020, GroupM launched the GroupM Multicultural Marketplace, which features 300 Black-and Hispanic-owned and/or focused publishers  that create, curate, and distribute content specifically for minority audiences.   

“We’ve seen increasing client support for our Media Inclusion Initiative since we first launched in May 2021,” said Matt Sweeney, chief investment officer GroupM US. “By providing an intentional way for brands to support diverse-owned  media we can ensure our clients are providing a platform for diverse voices, ensuring inclusive representation and reaching broader audiences.”  ■

As the television industry continues to deck the halls with more than 130 original holiday-themed films, this year’s slate has more of a diverse and inclusive feel as people of color continue to influence holiday images and storylines on the screen and behind the camera. 

An unprecedented number of this season’s holiday films have persons of color in leading roles or as executive producers, eager to reach audiences who over the years have felt underserved or unseen in movies from this genre, according to industry observers.

Paramount’s BET Plus and VH1, for example, will offer 14 original Christmas-
themed films featuring predominantly African-American casts, up from 11 a year ago. Lifetime will deliver 15 holiday originals featuring actors of color in starring roles.

Hallmark Channel, Netflix, UPtv and Great American Family also are featuring movies with inclusive casts and high-profile talent to help ring in the holidays. Entertainers of color such as Rita Moreno (Lifetime's Santa Bootcamp), Freddie Prinze Jr. (Netflix’s Christmas With You), Gladys Knight (Great American Family’s Someday at Christmas), Mario Lopez (Lifetime's Stepping Into the Holidays) and Loretta Devine (VH1’s All I Didn’t Want for Christmas) are starring in holiday-themed films through the end of December.

Just as impressive, celebrities such as Jamie Foxx (VH1’s Hip Hop Family Christmas Wedding), Toni Braxton (Lifetime’s A Christmas Spark), Robin Givens (BET Plus’s The Christmas Clapback) and Idris Elba (VH1’s A New Diva’s Christmas Carol) have taken the directorial and executive producer reins in an effort to deliver more authentic holiday stories. 

The holiday programming genre needs to make more room for unique portrayals of how people of color (who are major consumers of entertainment) experience the festive season in order to remain viable and attractive to an increasingly diverse population, network executives said.

Authentic, Inclusive Fare

“I think it’s important for us to maintain authenticity and inclusiveness when focusing on the holidays,” Lifetime executive VP of movie, limited series and original movie acquisitions Tanya Lopez said. “Just looking at an image and saying, ‘that person is my skin color,’ is not enough.”

Of Lifetime’s 26 new original holiday movies, 60% feature a person of color either in front of or behind the camera. Lopez said the network’s holiday films over the years have consistently featured inclusive casts, and this year the network offered more films with directors of color.  

Lifetime’s lineup of holiday films directed and executive-produced by people of color includes A New Orleans Noel, executive-produced by actress Keshia Knight Pulliam, and Kirk Franklin’s The Night Before Christmas, executive-produced by the gospel songwriter. 

“It’s been part of our DNA for so long that we haven’t seen it as a big pivot at all,” Lopez said. “We want to show as many holiday family traditions, no matter what that looks like.”

Holiday stories told from a different perspective give viewers a glimpse of life that doesn’t revolve around the tropes typically associated with seasonal films, said Knight Pulliam, who played Rudy Huxtable in the 1980s sitcom The Cosby Show. A New Orleans Noel, starring Tim Reid and Patti LaBelle, showcases some of the holiday traditions of African-American families in the Crescent City.  

“Oftentimes [traditional holiday] movies won’t culturally reflect who we are as African-American people, and we have a culture that’s all our own and specific to us,” Knight Pulliam said during a virtual press event for the movie before it premiered on December 3. “Seeing that … opens up windows to people to show what’s possible and opens up windows to empower people. When you start from a real and authentic place, you can’t go wrong.”  

Hallmark Channel’s Christmas at the Golden Dragon — in which a beloved Chinese restaurant closes on Christmas Eve, forcing patrons and workers to reevaluate the importance of family and friends around the holidays — showcases the holiday season from the perspective of its Taiwanese writer/producer Emily Ting. Ting said the story is based on her family’s desire to experience a traditional Christmas after coming to the U.S. from Taiwan. 

“I had such high expectations only to realize that, sometimes, eating Chinese takeout with your family on Christmas is all you need to celebrate the holidays,” Ting said.

Hallmark executive VP of programming Lisa Hamilton Daly said movies like Christmas at the Golden Dragon and the Asian-American themed A Big Fat Family Christmas help the network attract a more diverse audience by allowing storytellers to tell stories that are familiar to one segment of the audience while exposing different traditions to others. Also on Hallmark’s holiday movie list is The Holiday Stocking, produced by Hallmark’s African-American targeted Mahogany content production brand.

Holidays Are for Everyone

“On the most basic level, the holiday season is for everybody,” Daly said. “We really want to make sure that we are including the broadest range of holiday traditions and people that we can. As we get better at this, we’re seeing bigger and broader audiences.”  

UP Entertainment VP of content strategy and acquisition Hector
Campos said that the network has seen an early ratings bump for UPtv’s lineup of 17 original Christmas-themed films — seven of which feature diverse lead characters. 

“It’s important to us that our audience sees themselves reflected authentically on the screen, and we have actors from all backgrounds in starring roles,” Campos said. “Through our second week of Christmas premieres the response from viewers so far has been great.”

TV analyst Marc Berman said the popularity of holiday-themed movies is only enhanced by providing original movies targeting diverse groups, which has the benefit of delivering new viewers and advertisers.

“We live in a diversified world, and as a distributor you need to show the world as it is,” Berman said. “There’s been a lot of discussion about the lack of diversity in media, and these outlets are beginning to understand that if they don’t represent the world as it is, their brands are going to ultimately pay the price. Advertisers realize that they have to represent brands that represent the world, and I think these outlets realize that, whether it’s scripted dramas or holiday movies.” ■

Diversity in television commercials took a hit in 2022, with the share of people of color shown in ads dropping to 27.6% from 34.5%, according to a new study.

White people represented 72.5% of the actors in ads, up from 54.6%, the study found.

Black actors got 14.3% of the roles in ads, down from 16.5%. Hispanics fell to 5% from 9.6% and Asians in ads dropped to 8.3% from 8.4%.

“Diversity is such an important topic, yet there has been little quantifiable information available at scale related to the people featured in advertising creative,” said Melinda McLaughlin, CMO of Extreme Reach, which compiled the study. “We set out to give brands and agencies the information needed to make the decisions that matter to their business. This report provides a high level view of diversity in ads that establishes the baseline for the industry, from which brands can devise their own unique roadmap.” 

The majority of voices heard in commercials are male, with men making up 73% those speaking in ads, up from 65%, the study found. ■

Warner Bros. Discovery, NBCUniversal and Comcast are among the top companies for female employment, according to The WICT Network’s recent PAR workplace diversity study.

The 2022 Top Companies for Women to Work survey named five operators and five programming companies as places that feature strong gender diversity, as well as  equity and inclusion efforts based on pay equity and advancement opportunities and resources for work/life integration, according to The WICT Network. Other operators highlighted in the survey include Cable One, Charter Communications, Cox Communications and Midco, while A+E Networks, AMC Networks, and Revolt were named on the programming side. 

“We congratulate this year’s PAR Top Companies for Women to Work for their exemplary DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] practices,” The WICT Network president and CEO Maria Brennan said. “The data tells the story: Despite the challenges our industry has faced over the last three years, companies have created environments where women are able to grow and thrive. We applaud the commitment of time and resources each of our participants dedicated to complete the 2022 survey.” 

The survey results follow increases in female employment across the industry revealed in the 2022 AIM/PAR Workplace Diversity Study, released last month in conjunction with The WICT Network Leadership Conference and the NAMIC Conference. The survey reported that female representation in the workforce increased by 5 percentage points compared to the last survey in 2019, even as women overall were significantly more impacted by the pandemic in terms of employment.

The survey also reported a decline in workforce representation among people of color. 

Brennan told Multichannel News she was pleasantly surprised by the gains women made in the workplace as part of the AIM/PAR survey. “Given the losses that women suffered during the pandemic, it was the opposite inside our industry,” she said. “I have great hopes for the next time we do the survey.” ■   

Nielsen has told the Federal Communications Commission it is working on a product to analyze "behind the camera" as well as on-screen diversity that could give the agency most of the information it may be looking for without making programmers and distributors, including streamers owned by media companies with FCC licenses, have to certify that information.

Nielsen said it is already working on such an offering because advertisers want to ensure they are "investing equitably in content that includes diverse creators, casts and themes."

Earlier this year, Fuse Media led groups petitioning the FCC to collect content diversity data, including from those co-owned streaming services. They argued the regulator's failure to "regularly collect and report on data regarding the demographic diversity of vendors providing one of the most critical inputs to the video marketplace: content" did not square with its charge to promote competition and diversity in the video marketplace.

Program distributors of all stripes have pushed back on the petition, which the FCC is still considering. They say, among other things, that there are no market failures the new collection and certification requirements would necessitate, that the FCC likely does not have the authority to mandate data collection from third-party vendors and more.

Internet-service providers have also said if the FCC does start putting this mandate on streaming services affiliated with its licensees — Disney Plus, Hulu, Peacock and Paramount Plus — but not on unaffiliated streamers like Netflix, Apple TV Plus or Amazon Prime Video, the FCC certainly won't be getting the view of the marketplace it is looking for.

Also: ISPs Tell FCC to Reject Fuse Data Petition

Enter Nielsen, which has told the FCC it may have a solution if the commission does grant the petition, and from products it says are already in the marketplace using information gleaned from its metadata subsidiary, Gracenote.

"When operationalized, this new product could enable Nielsen customers and the FCC to obtain much of the data sought by petitioners — without the need for certifications from programmers or distributors," Nielsen told the FCC, according to a document filed with the commission.

While Nielsen said it could help with diversity data collection across various distribution platforms, it used the challenge faced by streamers as an example.

"[A] streaming service acquires the rights to transmit thousands of programs from hundreds of sources," Nielsen said. "These programs, in turn, have tens of thousands of individual episodes — each of which, in turn, has a budget, location and associated talent such as a producer, a director, numerous actors and so on."

Gracenote already helps thousands of companies "gather, compile, check, analyze, and organize" all that data, Nielsen said, so it could be "a powerful tool for measuring and analyzing on-screen diversity and inclusion."

Nielsen said it can already say that Black women have a 57% share of screen time on the HBO show Insecure, and can also compare that to the general population for that show's audience, or that Native Americans make up .05% of total screen time on cable.

Now, Nielsen is working on a new product, using Gracenote metadata, that will provide metrics for off-screen diversity. For example, it could compare the diversity of writers and producers for Amazon Prime Video fantasy series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power with those of HBO's Game of Thrones spinoff House of the Dragon. That's just the sort of information "contemplated in the [Fuse] petition," it points out, "without any of the complexity" of making FCC-regulated companies with streaming services have to obtain such diversity data from programmers and file it with the agency. ■

This year’s Walter Kaitz Foundation fundraising dinner on October 12 will be the first in-person celebration since 2019 due to the pandemic. It's also the last will be presided over by the foundation's executive director, Michelle Ray, who is leaving the organization in December. 

During her 15 years as head of the foundation, Ray, a former NCTA–The Broadband & Television Asssociation staffer who joined Kaitz in 2006 as senior program director, has overseen the annual fundraising dinner, which overall has raised more than $23 million in grants toward cable industry diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. She also helped launch Kaitz’s annual Hollywood Creative Forum, which champions culturally accurate representation across the entertainment industry.

Ray provided her thoughts on the resumption of the Kaitz dinner and reflected on her accomplishments and legacy at the organization in a recent interview with Multichannel News, an edited version of which appears below. 

MCN: Why have you decided to leave the Walter Kaitz Foundation at this point in time? 

Michelle Ray: The truth is, over the last year I’ve been dealing with a lot of personal family health issues along with going through the whole COVID environment. I realized that I needed time for me to be the best me. It’s not even about the work. I believe in what we’re doing and I want to be able to give all of my energy to the work that we’re doing.

MCN: Looking back, have you accomplished the goals that you set for the organization as executive director? 

MR: I would love to say of course I did, but the truth is we’re not just trying to solve DEI for an industry, for an organization or even for our companies. We’re trying to make societal shifts, because that’s where the real work lies. I think there’s always going to be more to do. We’re not even close to solving all of the diversity, equity and inclusion issues that are part of society as a whole. The death of George Floyd really brought the issues of DEI front and center from a broad perspective as we thought about social justice movements and what we’re really doing as companies and individuals attacking these issues around DEI.

MCN: Having said that, do you think that the industry has at least taken the right steps forward toward dealing with DEI issues within its own ranks?

