Blank to Receive ‘2004 Berger Award’

Cable Positive will present Showtime Networks Inc. chairman and CEO Matthew C. Blank with the "2004 Joel A. Berger Memorial Award," the cable industry’s AIDS-action organization announced Wednesday.

The award -- Cable Positive’s highest honor -- is named for Joel A. Berger, a Cable Positive honorary chair and former group publisher of Multichannel News, who died of complications due to AIDS in April 1995.

A fund-raising dinner will be held in Blank’s honor March 30 at the Marriott Marquis in New York.

The evening’s chairs will be: James L. Dolan, president and CEO, Cablevision Systems Corp. and chairman, Madison Square Garden; James O. Robbins, president and CEO, Cox Communications Inc.; Anne Sweeney, president, ABC Cable Networks Group; and Carl Vogel, president, CEO and director, Charter Communications Inc.

"Matt Blank was present at the creation of Cable Positive, and he continues to be there day in and day out pushing AIDS awareness, prevention and education to the forefront of society’s conscience," Cable Positive president and CEO Steve Villano said in a release.

"Cable Positive is honored to recognize Matt’s commitment and leadership to the industry’s AIDS-action organization to continue our fight against this epidemic," he added.

Tables and other sponsorships are available by contacting Melissa Hinnen at 212-459-1606 or via e-mail (melissa@cablepositive.org).