More Jobs for Female & Minority Cable Executives and Senior
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10/11/2017 More Jobs For Female & Minority Cable Executives And Senior Managers, Study Finds - Deadline "Article Only" "Article with Comments" "Comments Only" Print More Jobs For Female & Minority Cable Executives And Senior Managers, Study Finds By David Robb on Sep 26, 2017 12:21 pm Rex/Shutterstock Female executives and senior-level managers in the cable telecommunications industry have made “measurable progress” in employment opportunities since 2015, according to a new survey. It also found that the representation of minority professionals in the cable industry “exceeds the national benchmark at all levels” — except on boards of directors, where representations “is on par with the national benchmark at 15%.” A summary of the survey found that the current proportion of female executives and senior-level managers at the 24 top cable telecommunications companies is “significantly higher (38%) than the comparable national benchmark (30%).” And among the 19 companies that also participated in both its 2015 and 2017 surveys, the percentage of female executives and senior-level managers increased by 5.5%. The joint biennial survey was conducted by Mercer, the human resources consulting firm, for Women in Cable Telecommunications and the National Association for Multi- http://deadline.com/2017/09/women-minority-cable-industry-executives-senior-managers-more-jobs-1202177325/ 1/3 10/11/2017 More Jobs For Female & Minority Cable Executives And Senior Managers, Study Finds - Deadline Ethnicity in Communications. It was underwritten by the Walter Kaitz Foundation with the support of the industry. Rex/Shutterstock According to the survey, women make up 34% of the full-time employees among the top 24 companies, which together employ an estimated 67.5% of the cable telecommunications industry’s total workforce. “Women are being recruited at higher rates than men and promoted at near equal or higher rates,” the survey found. “And while the turnover rate for women is higher than for men at every level, it has improved since 2015. Projections by Mercer indicate that if current workforce dynamics persist, the female population at the manager level and above is expected to remain flat over the next five years and increase by one percentage point in the next 10 years. This outcome could be improved if organizations are able to retain women at the same rates as their male counterparts.” Said WICT president and CEO Maria Brennan: “There is measurable progress in a number of areas for women, specifically at the senior manager and executive levels, where the industry outperforms other industries. However, there is still work to be done. The key driver for women to achieving parity with men in other areas continues to be better employee retention. Though we are pleased to see improvements in this area in 2017 that results in projected growth over the next 10 years, improvement will be faster with better strategies and programs to improve retention. Overall, the survey underscores the need for WICT and the industry as a whole to remain resolute in our commitment to parity – not only as the right thing to do, it pays dividends for companies as well.” The survey found that people of color made “gains at all levels” of employment across the 19 top companies that participated in both the 2015 and 2017 surveys, with the largest increase coming in the percentage of minority executives and senior-level http://deadline.com/2017/09/women-minority-cable-industry-executives-senior-managers-more-jobs-1202177325/ 2/3 10/11/2017 More Jobs For Female & Minority Cable Executives And Senior Managers, Study Finds - Deadline managers, which increased by 7.8% since 2015. It found that minority executives outpaced the national benchmark by nine percentage points, and that minority professional outpaced the national benchmark by seven percentage points. Related Women In Entertainment & ArcLight Santa Monica Line Up Female-Led Documentary Series The survey, however, found that “promotion rates for professionals of color continue to be lower, though improvements have been made, while turnover rates remain higher than for their white counterparts across the responding organizations. However, due to significantly higher hire rates for people of color, the industry population is expanding. Projections by Mercer indicate that if current workforce dynamics persist, the population of people of color at the manager level and above is expected to increase by roughly two percentage points in the next five years and five percentage points in the next 10 years. This outcome could be improved if organizations are able to retain and promote people of color at the same rates as their white counterparts.” Said NAMIC president and CEO Eglon Simons: “While there is evidence that our industry is committed to increasing multi-ethnic diversity, continued vigilance and commitment will be essential as we move forward. The lower rates of retention and lower rates of promotion being experienced by