MR: Again, I don't want to say that we’re all doing great. The truth is we have to do more, and I think there’s a clear call for us to do more. What I have noticed is that I see a lot of companies really leaning in on social justice, especially on the content side. Those companies were focused on making sure that stories of marginalized and disparate people were being told by hiring people who could ideally tell those stories and then they brought those stories to life on our screens. Also, I saw broadband companies trying to deliver broadband to diverse communities who are largely rural. The issues around broadband deployments continue to be an ongoing effort, but I saw everyone picking themselves up and leaning more into addressing a lot of these issues, whether as a broadband company, technology company or content curator. 

MCN: Diversity Week is fast approaching, and the industry is gathering in-person for the first time in two years. What effect does being in-person have on the diversity discussion across the various events?

MR: I think being in-person and talking about these issues is more important than ever before. I think it will signal to our industry that as leaders, we all should be joining together for the discussion of diversity, equity and inclusion, particularly since it’s a gathering that’s so specifically curated for our industry. No other industry does this, so if you think about it, we just need to continue to do more of it. I think being around each other is an important aspect of what we’re trying to achieve. What I've realized within the COVID environment when we were largely at home and away from each other is that we needed that human touch. From an interpersonal standpoint, when you’re in a room with somebody, it’s so markedly different from being on a Zoom call or a telephone call. 

MCN: What are you personally hoping to accomplish with this year’s Walter Kaitz Foundation fundraising dinner? 

MR: As we approached this year’s dinner, I thought because we hadn’t seen each other in years that we wouldn’t do the same things and show up in the same way that we showed up in previous years. My thought was, how do we come back to something that's different? So one of the things we’ve done is we’ve largely retired our Diversity Champion and Diversity Advocate Awards and created a new ChangeMakers Award. It’s really reimagining what we do in acknowledging someone for the seminal work that they’re doing. 

One of the honorees is an organization called Human-I-T, which focuses on social justice and works with a lot of companies within our industry to make sure that sustainability is at the forefront of the work that they do. They work closely with Cox, Charter and Comcast. The second honor we had was an individual, Daisy Auger-Dominguez, who is chief people officer at Vice Media Group. She’s an executive and game-changer that thinks about inclusive workplaces and what that should look like. So that was part of the reframing of the awards, if you will, and that will continue to evolve and change.

MCN: The Kaitz Foundation is working with WICT and NAMIC to present the AIM/PAR Diversity Employment Study next week. What should the industry take away from the results of that study as it pertains to its diversity efforts?

MR: It’s the only way that we’re going to be able to benchmark how we’re doing as industry. If we were to walk away from that, it would be a disservice to all of us because I think metrics are an important aspect of the work that we do. If we can’t measure something then we can’t see or understand it. That’s why the study continues to be relevant and important. It requires a lot of support and commitment from the industry and the industry has been very supportive of it. 

MCN: Have you considered what your legacy will be at the Walter Kaitz Foundation?

MR: It’s something I haven’t really thought about. I’m in the people business, whether it’s at work or personally, so for me legacy is about making sure that we make connections with people regardless of what aspect of work you’re involved in. So I hope to maintain those connections, and whatever I decide to do after this I hope it still involves touching people. ■

The National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications will honor Nightline co-anchor Juju Chang with its 2022 Mickey Leland Humanitarian Achievement Award during its October 12 NAMIC Conference luncheon.

Chang, who also reports regularly for Good Morning America and 20/20 as part of a more than 30-year journalism career, is being recognized for her in-depth personal narratives set against the backdrop of pressing national and international news, according to NAMIC. Among Chang's recent career highlights are two, hour-long specials in 2021 revolving around the rise of hate crimes toward the Asian American and Pacific Islander community.

Chang, who began her career in 1987 at ABC News as an entry-level desk assistant, has also profiled newsmakers like Facebook COO Sheryl Sanderg, Joe Biden and Oprah Winfrey, as well as entertainers like Chris Pratt, Tom Hanks and Nicki Minaj. 

Also: NAMIC Set to Honor Next Generation Leaders, Luminaries at Conference

“Juju Chang’s storytelling, career and philanthropic endeavors represent what NAMIC stands for at its core: empowerment and advancement of diversity, equity, access and inclusion,” NAMIC Inc president and CEO Shuanise Washington in a statement. “Chang has boldly shared the lives and perspectives of people, who are too often underrepresented and marginalized. She’s given them a voice and shined an important light that will illuminate for generations to come.”

The 36th annual NAMIC Conference will take place October 11-12, part of the cable industry's Diversity Week festivities.■

As the multichannel industry continues to offer more inclusive and diverse content, a new generation of creative and diverse leaders — as well as some savvy veterans — are leading many of television’s unprecedented number of English-language, linear cable networks targeting BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of color) audiences. These dynamic executives are spearheading the industry’s push into targeting such underserved audiences as young, Hispanic millennials and black women with original content in genres such as scripted dramas, food and lifestyle content and news and information programming. 

These exceptional executives are propelling the industry’s charge to offer unique, informative, entertaining and diverse programming to a growing multicultural audience base that is demanding more authentic voices and images on the small screen.

Angela Cannon
Senior VP, Multicultural Networks & Strategy, UP Entertainment

UP Entertainment in July tapped industry veteran Angela Cannon to lead the African-American targeted entertainment service AspireTV. Her fingerprints have been on the development and cultivation of the network’s brand since its inception a decade ago.

Cannon was part of the team that joined Basketball Hall of Famer Earvin “Magic” Johnson in launching AspireTV in 2012 as one of four independent, minority-owned networks selected for broad distribution by Comcast as part of Federal Communications Commission-imposed conditions on its acquisition of NBCUniversal. Now, as UP Entertainment’s senior VP of multicultural networks and strategy, she oversees marketing, distribution and programming operations for the linear cable channel. (Johnson divested his majority ownership in 2019.) 

Cannon looks to continue the network’s success by building a multiplatform brand that showcases and celebrates how Black audiences live, eat, shop, play and dream through on-air programming inspired by historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), original staples such as cooking show G. Garvin Live! and short films from Black filmmakers. 

“We have really great partnerships — not just with our advertisers and our distribution partners, but also with talent, like chef G. Garvin,” Cannon said. “You’re going to see more of what we do best as Black people, which is to be authentic and true to our culture, as well as representative in a positive way.” 

Cannon is also dedicated to expanding the brand into digital and is weighing options in the subscription VOD arena. In 2021, the network launched AspireTV Life, the first free ad supported streaming television (FAST) channel dedicated to sharing the experiences of the multicultural audience through cooking, fashion, travel, design and more. She’s also weighing the AspireTV brand’s options in the subscription VOD arena. 

“My focus is to provide an exceptional viewer experience across current and new platforms that is positive and authentic,” Cannon said. “By leading with the highest regard for excellence, I try to also inspire and open doors for the next generation of
content creators, change-makers and innovators to soar beyond those of us that have come before.” 

James DuBose
General Manager and Head of Programming, Fox Soul

Fox Soul general manager and head of programming James DuBose is successfully providing a video platform to showcase the many voices of the Black community.

An entrepreneur who in 2006 launched his own production company, DuBose Entertainment, which produced such shows for BET as Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is and Tiny and Toya, DuBose has run Fox Soul, an ad-supported streaming service, for two years. He has created exclusive, original content for the network’s growing audience, expanding its footprint to include distribution on platforms such as YouTube, Samsung TV Plus, The Roku Channel and Tubi.

Fox Soul, which operates within the Fox Television Stations group, said it has grown its audience by 131% to 61 million viewers in 2021 compared to 2020. More importantly, it has made inroads within the African-American community by building strategic content production and marketing partnerships with such media companies as iHeartRadio, Dame Dash Studios, Stellar TV, Black Enterprise and For Us By Us Network.

On-air, DuBose said the network is focused on providing an unapologetic platform for African-American voices through its original content. With shows such as talker Cocktails with Queens, news program Fox Soul’s The Black Report and The House — a talk show focused on the Black LGBTQIA+ experience — Fox Soul is attempting to serve Black viewers with content that reflects their lives and experiences. “We as a culture have a voice,” DuBose told B+C Multichannel News. “We as a culture have a perspective and a truth that needs to be heard.” 

DuBose is positioning the network to expand its programming fortunes, with plans to launch a music competition show later this year as well as original programming in other genres like sports, music, fashion, documentary and feature-length films. Whatever content eventually comes down the pike for Fox Soul, DuBose said it will authentically reflect the voices of an audience that the media has historically underserved. 

“What drives me to push the culture forward through the work we do at Fox Soul is to truly allow the voices that have been muted for so long an opportunity to be heard and respected,” DuBose said. 

Tina Perry
President, OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network 

When Tina Perry took over as OWN’s president in 2019, she inherited a network that had found its stride in reaching Black women who are voracious consumers of video content.

Fast-forward three years and on Perry’s watch, OWN has become one of TV’s prime destinations for Black female viewers with a wide array of original programming that lets its core audience see themselves represented accurately and in ways not readily seen elsewhere on the small screen.

Perry, a cable veteran who worked in Viacom’s business and legal affairs department before joining the executive team that launched OWN in 2011, has guided the network’s original programming fortunes by luring top industry producers and directors to create several of its tentpole shows. The network has thrived ratings-wise through such unscripted series as Will Packer’s Ready To Love, which is approaching its 100th episode, as well as scripted content such as Ava DuVernay’s Queen Sugar and Tarell Alvin McCraney’s David Makes Man.

“We champion inclusion both in front of and behind the cameras, giving creators and storytellers a space to share their stories,” Perry said. 

Perry in 2021 successfully negotiated the rights to the legal drama All Rise, which  had been canceled by CBS after three seasons. Its fourth season launched on OWN in June, with a principal cast made up of mostly Black and Latinx women.

Off-screen, Perry in 2020 launched the OWN Your Vote initiative, a bipartisan registration and get-out-the-vote campaign partnering with national and local grassroots and voting-rights organizations to provide tools and resources to empower Black women to vote. 

Partners included the NAACP, National Action Network, the ACLU, the National Urban League and historically Black fraternities and sororities. 

“We know our audience and we are intent on serving her, and I am proud of the work that we do at this network, bringing Oprah’s vision to viewers,” she said. “It is my great privilege to continue to serve our community and her vision. Having that as our North Star empowers me and our team.” 

Michelle Rice
President, TV One and Cleo TV

In 2020, veteran cable executive Michelle Rice led the challenging effort to launch Cleo TV, the first linear cable network fully dedicated to serving millennial and Generation X women of color. The launch was the latest accomplishment for the former BET, NBCUniversal and In Demand executive whose distinguished industry career spans more than three decades.

Rice launched Cleo TV while still serving as general manager of sister service TV One, which has served African-American cable viewers for more than 18 years. As president of both networks, Rice has been able to create partnership opportunities that have helped define and expand both brands within the entertainment industry and the Black community.

“There is a sense of responsibility and honor I feel every day leading two television networks that are a part of the largest African-American owned-and-operated multimedia company — Urban One,” Rice said. “Through our various platforms, we speak to over 80% of Black America daily with programming that’s informative, purposeful, entertaining; most importantly, for us and by us.”

On the distribution front, Rice has expanded the linear footprint of both networks through carriage deals with distributors including Charter Communications, Comcast, Verizon Communications and AT&T, which in 2020 not only launched Cleo TV but also increased TV One’s reach across DirecTV and streaming service AT&T Now (now DirecTV Stream). Rice also negotiated TV One’s first virtual MVPD distribution deal with Philo. 

On-air, Rice oversees TV One’s signature event, The TV One Honors, which showcases individuals and organizations whose work significantly impacts society and culture, and the network’s signature series, Unsung, the multi-NAACP Image Award-winning music documentary program. She has also cultivated Cleo TV’s lineup of lifestyle and cooking shows featuring such celebrities and personalities as Jake and Jazz Smollett (Living by Design) and Adrienne Houghton (All Things Adrienne).

 “We can’t rely on others to tell our stories, so we’re always thinking of how we can elevate our culture and our community through true representation, authentic storytelling and creating opportunities for Black people in front of and behind the camera, in leadership and throughout the ranks of TV One and Cleo TV,”
Rice said. 

Mike Roggero
CEO, Fuse Media

In 2020, when Fuse CEO Mike Roggero led a Latino-controlled management group to purchase the then-fledgling cable network, he envisioned an opportunity to create a brand that would reach an underserved audience of young, ethnically diverse viewers with content that spoke directly to them.  

Fast-forward to today, the Fuse brand under Roggero’s leadership has evolved from an English-language, Latino-focused cable channel to a global media brand. Under Roggero’s tenure, Fuse has expanded its reach to include not only linear channels Fuse and FM, but digital media-based FAST channels such as music-oriented Fuse Backstage, Black lifestyle-themed Fuse Beat and home fitness-focused Fuse Sweat — all serving young, Latino and multicultural audiences with vibrant content that genuinely reflects their life experiences. 

In addition, the network in 2021 launched subscription VOD service Fuse Plus — which offers more than 500 original hours of original and acquired content — to reach the 80% of Latino TV viewers who subscribe to at least one SVOD service, according to a 2021 Horowitz survey. 

