Cable to follow FCC EEO rules

In an effort to show their commitment to having a diverse work force, cable
operators will continue to comply with suspended minority-recruitment rules, the
National Cable Television Association's board agreed Wednesday.

'Diversity is important for a number of reasons, but having a work force that
reflects the consumers it serves is particularly good business,' NCTA president
Robert Sachs said.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit struck down as
unconstitutional last February Federal Communications Commission rules that
required broadcasters and cable operators to report and keep records of
minority-recruiting efforts.

At Wednesday's vote, cable operators agreed to conduct at least two
recruitment efforts each year and to file records of those efforts in their
public-inspection files.

In addition, the NCTA's board plans to fund six scholarships that will send
members of the National Association of Minorities in Communications to the Cable
& Telecommunications Association for Marketing's advanced executive program
at Harvard Business School.

Paige Albiniak

Contributing editor Paige Albiniak has been covering the business of television for more than 25 years. She is a longtime contributor to Next TV, Broadcasting + Cable and Multichannel News. She concurrently serves as editorial director for The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (G.E.M.A.). She has written for such publications as TVNewsCheck, The New York Post, Variety, CBS Watch and more. Albiniak was B+C’s Los Angeles bureau chief from September 2002 to 2004, and an associate editor covering Congress and lobbying for the magazine in Washington, D.C., from January 1997 - September 2002.