NCTA Looks to Line Up Diddy for Cable Show

Look for the National Cable & Telecommunications Association to try and line up music mogul and now cable entrepreneur Sean "Diddy" Combs for a role in its upcoming convention this May (21-23) in Boston, either as a performer or participant, according to sources familiar with those plans.

Sean "Diddy" Combs was in NCTA's D.C. stomping grounds Wednesday at a Comcast-hosted reception for Revolt, his new African American targeted cable net, one of four minority owned nets Comcast is adding between now and January 2014, per its NBCU deal commitment with the FCC. Comcast is NCTA's largest member.

With the cable show only a couple of months away, look for the invitation to be issued within the next few days, if it has not already been proffered.

If Combs did make the show, he could mix some business with pleasure given that all the major distributors will be in residence and he has put out the call to others to help televise the revolution. He has invited Time Warner, DirecTV, Cablevision and other distributors to "get down with the get down" and carry his Revolt TV.

Combs has said he grew up watching BET , MTV, and HBO and NBC, and indicated he always wanted the chance to add his voice, musical and otherwise, to the mix. NCTA is hoping that mix includes Boston in May.

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.