Seeing room for more Fuse Media extensions, Roggero has set his sights on launching two additional FAST channel brands — Latino Vibes and Campastic — later this year. 

“When my team took ownership of Fuse in 2020, we vowed to continue our mission of delivering entertaining content to a diverse audience that wasn’t seeing themselves, or their life experiences, authentically reflected in media,” Roggero said.

On the international front, Roggero has overseen the brand’s expansion with the launch of Fuse Beat on Samsung TV Plus UK and Fuse Plus on OTTplay in India. 

As an advocate for diverse voices, Roggero recently spearheaded an industry push to urge the FCC to establish content vendor reporting that tracks the diversity of content vendors used by licensed media and telecommunications companies. The goal is to have streaming services owned by licensed media companies included among those outlets required to report on their diversity efforts. 

“Fuse relishes being an independent network that offers a unique home to a truly diverse and multicultural audience,” Roggero said. “This commitment is woven into every decision we make, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive.”

Detavio Samuels
CEO, Revolt 

Detavio Samuels in 2021 was promoted to CEO of the nine-year-old Revolt TV, with a vision of building the hip-hop-focused cable network and digital brand to reach and cultivate young Black viewers with content that speaks to their interests and lifestyles.

“I’m driven by the opportunity to make a lasting impact that changes the narrative of Black culture globally by amplifying Black voices that are often ignored and building a company that empowers Black creators across platforms to express themselves unapologetically,” he said. 

Revolt TV, which was founded by hip-hop mogul and entrepreneur Sean “Diddy” Combs in 2013 as one of four independent, minority-owned networks selected for broad distribution by Comcast as part of the FCC-imposed conditions on its acquisition of NBCUniversal, has increased its brand awareness under Samuels’ tutelage. 

On the cable-network side, Samuels — the former president of Radio One’s Interactive One and One Solution/OneX digital media companies — has finely tuned the network’s programming focus to showcase news and information about the top trends and personalities within the hip-hop arena. Last year, it launched Revolt Black News Weekly, featuring unfiltered conversations about current events with the leaders of Black culture including artists, activists and politicians. The series originates from Revolt’s first-ever official news bureau and studio operation in Atlanta, launched under Samuel’s leadership. 

On the digital front, Samuels has led Revolt’s expansion into new verticals such as a podcast network featuring content from celebrities and media personalities. It has also continued to have a major presence in live events with its “Revolt Summit x AT&T” leadership conference, which features musical performances, keynote discussions and interactive workshops in an effort to inspire the next generation of Black leaders. The 2021 virtual Revolt Summit drew 3,600 attendees.

Revolt’s evolution has caught the attention of the advertising world,
with more than 75 new national advertisers and partners, including Target and
State Farm, coming on board under Samuels’s watch to help support the network’s mission of creating content for the next generation. 

“The movement is always bigger than the moment, which makes this work very purposeful and important to me and our entire team,” he said. ▪️

Inclusivity both in front of and behind the camera was a recurring theme during the August 8 to August 12 CTAM-produced portion of the Television Critics Association virtual summer tour as cable and streaming services showcased a bevy of BIPOC-themed scripted series and movies while addressing diversity issues within the TV industry.

The newly rebranded Hallmark Media (formerly Crown Media Family Networks) unveiled details regarding its African-American targeted Mahogany movie franchise, which includes the August 28 launch of its first original movie, Unthinkably Good Things. Mahogany senior VP of programming Toni Judkins said the franchise  – based on Hallmark’s 34 year-old Mahogany greetings card brand targeting African-Americans – will continue to follow the earmarks of traditional Hallmark movies, but will be told from the authentic, unique lens of Black women.

Hallmark will launch two additional Mahogany movies in 2022, including one holiday film, according to Hallmark executive VP of programming Lisa Hamilton Daly. 

“What was important was to fuse essential elements of the Hallmark brand with the Mahogany brand,” Judkins said. “The pillars of what Mahogany is … are sisterhood, friendship, connection and community.” 

The Mahogany films will also feature diverse talent both in front of and behind the camera, a combination which industry executives speaking at TCA say is still too rare. 

That dynamic however, can be seen in OWN’s original series Queen Sugar, which will launch its seventh and final season on September 6. The Ava DuVernay-produced series has featured more than three dozen female directors over its seven-season run, according to the network. 

DuVernay said when she started the series few television shows featured female directors, but after seven successful seasons of going against the grain and constantly pushing to have a female-exclusive directing team, it has now become more commonplace for women of color to prominently sit in the director’s chair.

“No one would ever need to do that now because you will be looked at sideways if you don’t have any women directing,” she said. “To have been there … when it was scorned and ridiculed, to the time now where it’s pretty much, ‘yeah, you got to include a lady somewhere in there,’ is a remarkable thing.” 

Starz has also announced a continued commitment to work with directors and writers of color for several upcoming series. On the heels of renewing its original series Raising Kanan – the third series in the Courtney Kemp-created Power franchise – for a third season, the premium network announced it will team with producers DuVernay and Tanya Saracho on new original series as well as musical artists Ne-Yo and Christina Milian on a new “premium take” on the Step Up movie franchise, according to network President of Original Programming Kathryn Busby. 

The shows follow earlier Starz announcements regarding new series from Marlon Wayans (Book of Marlon) and Dear White People producers Steven J. Kung and Justen Simien. 

Several streaming services also showcased new and diverse programming. Amazon Prime Video offered a look at a British-based series Jungle, which follows the  struggles and perspectives of several connected strangers uniquely told through hip hop and drill music. Executive produced by Junior Okoli and Chas Appeti, Jungle debuts September 30 on the service.

During BET Plus’s presentation for the second season of its Emmy-nominated comedy series The Ms. Pat Show, series co-creator Jordan Cooper said that services like BET Plus have opened up new avenues for diverse content to make it to the screen, offering greater editorial freedom and control to tell stories in a manner that might not be acceptable on traditional linear channels.

“I think that more is going to come from other artists who are going to come in and shake the table up a bit because we don’t want to see the same old stuff that we’ve seen for the past 50 years,” he said. 

Recently launched Spanish-language subscription streaming service ViX Plus showcased during TCA two of its new original shows – drama series Marea Alta and the Salma Hayek-produced film Quiero Tu Vida – as part of the TelevisaUnivision-owned service’s 10,000 hours of novelas, sports and other entertainment  offerings and 70 original series and movies it plans to offer during its first operating year. 

“There are almost 600 million people in the world who speak Spanish, and yet only a fraction of the global streamers’ content is originally produced in Spanish,” Vix Plus Executive Vice President and general manager Rodrico Mazon said. “We know Hispanic audiences everywhere are hungry to stream more native Spanish language content – this is why we are investing a massive amount of incremental dollars in original content and sports rights, above and beyond our existing linear businesses.” 

Allen Media Group and The Weather Channel chairman and CEO Byron Allen took the issue of onscreen inclusion a step further during AMG’s Thursday panel session by saying diversity in ownership is key to greater, inclusive representation on the small screen. Allen said it’s imperative for the industry to push for an environment that welcomes unfiltered voices and perspectives. 

“I think we have a situation where we do not have enough diversity and ownership – [women and people of color] do not own enough of the media outlets to control their image and how they are produced and depicted,” Allen said. “Until we have a stronger representation of diversity and ownership, we don’t have a true democracy.”■

Most of two dozen members of Congress have told the FCC that it should create a content vendor diversity report given what they say is the media industry's exclusion of the underserved.

Back in May, Fuse Media led groups petitioning the FCC to collect the content diversity data, including from streaming services owned by media companies licensed by the FCC. They argued that the FCC's failure "regularly to collect and report on data regarding the demographic diversity of vendors providing one of the most critical inputs to the video marketplace: content," did not square with its charger to promote competition and diversity in the video marketplace.

In a letter Friday to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel in response to an FCC request for comment on the petition and led by Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Tex.), a mix of House members and Senators said they believed the FCC should launch a rulemaking to create the content vendor diversity report that would require "licensees and regulatees in broadcast, cable, broadband, and satellite services to collect diversity data from the content vendors they use,” they said.

The legislators called the media content delivery industry "the dominant narrative-creating and image-defining institution in the United States."

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, founder of Rainbow/PUSH, has long argued that who controls that narrative is the civil rights issue of this century.

The legislators suggest it is time to start giving minorities a bigger role in that narrative and the report could be a useful tool.

"The media and entertainment industry is notorious for excluding people from historically underserved backgrounds," they said. "The FCC should initiate rulemaking to establish new content vendor diversity reporting requirements to bring transparency to the media and entertainment industry."

Among those also signing on to the letter were Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), and Sen.Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). 

Jon Lafayette contributed to this post. ▪️

A majority of journalists polled by Pew Research Center (55%) say that not every side of a story deserves equal coverage in reporting the news and when it comes to achieving greater racial diversity in their newsrooms, a minority say it is a big priority where they work.

That 55% not favoring equal coverage is compared to the 76% of the U.S. public at large who say journalists should always try to provide such coverage.

And while a majority of journalists (67%) said their news organizations have achieved “sufficient” gender diversity, only 32% say that is the case for racial and ethnic diversity and less than half (42%) say that addressing diversity and inclusion issues is a “major priority” in their newsrooms.

Social media appears to be a double-edged sword in the hands of journalists and their audiences.

A strong majority (87%) of journalists surveyed said social media has either a “very positive” or “somewhat positive” impact on promoting their news stories, and 79% said it helps them connect with their audience and find sources. But almost one-third (67%) said that social media has either a very negative or somewhat negative impact on the state of journalism and only 18% said it has a positive impact on journalism.

In a related issue, 42% of journalists said they have been harassed or threatened in the past year, and of those, 78% said the harassment came through some type of social media.

The survey was conducted among 11,889 journalists Feb. 1-13 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1 percentage point. The survey of the general public was among 10,441 U.S. adults March 7-13 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.5 percentage points. ▪️

The FCC's Media Bureau is seeking comment on a request that it create a report on content vendor diversity.

Fuse Media led a coalition of minority-owned media groups that sought the new report, which would include requiring such data from any company that relies on an FCC license, or any subsidiary of that company. That would include any number of streaming services as well as traditional content producers and platforms -- Disney, Comcast, Paramount, among them.

The FCC, whose chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has put a premium on furthering equity and diversity in communications, put the Fuse petition for rulemaking out for comment Tuesday (May 24).

The quick turnaround -- the petition was filed less than three weeks ago -- suggests the issue could get traction, particularly with the panel Democrats.

Among the issues the FCC wants comment on are 1) how the FCC should define "minority," 2) how it should measure diversity (i.e. board membership, senior leadership, full-time employees), and 3) what authority the FCC has to collect the information.

The FCC is giving commenters until July 22 to weigh in, with reply comments due August 22.

Back in November, Rosenworcel pledged to Congress that the FCC would take a fresh look at the video programming marketplace, particularly as it concerned independent programmers. ■

A group of minority-owned media, led by Fuse Media, is asking the Federal Communications Commission to collect data on the diversity of content vendors used by licensed media and telecommunications companies. 

The group’s petition wants streaming services owned by licensed media companies included among those who have to report on diversity, as well as traditional platforms like broadcast, cable and satellite TV.

Those companies would include Alphabet, Fox, Amazon, Paramount, Comcast, The Walt Disney Co. and Dish Network.

“The commission is charged with promoting competition and diversity in the video marketplace yet, despite multiple information-gathering dockets, currently fails regularly to collect and report on data regarding the demographic diversity of vendors providing one of the most critical inputs to the video marketplace: content,” said the petitioners in their filing.

The petition said the vendor diversity report would help the FCC measure competition and diversity and help the public make more informed decisions about which services they want to consume.

Also: Latino Management Group Buys Control of Fuse Media

“Today, we take a step toward genuinely embracing diversity in the video marketplace,” said Miguel “Mike” Roggero, CEO of Fuse Media. “As a Latino-owned, independent company, we understand that a competitive and culturally authentic video marketplace features a wide range of voices, including from communities of color. Roggero added, “Accurate data about the market will help foster a more vibrant, inclusive media landscape, which is vital in enabling us to tell stories that are truly representative of all audiences.”

In the past, Fuse has charged that distributors including Comcast and AT&T  have discriminated against it because it is minority-owned. 

Also signing on to the pettion were Common Cause, the National Hispanic Media Coalition, Public Knowledge and the United Church of Christ Media Justice Ministry. ■

Comcast said it was making a $1 million investment in Backstage Capital’s Opportunity Fund, which backs startups with founders who are women, people of color or part of the LGBTQ+ community.

Comcast said the investment makes it one of the biggest investors in the fund. The investment is part of Comcast NBCUniversal’s $100 million commitment to help address systemic racism and inequality.

“We’re proud to be an investor in Backstage Capital’s Opportunity Fund, which will provide increased funding to help advance emerging founders who identify as women, people of color, and LGBTQ+,” said Danielle Cohn, VP, startup engagement and head of LIFT Labs, Comcast NBCUniversal. “With more than 60% of the entrepreneurs across our accelerators coming from underrepresented backgrounds, this partnership with Backstage Capital will both help fuel strategic investments among a diverse startup ecosystem and our future innovation pipeline.”

