Cable May Get Darts With Laurels Tonight

The cable television industry and its record of ethnic diversity on and off the screen most likely will come under fire tonight at a gala awards ceremony honoring programming that reflects multiculturalism.

The sixth annual Vision Awards, sponsored by the National Assn. of Minorities in Cable, is designed to focus on achievements of shows that incorporate diversity. But this year’s event comes two days after the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People criticized the cable TV industry for its dealings with the African American business community and for having few minorities in top corporate positions or on boards of directors.

Kweisi Mfume, president of the civil rights organization, said cable, for the most part, fails to advertise in African American-owned media and does only minimal business with black vendors. The NAACP gave the industry a grade of C on a report card resulting from a survey of 10 of the nation’s largest cable television companies. The study focused more on cable companies and providers rather than programmers such as HBO or BET.

But the programmers are being criticized by organizers of the awards. They say that, although cable has traditionally done a better job than the broadcast industry of presenting shows, series and specials that show widespread diversity, minorities are still sorely underrepresented in the executive ranks of cable networks and in decision-making roles that would affect what is presented on air.

“I find it disingenuous for the cable networks to present programming that, on the surface, shows a strong representation of minorities, but yet they have no senior-level minorities in key positions that can green-light projects,” said Greg Amerson, an executive producer of the Vision Awards. “Minorities should have a greater influence over what shows get on the air.”

Added executive producer Kyle Bowser: “Yes, I think the industry is going to get spanked. When you look at the number of hours of cable programs that have minority characters or themes as opposed to the total number of hours of cable over a calendar year, it’s pretty abysmal. Each year, the support of the industry for the Vision Awards has grown, but not the hours on the air. We had hoped when we first began the awards that the industry would respond if we applauded minority imagery.”

Figures compiled in 1998 by TN Media, an ad-buying firm, indicate that the percentage of cable subscriptions in black households exceeds white households by 33%.

Dave Beckwith, a spokesman for the National Cable Television Assn., replied: “Cable brought diversity to television and continues to lead the way. We’re open to the idea that we can do better.”

Awards will be handed out in seven categories, including best comedy, drama, children’s show and best dramatic performance.

Nominees for best comedy show include HBO’s “The Chris Rock Show”; “D.L. Hughley: Going Home”; “Chris Rock: Bigger & Blacker”; and two episodes of Showtime’s “Linc’s,” a series that has been canceled.

Best drama nominees include HBO’s “Introducing Dorothy Dandridge”: Showtime’s “Free of Eden” and “Strange Justice”; TNT’s “Passing Glory’; and an episode of the Lifetime series “Any Day Now.”

Tonight’s ceremony will be held at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Mfume will be honored with the Quasar Award for his recent efforts in increasing diversity on television. After Mfume last year blasted what he called a “virtual whitewash” on the four major broadcast networks because of a lack of minorities on prime-time schedules, he was instrumental in securing commitments from CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox to increase diversity both in front of and behind the camera.

Although Mfume, who could not be reached for comment, has not yet talked about the extent of diversity in cable programming, he may express his views during his acceptance speech.

During a press conference Wednesday on the cable report card, Mfume said, “The cable industry shows a strong willingness to provide services to our community, but the same cannot be said for spending dollars to market programs in the black-owned media or to contract with African American-owned vendors.” He said the same could be said of the executive ranks and boards of directors of cable companies.

Beckwith said that minority employment in the cable industry was 31%, above the national workplace average of 26%. But minorities only filled 22% of professional and managerial positions in cable, as opposed to the 26% national average. “We can do better,” he said.

Companies such as Time Warner Cable Co., Cox Communications, AT&T; Broadband & Internet Services and others were measured in several areas, including employment, hiring and promotions, service deployment and advertising and marketing opportunities.