professionals of color threaten to undermine hard-fought gains. We should be encouraged by the increase in executives and senior managers of color. However, efforts to enhance advancement and retention will play a key role in improving these statistics. In addition, companies must determine the underlying reasons for poor retention and put programs into place for improvement.” In 2015, the top five programmers for the employment of people of color were BET Networks, Discovery Communications, Disney/ABC Television Group, NBCUniversal and Turner. The top five operators were Bright House Networks, Comcast Corp., Cox Communications, Midcontinent Communications and Time Warner Cable. This article was printed from http://deadline.com/2017/09/women-minority-cable- industry-executives-senior-managers-more-jobs-1202177325/ http://deadline.com/2017/09/women-minority-cable-industry-executives-senior-managers-more-jobs-1202177325/ 3/3 Cablefax DailyTM Thursday, September 21, 2017 ● Page 3 -- DISH is increasing its distribution of Ride TV, thanks to a new agreement with the net. The equestrian-centric network will now be available to customers subscribing to Dish’s America’s Top 120 package and above. Ride TV will also be coming to the Heartland and DishLATINO Max packages. NAMIC Notebook: Noting that a focus on diversity is “particularly timely considering what’s going on in our country,” Comcast evp and chief diversity officer David Cohen kicked off NAMIC’s Day 2 by lauding “inclusive innovation” that has helped Comcast develop X1, voice navigation and other features that keep it ahead of the competitive pack. The goal, said Cohen, is always to “turn diverse perspectives into amazing new businesses... there’s incredible value in fostering the entrepreneurial spirit.” He said Comcast views diversity as an opportunity to evolve business models for a changing marketplace. “Change is not something we should be afraid of,” he said. Cohen’s remarks were fol- lowed by a “Shark Tank”-style competition (congrats to fitness startupForte for taking the crown), and of course the NAMIC Annual Awards Luncheon honoring Next Generation Leaders Ebonne Ruffins, vp, local media development at Comcast; Daniel Ellemberg, Fusion TV pres & chief content officer; Linda Pan, AMC Networks’ svp, new digital business; and Romina Rosado, svp & editor-in-chief, E! News & Online at NBCU. Meanwhile, ex-NYC Mayor David Dinkins introduced NAMIC’s Mickey Leland Award recipient Katrina Adams, CEO of the United States Tennis As- sociation. She touted the power of diversity and inclusion, adding that “those ideals and that message have never been more important than they are today.” Hiring Veterans: The cable industry has made hiring veterans a priority, and those efforts were put in the spotlight Wednesday with Charter’s appearance at a House Committee on Veteran’ Affairs hearing. Charter evp, chief HR officer Paul Marchand testified about the MSO’s Broadband Technician Apprenticeship Program for military veter- ans, which allows them to receive certification and get a taste of what it is like to serve as a tech. It’s currently in five states, with plans to bring it to Charter’s entire 41-state footprint over time. That rollout depends largely on states, with some requiring state certifications vs national. Charter has more than 12K veterans working with it today, ac- counting for 13% of its workforce, Marchand told members. The hearing was good PR for Charter, which received compliments for its veterans initiatives as well as its $1.3mln commitment to Hurricane Irma relief efforts ($350K do- nation to Rebuilding Together and $1mln in PSAs). Going forward, Charter’s looking to grow its presence on bases so that it can reach military members before they leave active duty. Marchand also said the company’s looking to partner with the VFW, Hiring Our Heroes and other orgs. Social Circles: Despite the rise in cord-cutters, live TV viewing has proven itself to be one of the biggest drivers in social commentary regardless of the time of year. According to the Video Advertising Bureau’s latest #TVisSocial report, ad-supported TV claimed 67% of the top 10 trending topics on Twitter on any given day of the week. The study used as the basis for the report measured social engagement on Twitter over a period of four weeks. Ad-sup- ported TV hit its social high during the primetime period, with eight ad-supported programs and 13 topics related to the platform trending in Twitter’s Top 10 each night. WICT Touchstones: WICT’s Washington DC/Baltimore chapter will honor nine women with its Touchstones of Leadership Awards at the annual PowerBrokers Breakfast on Oct 5: TeamPeople’s Monica Lucero (Geraldine B. Laybourne Fearless Award), C-SPAN’s Marty Dominguez (Inspire Award), Comcast’s Aimee Metrick (Communi- cate Award), Disney’s Susan Fox (Connect Award), Comcast’s Donna Rattley Washington (Know Yourself Award), Cox’s Kathryn Falk (Catalyst Award), TV One’s Sharon Alston (Listen Award), Discovery Comm’s Kelly Kane (Glenn Britt Emerging Leader Award) and FCC Sec Marlene Dortch (Outstanding Public Service).