Backstage Capital has one of the largest venture portfolios of women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ founders, with investments in nearly 200 companies. 

“We are excited to partner with Comcast as an investor in our newest fund,” said Brittany Davis, general partner at Backstage Capital. “We hope their investment causes other organizations to take note and take their lead. Comcast's capital will have a huge and direct impact on the founders we support and ultimately goes toward increasing equity within the innovation ecosystem.”

Comcast NBCUniversal’s Startup Engagement team offers programs and resources for startups in connectivity, media, entertainment, sports, and tech that can enhance the products and services Comcast, NBCUniversal, and Sky provide. Antonia Dean, director, startup pipeline diversity at Comcast NBCUniversal, will work with with Backstage Capital on this investment to open doors for founders across its global network.

“It is important now more than ever to continue to help provide more equitable opportunities and access to funding for entrepreneurs, at every stage,” said Dalila Wilson-Scott, executive VP and chief diversity officer of Comcast Corporation. “This investment in Backstage Capital will directly support women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ founders at a critical moment in their journey to building successful companies, and reflects our commitment to advancing inclusive programs for the startup community.” ■

Fox Corp. highlighted its inclusion and diversity efforts during a recent panel discussion in which talent from its news, sports and entertainment divisions cited the need for an inclusive and authentic approach to diversity issues.

Moderated by Harris Faulkner, host of Fox News Channel's The Faulkner Focus, the March 23 panel -- part of Fox Corp.’s Content Drives Commerce Brand Partnership Summit -- discussed the importance of authenticity in addressing on- and off-screen inclusion issues.

“Authenticity is the most important word when you’re talking about diversity,” Fox Sports on-air personality Joy Taylor said. “You can very much placate to diversity and check a box and create a scenario where you’re welcoming people, but if it’s not authentic, the people you are trying to include … are very quickly going to walk into the room and realize this isn’t really it.”

Miranda Kwok, creator and executive producer of drama series The Cleaning Lady, said she had concerns that distributors wouldn’t allow her to tell the story of an undocumented immigrant trying to provide for her family, but she found a willing outlet in Fox.

“I thought I was going to pitch it to cable and streaming where I thought these stories would land, but [series producer] Warner Bros. said there is a greater appetite right now for more diverse stories and different perspectives on broadcast television,” she said. “They [Fox] totally embraced the fact that it was a story about a southeast Asian woman who is an undocumented immigrant. So it’s been a very, very exciting time to have all of that support to tell a story [of someone who is] normally marginalized, pushed into the shadows and told they don’t matter."

The panel also said that the industry needs to continue to push for more diversity and inclusion in front of the camera and in the producer’s chair. “The more voices and background through diversity moving forward doesn’t just help us win, but it drives home the point that we count, especially when it's hard,” Faulkner said. “We bring something to the table that not everyone does, so let’s pull up some more chairs and create a bigger table. The power of the voice matters, and it can’t all be the same because then people begin to tune us out.”

Tammi Mac, host of talk show Business of Being Black with Tammi Mac on streaming service Fox Soul, also said that diversity needs to be the norm rather than the trend within the industry. “A lot of times when we experience a television show that’s diverse, we think of it as a trend … but that does a disservice to diversity and inclusion because that means that it's in and then it’s out,” she said. “You want to think about diversity for the long haul. This is how you will continuously include people of every race, age, gender to be a part of your program, and to tell those stories in an authentic way so that those people who are those people will be tied in.”

Also: Fox Soul's James DuBose Eyes Profit After Expanding Viewership

Joel Kuwahara, co-founder of animation production studio Bento Box -- which Fox acquired in 2019 -- added the industry has to find ways to give more opportunities to people and voices who aren’t being heard. “I personally would like to be able to help these young artists, some of these diverse voices to help make something they may not know how to make in the animated space,” he said. “It can get very complicated to do the kind of work we do, but they need an opportunity.” ■

Broadcasters are pushing back hard on the Federal Communications Commission’s potential restoration of the mandate that broadcasters file data on the diversity of their workforces and that the data be available to the public, including by blaming Big Tech for some of broadcasting's diversity recruiting problems.

The annual collection of Form 395-B data on workforce composition (race and gender) has been in limbo for two decades. The filing of the form was suspended in 2001 following an appeals court decision vacating part of the FCC's Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) requirements. Even though the FCC in 2004 revised the regulations on filing the form, broadcasters still did not have to file it due to unresolved issues about data confidentiality, issues the FCC is trying to resolve under chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel.

In a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) issued last July, the FCC said it wanted to “refresh” the record on Form 395-B data collection and related ”legal, logistical and technical issues” of potentially lifting the suspension.

But according to an ex parte filing at the FCC, executives from the National Association of Broadcasters, accompanied by 40 broadcasters — general managers, owners and others — from large and small companies and markets met with staffers for all the commissioners to push back on reinstating the form.

The broadcasters said they are all for improving diversity, but said restoring the form “would do nothing to help achieve this aim, and in fact, could distract the FCC and industry from more effective actions.”

They suggested one of those actions would be for the FCC to “boost interest” in TV and radio jobs given that broadcasters already were doing “everything in their power to attract and retain diverse talent” against a Big Tech industry draining the workforce.

“Several broadcasters described the hurdles they face in trying to attract a diverse pool of qualified job candidates, or for that matter, any pool of qualified applicants,” the broadcasters told the FCC. “In their recent experience, many job applicants — regardless of race, ethnicity, or gender — are more interested in working for one of the Big Tech companies or some other outlet they perceive as more relevant or cutting-edge, and that typically can afford to pay higher salaries.“

The NAB has also argued to the FCC that the form would pressure broadcasters to give preferential treatment to candidates of a particular gender or race.

Taking quite a different view of the issue was the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC), which had its own meeting last week with FCC officials.

MMTC took issue with some of the broadcaster pushback, saying that while “career-building opportunities that extol the benefits of broadcast employment are useful, they are not a substitute for enforcement of the EEO Rule.”

While the broadcasters told the FCC that they “already do everything in their power to attract and retain diverse talent,” the MMTC didn't see it that way. “[N]o amount of career enthusiasm can overcome the ill-will of an employer who chooses not to recruit or equally employ people of color or women,” the group said.

As to the suggestion the form would force broadcasters into unfair hiring practices, the MMTC said: “The reporting of EEO data — whether anonymously or publicly — does not ’pressure‘ licensees to hire preferentially on the basis of race or gender.” ■

Nielsen said it has launched a Diverse Media Equity Program, which is designed to highlight minority-owned media companies to advertisers and media buyers.

Canela Media, a Latina-owned media company, was part of a pilot initiative and the number of campaigns it had that were measured by Nielsen tripled.

Also: Estrella Media Renews Local TV Measurement Deal with Nielsen

“We’re excited about Nielsen's commitment to bringing more visibility and support to minority-owned businesses,“ said Isabel Rafferty, founder and CEO of Canela Media. “Our partnership with Nielsen has enabled us to deliver the granular level of transparency and measurement our clients demand. Nielsen has been a tremendous partner; they understand our business and offer us valuable insight for campaign optimization and advertising efficacy.”

Nielsen, along with Procter & Gamble, has seeded a $130,000 reimbursement program with the National Minority Supplier Development Council to help cover certification fees for diverse-owned media suppliers who qualify. Certification is frequently required by large companies to qualify for diverse investment.

“Nielsen is investing in diverse-owned media by getting rid of historical barriers in traditional measurement,“ Nielsen CEO David Kenny said. ”Advertisers and the media industry recognize the need to be more inclusive and want to ensure they reach an audience that is increasingly diverse. We are leading the charge to develop a consistent framework and metrics to help demonstrate the value of diverse-owned media.”

As part of the new initiative, Nielsen releases the Diverse-Owned Media Audience Reach and Profiles report. The report found that:

Hispanic-owned local TV reaches 61% of viewers 18-plus in markets ranked 101 and smaller where they are present including 24% of Asian Americans, 33% of Blacks and 39% of Hispanic viewers,

Asian American-owned local TV stations, where they are present in markets 1 to 48,  reach more than 200,000 adults 18-plus.

Native American-owned radio reaches nearly 800,000 listeners across the U.S. with listeners spending almost seven hours a week on average in metro markets ranked 51-100. ■

As the TV industry celebrates Black History Month, African-American viewers say they‘re seeing more of themselves and their stories on the small screen but want to see even more inclusive content that reflects their experiences.  

Today, there are nearly 50 scripted series on broadcast, cable and streaming services that feature Black leads or predominantly Black casts. While that’s a drop in the bucket compared to the 559 scripted TV shows offered in 2021, according to FX research, industry observers say it‘s certainly an improvement over what was on television a decade ago.

While several iconic and popular shows will leave the air this year (ABC’s Black-ish, OWN’s Queen Sugar, TNT’s Claws and Showtime’s Black Monday), there are plenty of new shows aiming to fill the gap (Amazon Prime Video’s Harlem, ABC's Queens, Starz’s Run The World and ABC’s The Wonder Years). Also on tap is the much-anticipated March return of FX’s original comedy series Atlanta, starring Emmy-winner Donald Glover.

Also: Black History Month: What to Watch (February 1-14)

Black viewers are noticing the increase in content. According to Horowitz‘s recent FOCUS: Black: Consumer Engagement report, 55% of viewers said that they are seeing more Black actors as lead characters in scripted TV shows. More importantly for distributors, two in three Black viewers say that seeing Black characters and communities portrayed in positive ways positively impacts their decision to watch a show or a movie, according to the report.

While the report shows that viewers are reacting positively to the increase in Black images currently on-screen, Horowitz Research chief revenue officer and insights and strategy lead Adriana Waterston said there’s a desire to see even more diversity and inclusion within those characters and storylines. Indeed, Horowitz reported that 66% of Black TV viewers wanted to see more TV shows and movies that showcase the diversity of the Black experience here in the U.S. 

“This is an audience that in itself is incredibly diverse in a lot of ways, including cultural diversity, religious diversity and lifestyle diversity,” Waterston said. “There are so many differences that can be celebrated, and consumers are now saying that it’s not just enough for the representation of Black audiences to be good in numbers and quality. They are saying, ‘I want to really see myself represented,’ and that requires a level of understanding of the audience and a level of nuance.” 

Shows like Netflix‘s French-produced series Lupin, about a Senegal-born man looking to avenge his father’s death in Paris, and CBS‘s Bob Hearts Abishola — which takes a comedic look at immigrant life in America — have begun to help shine a light on diversity within the African-American community. 

“Current statistics and research substantiate that the U.S. Black population is not monolithic,” said One Caribbean Television president of sales and marketing Mark Walton. “At a time when Black-themed content is in demand, telling the stories of Black immigrants, primarily from Africa and the Caribbean, and their descendants, undoubtedly provides an opportunity to attract millions of viewers, many of whom rarely see themselves reflected in the narrative of being Black in America.”  

Waterston added: “The awakening to the dangers of stereotypical representations that was so damaging for so long has made people become more sensitive to on-screen portrayals. The next phase is not only being sensitive but being inclusive.” ■

Marcus Riley, senior director of content strategy for Scripps Local Media's northern region has added "inclusive journalism" to his title, with a charter to oversee the company's effort "to place more emphasis on inclusive journalism and representing all sectors of our audience in our newsrooms," according to Sean McLaughlin, VP of news for Local Media.

E.W. Scripps is one of the largest TV broadcast groups in the country, with 61 TV stations in 41 markets.

In the wake of the country's racial reckoning following the death of George Floyd, companies across the spectrum have been looking to heed that call for change. Scripps said it has been conducting research to "learn how to be more inclusive in its news coverage and connect better with the people who live in our communities."

McLaughlin said that Riley will be working with all of Scripps' local news operations to implement its research findings.

“Content strategy is about more than how to cover news,” Riley said. “It’s about how to engage with a community and connect on new and important levels so we’re reflecting our audiences – how they look and how they feel. Scripps is committed to getting better and better at that, and I am committed, too.” ■

The beleaguered Hollywood Foreign Press Association said it will not livestream Sunday's Golden Globes Awards but instead will hold a private ceremony.

The event, which was pulled off of NBC last May amid controversy surrounding the lack of diversity among HFPA board members, will go on without any live video coverage, the HFPA announced Thursday in a tweet. “We will be providing real-time updates on winners on the Golden Globes website and our social media,” according to the Twitter post.

Earlier this week the HFPA said it would reveal the Golden Globe Awards winners Sunday evening from the Beverly Hilton hotel in Los Angeles, as well as focus on the “long-established philanthropy work of the HFPA.” Nominations for the Golden Globes were announced in December, with HBO/HBO Max garnering 15 nominations on the TV side, followed by Hulu and Netflix with 10 nods.

