CableFAX: Th e Magazine’s
2008 Most Influential Minorities in C able
Whoever wins this year’s presidential
election, 2008 will be seen as a watershed period for
minorities in the U.S. Barack Obama currently holds
the slimmest of margins and, should he lose to John
McCain, you can bet he will be back in the next cycle,
having proved that we have nally entered an era in
which a person of color can lead and refocus one of
the two major political parties. An Obama win, on the
other hand, could have immediate in uence on diversity efforts in all industries—they would likely have to
undergo some refocusing of their own (see the round-table on page 37 for a discussion of the future of cable’s
diversity efforts). As our fth annual Most In uential
Minorities in Cable list on the succeeding pages indicates, diversity efforts have borne fruit, as the doors
to advancement continue to widen, so much so that
creating this list has become a nearly Herculean task,
one the CableFAX staff handled with the keen guidance, yet again, of NAMIC, and, of course, with the
participation of the entire industry, which surpassed
last year’s number of nominations.
Last year we knew our No. 1 for 2007, Richard Par-
sons, was leaving the industry, and we wondered if
another minority executive would step into a role as
powerful as chairman and CEO of Time Warner
(no one has). Also, our No. 2 from last year, Christina Norman, has departed MTV. In addition, we’re
still waiting for the day when it won’t be unusual
for a person of color or a woman to hold the top job
at a major MSO. But minorities are wielding greater
in uence on the whole, with programming executives like Debra Lee and Andrea Wong and regional cable chiefs like Steve White not only making
the big deals, but also serving as mentors for
new generations of leaders. That’s what’s more
striking than anything—the giving back. Hiring and
ring and bringing in revenue—sure, that’s one kind
of in uence. But inspiring others? That’s the kind of
in uence that has a lasting effect.
As was the case last year, the top 50 most in uen-
tial executives are ranked numerically, based on
contributions to their companies, the industry, and
diversity. The executives in the second 50 are listed
alphabetically. This year we’ve added a list of in u-
ential regional cable operator executives, and execs
who are appearing for the rst time on our Most In-
uential Minorities in Cable list are noted with a “1st
Year” emblem. ♣
