NBC to Air NCLR's ALMA Awards Sept. 16

Comcast, which pledged to put an increased emphasis on diversity in programming, hiring and contracting, in its successful effort to get FCC clearance of its NBCU joint venture, has agreed to air the National Council of La Raza's ALMA Awards on NBC in prime time Sept. 16, according to NCLR.

The awards salute "Latino performers who promote accurate and positive images of Hispanics in entertainment." Desperate housewife Eva Longoria and comedian George Lopez are co-hosting the awards.

"NBC is proud to join with the NCLR ALMA Awards so that we can recognize the outstanding achievements of Hispanic artists with this national showcase," said by Paul Telegdy, EVP, alternative programming, NBC and Universal Media Studios.  "As a company, NBCUniversal encourages diversity at every level of the entertainment industry, and serving as the new home for this awards show will help further realize that goal."  

NBC-owned Telemundo will provide news coverage of the event, which will also be re-broadcast on Telemundo sister net mun2.

Last year the awards were not televised and before that they were on ABC.

NCLR was one of the groups with which Comcast struck a diversity agreement as part of the NBCU merger deal.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.