Also: HBO's 'Succession,' Netflix's 'Power of the Dog' Lead Golden Globe Nominations ■ 

Altice USA said EVP of government & community affairs and chief diversity officer Lee Schroeder will leave the company in July and that EVP of Communications Lisa Gonzalez Anselmo will assume her community affairs and chief diversity officer roles.

Anselmo will continue to head Altice’s communications efforts and will report to CEO Dexter Goei. The company will look to appoint a new head of Government Affairs.

“Lee has been a tremendous and invaluable asset to the Altice USA team from the beginning, and I thank Lee for her leadership and guidance as the company established itself in the U.S. market,” Goei said in a press release. “I am also grateful that Lee will continue to lead our Government Affairs team over the next few months, and I look forward to working with her to transition these responsibilities to a new leader in the near future.” 

“Lisa has always been passionate about our D&I program and our community affairs work, and her close partnership with Lee in these areas make her the perfect fit to lead these important and growing initiatives,” Goei continued. 

Schroeder joined Altice USA in 2016 from Cablevision Systems, which it acquired that year and where she was SVP of government and public affairs. She joined Cablevision in 1997 and had previously served as a policy consultant at the Washington Utilities & Transportation Commission, an aide to commissioner Jolynn Barry Butler at the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, and held the position of acting director of congressional and public relations for the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners.

As EVP of government & community affairs and chief diversity officer, Schroeder was responsible for local, state and federal government relations, including the development of regulatory and legislative strategies for the company’s video, telephony, broadband and wireless services, as well as the political and public affairs for the company. Additionally, she was responsible for the company-wide program to champion diversity and inclusion throughout all areas of the business. 

“My time at Altice USA included some of the most pivotal and fulfilling moments in my career, and I have so much respect for Dexter, the entire leadership team, my direct teams, and all my colleagues at the company, who I have no doubt will continue to do great things for the industry and our customers,” Schroeder said in a press release  “I am confident that we will find an excellent leader for our Government Affairs team and that our Community and D&I groups will continue to thrive under Lisa’s guidance.”

Anselmo also joined Altice USA from Cablevision, where she was VP of corporate communications. Prior to joining Cablevision in 2010, Anselmo was director of public affairs and communications at American Express where she was responsible for internal, external and executive communications activities for the company’s U.S. and Latin America Merchant Services Division and the Risk, Information Management & Banking Group, respectively. She began her career at Altria Group, the parent company of Philip Morris USA, where she managed media relations efforts related to tobacco litigation and legislation, and the company’s corporate reputation efforts.

“Having a diverse and inclusive culture is of paramount importance for Altice USA, and I am incredibly proud of our D&I program and the work we have done thus far to ensure we are creating a safe and positive environment for all people throughout our company,” Anselmo said in a press release. “Our community programs are also key to helping Altice USA make a difference in the many communities we serve, and I’m excited to help lead both these groups in their next chapter.” ■

The Tegna Foundation, the charitable organization sponsored by broadcaster Tegna Inc. in partnership with its local TV stations, said Tuesday that it has awarded 234 Community Grants to help support several critical community programs and needs.

The Foundation’s Community Grant amounts average between $1,000 and $5,000 each and this year supported community initiatives like providing shelter and support for those experiencing homelessness and food insecurity, education programs for at-risk youth, and programs supporting and promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion.

According to Tegna, the majority of 2021’s Community Grants support the following UN Sustainable Development Goal (UN SDG) goals: Good Health and Well-Being (42%); Quality Education (22%); and Zero Hunger (20%).

“Our stations’ continued commitment to empowering their local communities through fundraising and grantmaking is invaluable and inspiring,” Tegna CEO Dave Lougee said in a press release. “We are honored to support all of our local partners who share our values and commitment to serving those in need.”

Among the grants awarded were:

The Foundation also approved four special grants to support diversity, equity, and inclusion and local journalism, including:

· George Floyd Memorial Foundation Scholarship Fund: In partnership with KARE, Tegna’s NBC affiliate in Minneapolis, a grant was made to provide scholarships to deserving high school students accepted to 2- or 4-year colleges and/or universities.

· Hispanic Heritage Foundation: Supporting programs to identify, inspire, prepare, and connect Latino leaders in the community, classroom, and workforce.

· NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund (LDF): Providing general support for LDF, which seeks structural changes to expand democracy, eliminate disparities, and achieve equality.

· Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press: Supporting the Local Legal Initiative, specifically supporting local journalists in defending their rights to gather and report the news.

Tegna Foundation Community Grants are vetted by a committee of employees at each station, including the station general manager, and approved by the Tegna Foundation Board of Directors. To learn more, click here. ■

The priority at HBO is growth for HBO Max, said Jackie Gagne, senior VP of cultural marketing at HBO, with a focus on subscriber acquisition and retention, and user engagement. She mentioned the audience initiative Pa’lante!, which brings diverse new voices to HBO Max, and helps Latinx audiences find the content they desire. 

Gagne described Pa’lante! as “a platform that creates awareness.” Much of it is done on social media. 

“We create immersive experiences to support the programming,” added Gagne, who was named to her current role last year.

Gagne spoke with Joseph Schramm of Schramm Marketing Group for the Promoting Content to Hispanics panel at the Hispanic TV Summit.

More recently, HBO launched Scene in Black, designed to promote Black voices. Gagne said an initiative to promote Asian-American and Pacific Islander voices is in the works, too. 

Diversity has long been a priority at HBO, Gagne added, mentioning HBO Latino launching some 20 years ago. “The research shows, diverse teams just perform better,” she said. “And they’re more innovative.”

In terms of building a diverse workforce, Gagne said she looks for strong marketers who are “incredibly passionate about the work” and those who “embrace cultural difference and have cultural fluency.” ■

Diversity groups want the FCC to start now to bake equity into 6G wireless and they have their own five point plan for how to get that done, including extending the cable procurement rule to "all FCC-regulated technologies' and setting benchmark percentages of contracts that must go to minority and women-owned firms.

That comes after acting FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel said at the 20th Americas Spectrum Management Conference earlier this month that given the issues with 5G, from the need for midband spectrum to global standards to supply chain security, it was already time to start "serious thinking about "how we can better
position ourselves for success with 6G."

In a letter to Rosenworcel Monday (Nov. 8) a copy of which was obtained by Multichannel News, the groups, led by Multicultural Media, Telecom & Internet Council and including Rainbow PUSH, the NAACP and the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters, cited her speech and said given that equity planning for 5G--rural access, homework gap, affordability--"started late," the FCC should get out in front of the issue for the next generation.

"Considering the fact that minority procurement is now federal policy, and as it contemplates the delivery of 6G, MMTC is joining with [other] organizations to urge the FCC to take these five steps to ensure the delivery of affordable and accessible services to communities of color..."

The steps are:

1. "Include a diverse contingent of engineers and demographers on the Technological Advisory Committee.

2. "Direct the Communications Equity and Diversity Council (CEDC) to develop a plan for the training and inclusion of small, minority, and women-owned contractors in the 6G rollout.

3. "Provide the Office of Communications Business Opportunities (OCBO) with the personnel and resources it will need in order to conduct technical and entrepreneurial training for the 6G opportunity.

4. "Set a specific benchmark for 6G’s deployment contracting for MBEs [minority business enterprises] and WBEs [women business enterprises] such as was done in Atlanta, which set a goal of 25% for airport contracts."

5. Grant MMTC’s proposal to extend the highly successful Cable Procurement Rule to all FCC-regulated technologies. Adopted in 1993 in the wake of the 1992 Cable Act, the Rule requires cable operators to “encourage minority and female entrepreneurs to conduct business with all parts of its operation; and...analyze the results of its efforts to recruit, hire, promote, and use the services of minorities and women and explain any difficulties encountered in implementing its equal employment opportunity program.”

MMTC has long pushed the FCC to extend the cable contracting rule to broadcasters.

Actor Kal Penn (House, Designated Survivor, Harold & Kumar) said he thinks that streaming services have helped diversify the entertainment industry, an industry with a history of typecasting minorities.

Penn was being interviewed by CNN's Jake Tapper about his new book, "Maybe I Do Have a Story to Tell," which includes stories about his being forced to adopt an Indian accent to get roles--he was born and raised in Montclair, NJ, and does not have an accent--some of which he turned down, others he took because he needed them on his resume.

He said of one casting decision that when he argued against a stereotypical accent he was told that he was lucky that people like him could work in the business.

Also: New Bill Would Incentivize Diverse Streaming

Penn said that over the intervening couple of decades, the industry has improved "by leaps and bounds" in addressing diversity, thanks more recently to OTT.

"I think one of the big things that has helped television and entertainment change for the better are the streaming platforms like Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu," he told Tapper. "If you think about the content that they have, they are often times outside the purview of race or gender. They just make great, compelling characters that anyone wants to watch no matter what the characters are, no matter who we are."

A Nielsen diversity and inclusion report last January found that "the widest assortment of shows starring people of color was found on streaming platforms," and that streamed shows had either the most of the second most recurring characters who were Black, Latino, Asian, Middle Eastern or Native American.

NBCUniversal’s Telemundo unit said that, working with the #SeeHer movement, it has developed a storytelling guide for Latina characters.

The #WriteHerRight guide will give brands and content creators a lens to apply to help Hispanic women see themselves accurately reflected in programming and advertising.

“P&G and its brands are deeply committed to powering progress for the Hispanic community every day and the content we develop and support must feature characters with whom Latinas can identify,” said Marc Pritchard, chief brand officer, Procter & Gamble and co-chair of SeeHer, which is backed by the Association of National Advertisers. “We see a lot more diversity in ads and programs today, but we need to ensure that Latinas are accurately portrayed in a real, respectful and genuine way that truly reflects who they are.”

The #WriteHerRight guide builds on SeeHer’s efforts to improve representation for women of diverse backgrounds, seeking to both raise awareness of the complex storytelling needed across Latina characters and provide creative teams with thoughtful ways to reflect Hispanic women more accurately.

Also: Telemundo Launches Streaming Division That Will Feed Peacock

“We’re thrilled to support the ANA in developing this very important tool,” said Mónica Gil, executive VP, chief administrative and marketing officer for NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises. “Nearly one in five women in the U.S. are Latinas influencing a large part of the $1.9 trillion in Hispanic consumers’ purchasing power, so it is important for brands and content creators to connect with them authentically and accurately to fuel their businesses’ growth.”

The Latina characters guide is being unveiled Tuesday at the 2021 ANA Multicultural Marketing and Diversity Conference. It provides a checklist of questions that help ensure that writers and producers have thought through their Latina characters.

NAMIC will look to shine a light on the advancement of the cable industry’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts during its virtual 35th annual NAMIC Conference, which launches Tuesday (Oct. 5) as part of the industry's Diversity Week festivities.

The theme of the three-day conference is “Removing Obstacles. Magnifying Opportunities” and will feature a lineup of industry leaders and experts discussing the pressing DEI issues facing the communications and cable industry, according to NAMIC.

The conference will open Tuesday with its L. Patrick Mellon Mentoring session featuring a discussion with Music World Entertainment president Mathew Knowles. Other conference highlights include NAMIC’s annual Next Generation Leaders and Luminaries Awards; the “Meet the Execs” panel session featuring Walt Disney Company VP, Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution Christian Divino, Kishshana & CEO CEO Kishshana Palmer, and Arrington Coaching LLC COO David Arrington; and the” Setting the Course of International Allyship” panel featuring WarnerMedia SVP, Equity and Inclusion MyKhanh Shelton and A+E Networks EVP, Corporate Brand Strategy and Chief of Staff Juliana Stock.   

NAMIC president and CEO Shuanise Washington spoke to Multichannel News about this year’s virtual NAMIC Conference goals and objectives and provided an early look at plans for the diversity organization’s in-person NAMIC Conference in 2022. An edited version of the interview appears below. 

MCN: What are your goals for this year’s NAMIC Conference? 

Shuanise Washington: Our 35th annual conference will provide a global platform for emerging and thought leaders to discuss topics ranging from culturally competent marketing to racial equity. Attendees will engage in professional networking sessions, delve into best practices with industry leaders, and learn the emerging industry trends that will shift the future of cable and communications. 

MCN: Has going to a virtual format for a second straight year helped or hurt attendance sign-ups? 

SW: Our registration numbers have already exceeded last year and people are still registering. A virtual format has expanded our ability to reach more people and in turn allowed more people to be a part of our conference. We are thrilled that the cable, media and entertainment  industry continue to rely on NAMIC and our annual conference for tools, strategies and professional connections to empower diversity, equity and inclusion in their companies. 

MCN: Has the virtual format made it easier to secure key speakers? 

SW: In some ways, it has. We have been able to expand the breadth and depth of our speaker pool because we do not have to contend with travel and a fixed timeframe, so to speak, as many of the sessions are pre-recorded. I am really excited about so many of our sessions and speakers this year, like the L. Patrick Mellon session on mentoring with Dr. Mathew Knowles. Dr. Knowles and Julissa Bermudez, television personality and actress at CLEO TV, will engage in a lively discussion about the importance of mentoring in establishing a successful career and legacy.  They will tackle issues many underrepresented employees feel might have already existed within their companies—even before the COVID pandemic: isolation, lack of support, barriers to access, and so on. 

