EthnicMajority

(The Wrap) When Comcast was angling to take over NBCU, the cable giant promised prominently to increase the profile of minorities at the company and launch eight independent cable networks, including four under African-American control.

That includes a recent disastrous meeting between Comcast executives and Oprah Winfrey, in which Comcast executives rebuffed the media queen's request for support for her OWN network.

Leading entrepreneur Russell Simmons was rebuffed when he approached NBCU CEO Steve Burke about acquiring the Style network.

The National Urban League, NAACP and Al Sharpton's National Action Network, major civil rights groups, see several trouble spots with their efforts to work with Comcast, TheWrap has learned.

NBCU, for example, has yet to fill the post of chief diversity officer. It has been vacant since Paula Madison, executive vice president, retired in May.

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(RBR) The NAACP has already lashed out at CNN for passing on yet another opportunity to diversity its all white primetime lineup with the exit of Eliot Spitzer. Now the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), NAACP and other civil rights groups are conferring on a plan of attack to deal with CNN and its all-news cable competitors.

The NABJ deplored an “ostensible trend in cable news to pass over African American talent for prime time programming” in announcing that it is in discussions with several civil rights organizations to address the matter and direct a definite course of action.
 
"We appreciate the support of like-minded organizations stepping up to affect change as black journalists are ignored and in turn, black communities get shortchanged in the coverage of important issues," said NABJ President Kathy Y. Times. "We are dedicated to getting this issue resolved."
 
Currently, there are no African American anchors hosting prime time news hours for any major cable network. “While MSNBC is reportedly on the verge of offering civil rights activist Al Sharpton his own prime time slot, there are no black journalists who can tout a similar promotion,” NABJ noted.

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(Daily Caller) The pending merger between NBC Universal and Comcast appears to have received Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski’s support because of the companies’ recent promises to the NAACP, Al Sharpton’s National Action Network, the National Urban League and several Hispanic and Asian civil rights organizations. The two media giants promised more “diversity” in new and existing programming, and in all levels of the company and they promised more minority characters in existing television programs and more new programs targeted at the specific racial minorities.

Comcast and NBC Universal promised black leaders four new channels “in which African Americans have a majority or substantial ownership interest,” two of which would be created within two years of the merger. Comcast also promised the black leaders $20 million within six months of the merger closing for a program to expand opportunities for “minority entrepreneurs.”

The media giants also agreed to allow black leaders to have influence over NBC’s news programming.

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(NNPA) Ownership is a major driver of the Black economy. Knowing this, a group advocating Black media ownership and a former Federal Communications Commission chairman are spearheading a crusade against cable giant Comcast and their proposed merger with NBC/Universal over the cable operator’s lack of African-American owned channels on its national platform.

“When you really start thinking about the areas that are critically important to us as African-Americans, one of the biggest issues is our ability to own, distribute and create our image,” said Stanley Washington, president of the National Coalition of African American Owned Media (NCAAOM).

Although African-Americans make up almost 13 percent of the U.S. population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, they own far less than one percent of the country’s television channels. Seventy-seven percent of all television channels are White-owned, according to media watchdog group Free Press, who cites public FCC filings. The numbers do not include stations owned by publicly held companies whose boards are typically not very diverse.

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