By Tali Arbel, Business Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) --Comcast settled a long-running a long-running racial discrimination dispute with black media mogul Byron Allen, agreeing to add three of Allen's channels to its cable packages.
Allen sued Comcast for $20 billion in 2015 for refusing to carry seven of his networks, saying it was because of his race. Comcast said it declined to carry the channels because the programming wasn't original or of sufficient quality. Allen also sued Charter, another cable company, for $10 billion for refusing to carry his networks.
The case made it to the Supreme Court, which in March reversed a lower court ruling in favor of Allen. The Supreme Court said Allen had to show race was the decisive factor in Comcast's decision not to offer him a contract, not one of several factors. Allen called that ruling "harmful to the civil rights of millions of Americans."
Comcast and Allen's company, Entertainment Studios Networks, said Wednesday that Comcast would include the channels Comedy.TV, Recipe.TV and JusticeCentral.TV in its cable packages. It also extended agreements on the Weather Channel and 14 broadcast stations that Entertainment Studios owns. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Many companies, while pledging solidarity with black employees and black people against injustice, are starting to confront the lack of diversity and allegations of racism in their own organizations.
Comcast, which owns NBCUniversal, this Monday pledged $100 million for social justice and said it would accelerate its diversity efforts. Comcast said it would "put the full weight of our company's media resources behind highlighting Black voices and Black stories."
SMPTE elects board officers, regional governors
SMPTE®,the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, has revealed the board officers and regional governors who will serve terms beginning in January 2025.
Three new officers--Richard Welsh as SMPTE president, Eric Gsell as SMPTE executive VP, and Polly Hickling as SMPTE Education VP--have been elected for a two-year term from Jan. 1, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2026. One SMPTE officer, Lisa Hobbs, will be continuing her service as SMPTE secretary and treasurer for another two-year term. Additionally, Raymond Yeung will be stepping into the role of standards VP on Jan. 1, 2025.
“SMPTE’s membership has spoken,” said SMPTE interim executive director Sally-Ann D’Amato. “These officers have been tasked with an important responsibility, one each of them is prepared to tackle head-on. These next two years are looking bright for SMPTE!”
In addition to the officers, 10 regional governors were elected by the Society to serve two-year 2025-2026 terms.
These include the following regional governors, re-elected to continue their service:
Asia-Pacific Region Governor
Tony Ngai, Society of Motion Imaging Ltd.
EMEA - Central & South America Region Governor
Fernando Bittencourt, FB Consultant
United Kingdom Region Governor
Chris Johns, Sky UK.
USA - Central Region Governor
William T. Hayes, Consultant
USA - Eastern Region Governor
Dover Jeanne Mundt, Riedel Communications
USA - Western Region Governor
Jeffrey F. Way, Open Drives
Also elected were four newcomers to the SMPTE Board:
Canada Region Governor
Jonathan Jobin, Grass Valley
USA - Hollywood Region Governor
Allan Schollnick, Voxx... Read More