MCN: Will you continue to feature virtual elements at next year's conference when it's back to in-person status? 

SW: Yes. The virtual format has been quite successful in expanding our reach and in making the conference more accessible. Accessibility is central to our mission. We are exploring ways to enhance the virtual experience so that we can draw attendees from every state in the nation—and from people committed to DEI work in the media, entertainment and cable industry around the world. 

The National Association of Broadcasters said Federal Communications Commission policies are a big reason there isn't more diversity in broadcast ownership.

The broadcasting trade group shared that view in comments on the FCC's 2018 quadrennial review of broadcast and other ownership rules (the review has been delayed due to the legal back-and-forth over that issue).

The NAB told the commission that the FCC’s restrictions on multiple and small-market ownership are absurd and work against its goal of a more diverse media. It argues that the COVID-19 pandemic and economic recession have put an exclamation point on the need to reform the system.

The main reason for low levels of minority and female ownership is a lack of access to capital, the NAB said, which structural ownership rules don't address. But even if that capital were available, the FCC's rules are a disincentive to new investment, the trade group argued.

“In a world where investors and new entrants have countless other media and communications options,” NAB said, “the commission itself is a major impediment to increased diversity in the broadcast industry.”

Broadcasters have been trying to get out from under structural ownership rules for years, succeeding in getting some key deregulation under former FCC chairman Ajit Pai, only to have a federal court reverse that decision over what it said was the FCC's failure to sufficiently explore the impact of that deregulation on diversity. The U.S. Supreme Court then reversed that reversal, reinstating the deregulatory order but giving the new Democrat-led FCC a chance to restore the rules as part of the quadrennial review, for which the FCC has sought new comment to “refresh the record.”

The NAB also said the FCC’s ownership restrictions hurt localism because they prevent broadcasters in smaller markets from “leverag[ing] the strong economies of scale in local news production,” leveraging broadcasters' needs against the Big Tech companies that dominate content discovery and digital advertising, and “imperil[ing] the ability of news providers to reach online audiences with their local content and to derive ad revenue from that content.”

Finally, NAB said it is time for the FCC to stop maintaining the fiction that broadcasters compete only against other broadcasters. It pointed to a study submitted by the Justice Department that concluded that “digital platforms compete with local TV broadcasters for local ad dollars and that the relevant market for analyzing local TV station combinations should include advertising on digital platforms.”

The NAB pointed out that the prohibition on owning more than one AM, FM and TV station in a market dates from when Franklin D. Roosevelt was in the White House. “[T]he FCC cannot justify its ownership rules by acting as though broadcast stations are still the only relevant electronic outlets, as in the days of President Roosevelt’s famous fireside chats,” the NAB said.

The FCC actually closed the formal comment period on its delayed 2018 Quadrennial Review two years ago. But the Media Bureau, in opening up a new comment period, said: “The 2018 Quadrennial Review proceeding has generated, and continues to generate, significant interest, including through the submission of additional information even after the initial comment period has ended. Accordingly, we ask commenters to take this opportunity to update the record in the 2018 Quadrennial Review proceeding, including with regard to the diversity-related proposals cited therein.”

A coalition of diversity groups has asked Congress to pass HR 5056, the MVPD Tax Credit Program, which would give a tax credit to MVPDs and their over-the-top streaming counterparts for carrying diverse, including minority targeted, independent programming.

The bill was introduced by Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.).

In a letter to House leadership, the groups, which included the Multicultural Media, Telecom & Internet Council and the National Urban League, "implored" them to pass the bill, which they said would help level the playing field for indies in the pay TV business, including on OTT platforms, such as You Tube TV, Hulu, and Sling.

Also Read: Starks: Broadcast Ownership Report Still Shows Diversity Deficit

Specifically, Clarke's bill provides that:

"For each qualifying carriage agreement with eligible independent programmers, an MVPD will be eligible for a tax credit equal to 1) the lesser of the net license fees paid or incurred by the MVPD or 2) the product of $0.10 multiplied by the number of subscribers per month receiving the independent programming provided under such agreement. 

"Programming credits will not exceed the product of $0.10 multiplied by 3 times the average number of an eligible distributor’s subscribers in a given taxable year. Tax credits received under this Act cannot also be claimed as a tax deduction."

The National Association for Multi-ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC) and Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT) will launch its joint AIM/PAR Workforce Diversity Survey in November, with plans to release the findings during Diversity Week 2022.

The two-year joint workforce survey, which focuses on the current state of ethnic and gender diversity within the media and entertainment industry, was delayed from going out to industry companies earlier this year due to the pandemic, according to NAMIC and WICT officials. 

The 2019 AIM/PAR survey saw an increase in representation of people of color and women in executive and senior-level management positions by 3% and 2%, respectively, compared to the 2017 survey. Also, hiring rates for people of color exceeded the rate for white people by roughly 15% compared with the last survey, while hiring rates for women exceeded the rate of men by nine percentage points.

Read Also: WICT, NAMIC Surveys: Women, People of Color Increase Representation at Senior, Executive and Board Levels 

Leading up to the survey launch, NAMIC, WICT and the Walter Kaitz Foundation will kick off the Commit to be Counted campaign to garner awareness and a commitment from survey-eligible companies. The campaign will reinforce the value of participation in the survey and demonstrate how the data is a critical tool for the industry to improve its efforts to create inclusive workplaces, said the companies. 

The Walter Kaitz Foundation’s annual Hollywood Creative Forum event will focus its lens beyond diversity within the U.S. entertainment industry toward a more global perspective.

The virtual forum, which runs Aug. 11-12, will continue to champion culturally accurate representation across entertainment through its various sessions, conversations and screenings, but this year’s offering will also broaden its reach internationally to showcase content created beyond our boarders, according to Kaitz Foundation executive director Michelle Ray. 

“This year’s theme, ‘Stories from the Diaspora,’ acknowledges the industry’s global audience by exploring stories from the US and across the globe that speak to the human experience of any group of people who are living outside their place of origin, and how every diasporic experience deeply affects our individual and collective stories,” Ray said. “When you think about how globally influential media & entertainment is in shifting and shaping our perspectives, you recognize the huge opportunity, and some would even say responsibility, to expand the lens, to be sure that every story is told well, with authenticity and respect.”

Among the highlights of the Forum are “KaitzTalk” sessions with Africa Channel principle owner and Madison Media Management LLC chairman and CEO Paula Madison, and Revolt Media and TV CEO Detavio Samuels; a screening of documentary film Stateless, which looks at the history and present-day politics of Haiti and the Dominican Republic; and panel sessions focusing on navigating the original content pipeline and understanding the Native American voice in entertainment. 

Read Also: Virtual Diversity Week to Return in October

The FCC has taken a step toward potentially restoring the mandate that broadcasters file data on the diversity of their workforces and that the data be available to the public.

Democrats in Congress, and at the FCC, have long called for a return to that data collection.

The annual collection of Form 395-B data on workforce composition (race and gender) has been in limbo for two decades. The filing of the form was suspended in 2001 following an appeals court decision* vacating part of the FCC's EEO requirements. Even though the FCC in 2004 revised the regulations on filing the form broadcasters still did not have to file it due to unresolved issues about the confidentiality of the data, issues that have yet to be resolved.

Also Read: Pai Signals There Are No Plans to Reinstitute Diversity Reporting Form

In a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) this week, the FCC said it wanted to "refresh" the record on Form 395-B data collection and related "legal, logistical and technical issues" of potentially lifting the suspension.

The NPRM "specifically asks for any additional input on the outstanding issue of whether employee data reported by broadcast licensees on Forms 395-B can or should be kept confidential and/or on a non-station-attributable basis."

The NPRM says that nothing in the court decisions on the FCC's EEO data collection--which were based on how the FCC used the data--prevents the FCC from simply collecting the data and making it publicly available.

The FCC said it was looking for comment on how to collect and handle the information in Form 395-B.

Broadcasters have argued that releasing the data to the public will pressure them to adopt impermissible race- and gender-based hiring decisions, which the courts ruled out, including by filing petitions to deny license renewals.

Also Read: MMTC Slams Broadcaster Arguments for Reducing EEO Reporting Obligations

The FCC asked if there were a way to make sure that the employment data was used only for analyzing industry trends and FCC reports to Congress.

The FCC is also pondering making the form 395-B information anonymous, rather than attributable to a particular station, as was the case before the filing was suspended.

The National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP) is teaming with Disney, Amblin, Starz and the Motion Picture Association to launch Latino Lens: Producers Pipeline Incubator.

"With the Latinx community’s spending power growing towards $2 trillion and an audience reflecting nearly 20% of the box office and 58.9 million of the U.S. population, the industry must include Latinx in the conversation as it relates to the financial growth and future of this business," said NALIP.

The goal is to "mold and cultivate" the next generation of producers, and to make sure they reflect diverse voices.

Who gets to tell the story and control the distribution pipeline gets to help shape the culture, a power generally denied minorities because they were not the executives in the room making those decisions. The Rev. Jessie Jackson has labeled diverse access to media the civil rights issue of this century.

Also Read: Brian Tee's Prescription for Greater AAPI Representation on Television

The incubator program will train participants, up to a dozen in the first year, in TV and movie production and distribution, so that "fresh, inclusive" perspectives are promoted.

That will come via an eight-week pilot program, including curriculum and mentorship elements, those mentors and teachers being established producers with current industry deals. Four of the participants could get six-months paid fellowships at Disney and its production partners, Amblin, and STARZ, with those studios getting final say on who gets the fellowships and whether they will be offered at all following the eight-week program.

Among the topics to be covered in the incubator program are development deals, negotiating tactics, data analysis, story development, pitches, and financing.

ESPN and on-air host Maria Taylor will part ways after the two parties failed to reach a contract extension, ESPN said Wednesday.

The departure of Taylor, who most recently hosted ESPN’s NBA Countdown pre-game and halftime show during the NBA Finals, comes weeks after she was embroiled in a controversy surrounding disparaging comments made against her by ESPN personality Rachel Nichols in a leaked 2020 phone call stating that Taylor was chosen as NBA Countdown host to cover up the network’s “crappy” record on diversity. Nichols eventually apologized for her remarks, but shortly after was pulled as a sideline reporter for this year’s NBA Finals telecasts and replaced with Malika Andrews. 

Also Read: ESPN's Rachel Nichols Sidelined for NBA Finals 

Taylor's last assignment for the network was Tuesday night’s NBA Finals telecast on ABC, according to ESPN.

“Maria’s remarkable success speaks directly to her abilities and work ethic,” said Jimmy Pitaro, ESPN and sports content chairman, in a statement. “There is no doubt we will miss Maria, but we remain determined to continue to build a deep and skilled talent roster that thoroughly reflects the athletes we cover and the fans we serve. While she chose to pursue a new opportunity, we are proud of the work we’ve done together.”

Taylor added in a statement: “So thankful to Jimmy and all of my great teammates and friends at the SEC Network, College GameDay, Women's and Men’s college basketball, and the NBA Countdown family — the people who believed in me, encouraged me, pushed me, and lifted me up. Words are inadequate to express my boundless appreciation, and I hope to make them proud.”

The National Association of Broadcasters has signed the Diversity in Government Relations Coalition Pledge to make sure that diversity is reflected not only in the industry, but in those advocating for industry policy positions.

"We continue to build a workforce that reflects the communities our members serve, including within our Government Relations department, which advocates for our broadcasters on Capitol Hill and at the White House," blogged NAB VP, government relations, Charlyn Stanberry.

NAB is one of the earlier backers of the pledge, along with America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), Signal Group and the Women’s Global Impact Initiative. The coalition was started by Women in Government Relations, the Congressional Management Foundation and the National Journal.

The pledge reads: "We commit to increasing understanding of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and its impact on the government relations field; intentionally addressing the gaps in diverse representation of our staff and our leadership teams that influence local, state, federal and international policy and exploring the unintended consequences that result from policy and advocacy that lack diverse representation, voice and perspective.”

NAB said diversity has always been an integral part of NAB's mission, including within its own shop.

Advertisers and marketers may need to relax payment terms, focus less on metrics and think beyond reach when trying to increase their use of diversity suppliers, but increasing that diversity is key to doing business going forward.

That is one of the takeaways from a new study by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), which found that two thirds (69%) of marketers said they have strategic plans in place to hire diverse suppliers of advertising and marketing services*.

"Marketers need to be open to doing business differently when working with some diverse suppliers," ANA said including hiring new people for their teams and investing in supplier relationships,

ANA said the racial reckoning of the past year has clearly had an impact, according to the study, released Tuesday (May 26), which found that 89% said the importance of supplier diversity has grown over that time. The impetus for the diversity focus was both the events of the past year, sparked by the death of George Floyd, and the importance of supplier diversity generally in a company's inclusion strategy.

“The devastating events of the past year have had a profound effect on all businesses, and the marketing industry has been no exception,” said ANA CEO Bob Liodice at the study's release. “But this report shows that at least one positive development has emerged—a growing number of marketers are realizing the importance and the value of diversifying their supplier base.”

According to the report, women-owned businesses have gotten the most business, followed by Hispanic-owned, small businesses, and Black-owned.

The study revealed the challenges to diversifying suppliers for marketing/ad products, including that the pool of diverse suppliers remains small. ANA recommended that trade associations, marketers and agencies all try to promote the development of diverse suppliers to enlarge that pool.

The March 2021 online study was based on responses from 112 client-side marketers, with in-depth qualitative follow-up interviews.

* A supplier diversity plans is defined as “a proactive business program which encourages the use of women-owned, ethnic/minority-owned, veteran-owned, LGBTQ-owned, disability-owned, and small businesses as suppliers.”

About a year after accelerating its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion efforts across its service territory, Comcast offered an update on its progress, adding that its programs targeted to help low-income communities and minority-owned enterprises have helped thousands of students, employees and small businesses, and are on track to do more this year and beyond. 

Comcast said in June 2020 that it would accelerate its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd, which occurred one year ago Tuesday (May 25), and in that time has made strides to support businesses owned by people of color and create new job opportunities.

In the past year Comcast has opened hundreds of Lift Zones across the country and expects to connect more than 1,000 this year, helping students, seniors, veterans, and others have access to free internet and the tools needed to complete homework, participate in digital skills training, and apply for jobs. The company added that its Comcast RISE program, which launched last fall, will award 13,000 small businesses owned by people of color across the country with grants, technology upgrades, and marketing services by 2022. 

Comcast has also worked to improve employment diversity throughout the company at every level, pointing to its NBCU Academy, launched in January, which provides underrepresented students with training, experience, and scholarships. In addition, the company noted it has committed $1 billion over the next 10 years to help close the digital equity gap, reaching an additional 50 million low-income Americans in that timeframe to ensure that communities of color have the skills and tools necessary to succeed in the digital economy. 

“Ultimately, across all that we do, our mission remains the same – we connect people to what matters most,” Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts said in a blog post. “We use our platforms and resources to help elevate potential and provide everyone with access to the opportunities they need to succeed.”

Veteran actor Brian Tee has played numerous roles on television and film, but none more prestigious or more popular than Dr. Ethan Choi in NBC’s medical drama Chicago Med.

As the industry in May celebrates Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, Tee -- who has also appeared in such films as The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift and Jurassic World -- recently spoke to me about the importance of playing a strong, diverse character on television. He also opined on what needs to be done to increase the representation of Asian Americans both in front of and behind the screen in an edited version of the interview, which appears below. 

Picture This: Why do you believe there seems to be greater media focus on AAPI Heritage Month this year than in previous years? 

Brain Tee: I think to be honest, it's happening this year because all of the recent AAPI hate crimes. I think history tells us that this is nothing new. If you talk about the Exclusion Act or about the internment camps of the 1940s, Asian hate has been around for a very long time -- since the first immigrants came here from Asia to the United States. So I think this year, it’s bridging this gap between AAPI and history in America. I think that's why you're going to see much more historical content being actually produced and talked about, especially during AAPI Heritage Month.

PT: What message do you hope emerges from the increased focus? 

BT: If we’re talking about purely historical content, I think having an understanding of one another definitely bridges certain gaps. I think this hate stems from fear, and if we can have that connection and historical factual sense of belonging and being here, I feel it would bridge certain gaps of hate and fear that we all live with today. At least we're trying to create progress in a larger way. The state of Illinois (House of Representatives) just passed AAPI history education for all schools, and that’s really amazing. When I was growing up I didn’t even learn about my own history at all. I had to learn it in college and I had to seek it out. Now, if it's communicated within the general population, then it creates the kind of relatability that brings it all together.

PT: Do you feel that the industry is offering more positive Asian-American images onscreen?

BT: I would say that there are more opportunities. I mean the bar was set pretty low, so you didn’t have to edge that much higher to get more, but I’m very hopeful that it will continue to grow and stay for a very long time. If art imitates life and us being a part of society as a whole, I think being a part of the medium in which we broadcast on television and or film is a necessity because we all grew up watching television and watching movies and are educated by them. It’s in our living rooms every day --   I grew up watching television and was very influenced by it. Our medium has the power to move mountains and change rhetoric in such a tremendous way.

PT: What does the popularity and success of your character on Chicago Med represent?

BT: He is a positive role model and a veteran of the armed forces. He really serves as the moral compass of the show -- he lives through his own integrity and his own code to try to do the right thing for the greater good. He bends but he doesn’t break. I feel that Ethan is one of the very few AAPI characters to be represented in all of television, especially network television. We have yet to see an AAPI lead a show -- not to say I’m the lead of the show -- but I’m still waiting for that one to happen, but he’s definitely a step forward. I would like to see more of a conscious storytelling in Ethan in the next couple of seasons to hopefully get in-depth into his culture and into who he is as a human instead of just a doctor. It's growing and evolving, but to have AAPI representation in one of the largest franchises on television is pretty amazing.

PT: How does the industry make sure there are more AAPI images on television going forward?

BT: I think we need people to be bold and brave. We need people to be conscious of what they're writing and the stories that they're telling. I feel like so many people are afraid about whether people will watch it, but the bottom line is our industry has proven that if it's good, people will watch it. If you find a good, compelling story, whether it's AAPI, multicultural or not, be brave to tell it. As far as the AAPI community is concerned, we as a community need to stand up, speak up and speak out much more. We need to be in the room where the decisions are made. We need to be in front of and behind the cameras, but also sharing our stories for the next generation. If you put all of those things together, we’ll have the progress that we need in order to create change.

Hearst Television has hired Yasmine Osborne to be director of diversity & inclusion, a new post at the company. Osborne “will build upon diversity & inclusion (D&I) efforts already underway throughout the group, developing and leading new programs to recruit, support and advance a diverse workforce that represents the company’s markets, audiences and society as a whole,” said Hearst TV.

Areas of focus will include employee resource groups, mentorship and sponsorship programs, training and development programs, external partnerships, and employee engagement utilizing opportunities such as cultural/heritage months and company town halls.  

“We established the director of diversity & inclusion role with the intention of building upon and growing our programs to cultivate a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive community for our employees,” said Katherine Barnett, Hearst Television senior VP, human resources. “We’ve already had encouraging initial success with efforts including town halls. Yasmine, who made a real difference at USTA, brings the right experience and vision to the important task of growing these programs and launching new efforts.”

An accomplished tennis player who captained her college team and earned NCAA Division II All-American and Female Athlete of the Year honors, Osborne served in various diversity-focused roles at the United States Tennis Association, most recently as the USTA diversity and inclusion manager.

“We are very excited to have Yasmine join the Hearst Television team as we continue our commitment to expand our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives across our company,” said Hearst Television president Jordan Wertlieb. “Yasmine’s extensive experience, creativity and vision will clearly take our already strong efforts to the next level.”

The CW’s Two Sentence Horror Stories has installed an all-female creative team for season three, led by Lisa Morales, who will serve as showrunner of the program.

The creative team and actors from Two Sentence Horror Stories participated in a panel discussion during the CultureX Conversations conference this week. Register to watch on demand.

The series is notable for its diversity and use of BIPOC and LGBTQ+ stores and talent on screen and behind the scenes.

Read Also: The CW Orders U.S. Versions of ‘Would I Lie to You?’ and ‘Killer Camp’

Morales previously served as a writer and producer on OWN’s Queen Sugar during seasons four and five.

She joins series Vera Miao and Liz Levine as executive producers.

Also on the creative team for season three are producer Liz Alper and story editors Stephanie Adams-Santos, Sehaj Sethi and Lekethia Dalcoe.

The series is produced by Warner Bros. Stage 13 unit.

Read Also: The CW Shares Spring Premieres

“Two Sentence Horror Stories is a very significant series in not only the social issues it addresses within the horror trope, but in its clear purpose of featuring BIPOC and LGBTQ+ stories and talent – above and below the line, as well as in creative positions,” said Diana Mogollón, senior VP and general manager of Stage 13. “Season two continued to push the dialogue of social and psychological fear, and season three will elevate that further with this best-in-class creative team.”

The show finished season two on the CW on Feb. 16 and all 33 episodes are currently streaming on Netflix.

Entertainment Studios/Allen Media Group CEO Byron Allen says the entertainment industry has to become economic partners with Black-owned media, and he’s willing to do what it takes to make it happen.  

Allen, who served as the keynote speaker Tuesday at the Multichannel News CultureX Conversations conference, said he’s not happy with advertisers like General Motors whom he claims do not do enough business with Black-owned media companies including his own media conglomerate, which features a suite of cable networks including The Weather Channel and 16 “Big Four” broadcast affiliated stations in 12 markets. 

Read also: Cover Story: Byron Allen Wants to Save the World 

“I’ve already declared that I’m going to sue Coca-Cola and McDonald’s because they don’t do business with Black-owned media,” he said. “What I’ve said is we’re not going to fix this by talking about it -- we’re not going to fix this by having conversations -- we’re going to fix it  through action. I’ve made it very clear … If you have an ad budget, make sure a minimum of 2% of your ad budget should go to Black-owned media, because that will create opportunities, inclusion and jobs -- even foster creativity. It’ll make a stronger business for all of us and a better industry, community and country.”

The potential legal action against advertisers is similar to lawsuits totaling $40 billion that Allen filed against Comcast and Charter in 2015 for alleged racial discrimination after they refused to carry Allen’s suite of cable channels. While those lawsuits have since been settled, Allen said there’s still work to be done. 

“I wanted to say in a very loud and clear way that we must have economic inclusion for Black-owned media,” he said. “We can’t spend as an industry $70 billion dollars licensing cable networks and none of it goes to Black-owned media. We have a great relationship now with all of the MVPD’s, but it was a conversation that needed to be had, and I’m glad we had it.”

Allen’s advocacy for economic inclusion for Black media was born from his own fight to be successful despite racial obstacles he says he experienced throughout his life, from his early childhood days growing up in Detroit in the 1960s through his move to Los Angeles with his mother in the 1970s, which served as his introduction to the entertainment business. 

While his mother worked at NBC as an intern as she attended UCLA Film School, Allen said he began to see the opportunities for himself in the entertainment industry, particularly after sitting in the shadows watching the production of such shows as The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, Sanford and Son and Chico and the Man.

Allen began performing stand-up comedy at 14 and wrote for comedians such as Jimmy Walker, but said he soon realized the economic playing field was not level for everyone.  

“I found along the way that there were challenges. There were folks who felt like I should be paid a certain amount and that I should not be paid what my white counterparts were being paid … so I decided to learn the business side of show,” he said. 

Allen also spoke of another pivotal point in his career -- his friendship with legendary TV syndicator Roger King. After struggling to get stations to pick up his syndicated shows because he was a person of color, Allen said that King used his influence to get stations to do business with him. 

“I never had a problem having anyone return my phone calls again because of that -- you couldn’t be in business if Roger King didn’t allow you to be in business with his unbelievable  shows,” he said. “But it was unfortunate that he had to kick the door open, and then even after I started selling shows I realized there were a number of other issues. There was a big problem with racism in our industry and folks not leaning in and understanding how bad it is.” 

In particular Allen said his sales representatives experienced the industry’s bigotry first hand when negotiating with potential clients who were told that because Allen was Black, they would not do business with them. Despite the blatant racism, Allen encouraged his salespeople to continue to knock on those doors, just as he did when he started selling his shows.  

“I said to them that that’s not an excuse, that’s an obstacle,” he said. “You are going to have to go back and keep selling, and figure out a way to get around it. That resistance, that racism, is a part of my success.” 

Now Allen says he wants to make sure that his message of economic inclusion reaches the industry’s top executives so that others can succeed within the industry. “This isn’t about being tolerated -- this is about being partners,” he said. “You do that from the top -- that’s what the real leaders have to do from the top. You should know the Byron Allens, and all the Byron Allens in this beautiful country of ours, and how you can engage them, support them, nurture them.”  

He added, “I should not have endured or experienced what I have experienced simply because I’m Black. We have to be vigilant to make sure that we understand that that’s not who we are, and we are better than that. We’re going to do a lot more to make sure no one ever has this experience again.” 

In 2015 the entertainment industry called out the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences after none of the Academy Awards’ 20 acting nominations went to people of color. The #OscarsSoWhite hashtag became a rallying cry for greater inclusion and recognition of performances by and content from women and people of color.

While some may argue that this year’s crop of 2021 Oscar nominations snubbed many quality and arguably deserving and diverse film performances (Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods most notable), there’s no doubt that the Academy has made some strides with regards to inclusiveness, and presented one of its most diverse list of nominees ever.

Nearly half of the Academy’s acting nominations went to people of color this year, including three actors of Asian descent: two for best lead actor (Sound of Metal’s Riz Ahmed and Minari’s Steven Yeun) and one for best supporting actress (Minari’s Yuh-Jung Youn). In addition, six Black actors were nominated for acting awards: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’s Viola Davis and the late Chadwick Boseman; The United States vs. Billie Holiday’s Andra Day; One Night in Miami’s Leslie Odom Jr. and Judas and the Black Messiah’s LaKeith Stanfield and Daniel Kaluuya.

Davis’s best actress nomination for her performance in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom was her fourth acting nomination, the most for any Black actress.

Behind the camera, Chloe Zhao’s best director nomination for her work on Nomadland is the first for a woman of color in the category. Overall, a reported 70 women received a whopping 76 Oscar nominations, a remarkable and precedent-setting achievement.

In a pandemic-influenced year that featured an expanded Oscar field that for the first time included cinema-targeted movies that debuted first on streaming services along with theatrically-released films, diversity and inclusion was the big winner. 

Multichannel News will explore the topic of diversity and inclusion in front and behind the camera as well as in the C-suites a part of its March 16 Culture X Conversations virtual conference,  which will feature insights from television and media leaders who are engaged in diversifying their workspace as well as content they produce so that its inclusive of those who identify by their ethnicity, nationality, language, special needs or sexual orientation. To register, click here.

Access Hollywood’s commitment to inclusion is evident both in the cast of the entertainment show and the array of stories told on it, as the syndicated staple evolves to better reflect the nation that watches it. 

Senior executive producer Maureen FitzPatrick described a “shifted landscape” within Access Hollywood that began a few years ago, and saw more diverse staffers hired, and more women promoted into management roles. “We needed our staff and our storytellers to reflect the viewers,” she said. “The viewers are diverse.” 

Part of NBCUniversal, Access Hollywood premiered its 25th season in September. Daytime show Access Daily debuted in 2010. For its diverse hosts and coverage, the show is receiving a CultureX Award at the CultureX Conversations virtual event on March 16. 

CultureX Awards: Starz Shows the Power of Diversity | Google’s Juanjo Duran: Leveling the Playing Field for Diverse Programming | Juan Williams Brings an Alternative Voice to Fox News

All staffers are encouraged to pitch stories at the morning meeting, meaning a more varied batch of ideas is floating around each day. Host Scott Evans mentions some 50 people in on the meeting some days, many tossing out pitches. “It’s not just senior show staff,” he said. “A P.A. can pitch a segment. A runner can pitch a segment.”

Access Hollywood offers the latest entertainment news, along with true-crime headlines. While celebs will always be the primary focus, the story lineup made more time for topics such as fashion, hair and makeup, which meant screen time for individuals who are not household names or faces. 

“The audience sees a reflection of themselves,” said FitzPatrick, who joined NBCUniversal in 2018. 

That had Access Hollywood well-positioned when viewers’ attitudes toward entertainment shifted in 2020. After COVID hit, Access Hollywood did lots of stories on those FitzPatrick called “the unsung heroes in our country” — first responders helping America handle a grave crisis. Viewers appreciated hearing about people who don’t top-line films or have hit songs. Just after George Floyd’s death in May, Evans contacted executive producer Mike Marson and said the show had to do something meaningful on the Black struggle in America. Marson’s response, according to Evans, was, “We’re already on it.” 

More CultureX Conversations: ‘CultureX’ to Celebrate Diversity, Inclusion | Byron Allen Wants to Save the World | Charting the Course of TV Representation

In June, Access Hollywood premiered a 30-minute special called “A Celebration of Black Voices.” Offering the viewpoints of a range of Black personalities, from celebrities such as Kerry Washington and Taraji P. Henson, to people behind the scenes in Hollywood, the special also detailed the unrest happening around America.

Evans shared what he saw at protests in Los Angeles. “I was encouraged to speak authentically about what I was experiencing,” he said. “A lot of shows, particularly entertainment shows, wouldn’t use that kind of content.” 

Years back, Evans said a segment on hair would feature blonde and brunette locks. Nowadays, “it’s kinky, wavy, curly and straight,” he said. “It feels honest and authentic.” 

Access Hollywood has also worked hard to better reflect other minority communities, FitzPatrick said, and LGBTQ viewers too. 

The show’s cast reflects America, even if it is a little better-looking. Access Hollywood hosts are Mario Lopez, Kit Hoover and Scott Evans, and the correspondents are Sibley Scoles and Zuri Hall. Lopez, Hoover and Evans host Access Daily. 

“The five of them really like each other,” said FitzPatrick. 

Some 90% of the Access Hollywood staff has been working from home, and countless interviews have been conducted via digital platforms. FitzPatrick mentioned how frequently the program was pre-empted in 2020 due to COVID updates and press conferences. “We hung in there,” she said. “We’re happy that COVID will soon [subside] and we’ll get people back in the studio.” 

Keeping It Positive 

Our nation’s struggles have tweaked what people want to watch. Viewers want more positivity, FitzPatrick said, and information on making their home lives a little brighter, whether it is related to cooking or clothing. “In times of change, we shift our programming to meet the needs of our audience,” she added. 

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s ongoing struggles, depicted in their March 7 interview with Oprah Winfrey, are of great interest to viewers, and the Tokyo Summer Olympics, scheduled to start July 23, are a huge draw, too. “We love celebrating athletes and their backstories and their rise to success,” FitzPatrick said. 

She is optimistic Access Hollywood’s momentum will continue once the world gets back to relative normal. It got started when the show set out to reshape itself years back. 

“The key is knowing who the audience is,” FitzPatrick said. “That’s our country. Those are our viewers.” 

When Starz’s hit series Power concluded its sixth and final season in February 2020, it finished as one of the top-rated series on premium TV and the platform’s most-watched series among African American viewers. 

Power, with its diverse cast, was the network’s most successful series, but it wasn’t Starz’s only inclusive show. The programmer, in fact, overindexes on people of color and women featured in lead roles when compared to the rest of the industry, with such dramas as the Power spinoff Power Book II: Ghost, as well as P-Valley, Outlander, Hightown and American Gods, according to UCLA’s Center for Scholars & Storytellers. 

Other shows formerly on the service — such as Vida, produced by Tanya Saracho and featuring a predominately Latin cast; the LeBron James-produced Survivor’s Remorse; and The Spanish Princess, developed by Emma Frost — offer evidence that Starz is no Johnny-come-lately in its on-screen commitment to diverse images and storylines. 

CultureX Awards: Google’s Juanjo Duran: Leveling the Playing Field for Diverse Programming | Viewers See More of Themselves in ‘Access Hollywood’ | Juan Williams Brings an Alternative Voice to Fox News

Not willing to sit on its diversity laurels, Starz in February announced its intentions to lead the diversity conversation both in front of and behind the camera through its #TakeTheLead campaign, which sets out to create a template for how the industry can achieve its representation goals. The network’s continual commitment to diversity and inclusion has earned Starz the CultureX Corporate Commitment to Inclusion in Television Award. 

“It’s our corporate responsibility to really try to make an impact in society and to improve representation on and off the screen so that the Hollywood world looks more like the world we live in today,” Starz president and CEO Jeffrey Hirsch said. “It’s not just a tagline — it’s who we are and what we do everyday. It’s really our single focus in terms of the organization.” 

Sharing Best Practices

Starz plans to launch a series of “Transparency Talks” with various media organizations and featuring thought leaders versed in diversity to discuss best practices toward improving inclusion efforts. The talks will culminate later this year in the Starz Summit, which will showcase the company’s own commitment to creative diversity through offering opportunities to the next generation of voices. 

“We hope that we have great participation from the industry and the public, and really bring great conversation and debate around these topics,” Hirsch said. 

Starz looks to lead by example. A recent report from the Center for Scholars & Storytellers shows just how Starz has executed its vision for greater ethnic and gender representation in all aspects of the company. 

More CultureX Conversations: ‘CultureX’ to Celebrate Diversity, Inclusion | Byron Allen Wants to Save the World | Charting the Course of TV Representation

The report found that, on-air, 63% of series leads for Starz’s original series are people of color, more than 78% above the industry’s average. Further, 57.9% of character leads in its series are women, well above the 45.2% industry average. 

“We have a very specific programming mandate to showcase narratives about women and underrepresented audiences on air,” Hirsch said. “I think it’s really important that if we are going to serve that audience, you need to show that you are authentic to that mission.” 

Behind the camera, nearly 50% of Starz show directors are people of color — 77% more than the industry average — and 43.7% are women. More than half of the network’s showrunners are women, and 47.1% of the executive producers for its shows are people of color, both well above the industry average. 

Behind-the-Scenes Efforts 

The network’s mandate to foster more diversity within its company also extends to the executive offices, Hirsch said. Three quarters of its executive leadership team are women, with 50% of those women people of color. 

He added the numbers are a great starting point, but he hopes to continually improve on them going forward. “It’s a mandate that we use to make all of these decisions in the company,” he said. “I do believe that these numbers will continue to increase as we start to put more shows on the air that fit our mandate.” 

Indeed, already in development for Starz is another Power spinoff, Raising Kanan; the Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson-produced series Black Mafia Family; as well as new drama series Shining Vale from writer Sharon Horgan and starring Courteney Cox; The Serpent Queen, based on the life of French Queen Catherine de Medici; and comedy series Run the World, created by African-American producer Leigh Davenport. 

“I’m very excited about the slate of programming and I’m eager to get into it,” Hirsch said.” 

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association took to the Golden Globes awards stage to address recent controversies surrounding the lack of Black members.

Also Read: Photos: 2021 Golden Globes

HFPA Vice President Helen Hoehne, President Ali Sar and Chairman of the Board Meher Tatna address the issue during Sunday’s Golden Globes telecast, saying the organization -- which determines Golden Globes nominations and winners -- will work toward diversifying its membership, which has no Blacks among its 87 members. 

Hollywood stars recently took aim at the organization regarding diversity, launching the #TimesupGlobes campaign on social media to highlight the HFPA’s lack of Black members.

Also Read: Hollywood Foreign Press Association Slammed for Lack of Diversity

“Tonight while we celebrate the work of our artists from around the globe, we recognize we have our own work to do,” Hoehne said. “Just like in film and  television, black representation is vital. We must have black journalists in our organization.”

Tatna added: “We must also ensure everyone from all underrepresented communities gets a seat at our table, and we are going to make that happen.”

Sar ended by saying that the effort “means creating an environment where diverse membership is the norm, not the exception. We look forward to a more inclusive future.”

Golden Globes hosts Tina Fey and Amy Pohler took a shot at the HFPA in their opening monologue, with Fey quipping, “ Inclusivity is important, and there are no Black members of the Hollywood Foreign Press. I realize HFPA, maybe you guys didn’t get the memo because your workplace is the back booth of a French McDonald’s, but you’ve got to change that. So here’s to changing it.” 

Also Read: Live Golden Globes Coverage

After the show, the Time's Up organization sent very terse letters to both the HFPA and NBC, which aired the Globes, saying that the organization's statements during the show fell short of addressing its diversity problem, according to thewrap.com.

Almost a third of TV episodes in 2019-20 were headed up by directors of color, according to the latest Directors Guild of America Episodic Television Director Inclusion Report*, and more than a third by women.

That was the progress. But where progress remains is among Latinos and women of color, who continue to be "severely underrepresented." Employment of Asian Americans continued to be flat.

Also Read: Telling Stories Sans Stereotype

DGA pointed to some remaining obstacles in the pipeline for first-time directors. “It’s hard enough to achieve success in the competitive world of TV directing,” said DGA President Thomas Schlamme. “Therefore, it is vitally important that no group should be disadvantaged when it comes to developing a career...we will not be satisfied until we see fairness for all. Inclusion is not about one group or another, inclusion means everyone.”

Of the 4,300 episodes produced in 2019-2020, 32% were directed by people of color, up from 27% the season before and from 18% five seasons ago, according to DGA.

Also Read: Black Voices Rising

Episodes directed by women were up to 34% in 2019-2020 from 31% the season before and more than double the 16% of the 2014-2015 season.

Given that the major studios were responsible for almost 75% of that output, DGA ranked them by percentage of directors of color and women for their respective episodes. 

Also Read: CPB Boosts Funding for Content Diversity

Sony and WarnerMedia tied atop the directors of color list, each with 33% of their episodes directed by people of color, followed by Netflix and Disney close behind at 32% apiece and CBS rounding out the top five at 28%, followed by NBCU at 27%, Paramount at 19% and HBO at 18%.

In the women directors category, Paramount was tops at 47% of its episodes directed by women, followed by HBO at 44%, Disney at 41%, WarnerMedia at 38%, and Netflix rounding out the top five at 37%, followed by BCU at 34%, Sony at 32% and CBS at 30%.

Companies that oversaw fewer than 70 episodes--Amazon, Viacom and Lionsgate prominently among them--were not included in the ranking.

*The DGA report data includes "foreign series shot abroad with one or more episodes made under a DGA agreement" and only episodes shot under a DGA agreement, wherever they were produced, are included.