Cablefax The Magazine - May 2010 - 23

PAR's Big Three
Cox is 7 for 7 in topping PAR as Best Operator
for Women. This year it also was named
Best Provider of Work/Life Resources. " Cox
early on made diversity a priority, " says 20year
Cox veteran Ellen East. " [CEO] Pat Esser
grew up at Cox and he takes the corporate
culture very seriously...employees are like
family to him. "
am a big supporter of the
Gap Year, " East says. The
gap will give companies
time to " dig deeper " into
ways to improve gender
diversity and pay equity,
Das says. Adds Brennan,
" It's really tough to move
that needle [at companies]
every year and implement
best practices. "
In addition, the Gap
Year will be " a breather
that might encourage
more companies to participate
in PAR. " Although
with 35-40 companies
regularly in PAR, " we
already have a strong level
of participation. "
A DECENT
REPORT CARD
As PAR shows, cable does
reasonably well on gender
diversity; however, the
familiar caveat is that its
C-suites could use more
women (8 of 10 Presidents
or CEOs accepting PAR
awards at the lunch are
men). And with 2 exceptions,
no large operators
have a woman at the top.
Pay equity issues exist,
but nearly all PAR companies
have procedures in
place to alleviate them, a
plus for cable, says Joanne
CableFAX: The Magazine
Clever, President of WilsonTaylor
Associates, WICT's
research partner for PAR.
Clever also notes opportunities
for women in cable to
advance and change their
career direction are strong.
" Cable retains women very
well, " she says.
A target for WICT,
Clever and Brennan agree,
is in tech, where women
were 22% of workers,
PAR shows. Recruiting
women to cable tech at
high schools and colleges
is critical to fi ll the pipeline,
they say. " It could be
transformative, " Brennan
says. In '03, WICT through
PAR urged cable to encourage
women to move
into the then-emerging
business-services fi eld. Today
women are 44% of its
workers. " It shows when
cable puts its mind to it, it
can work, " Clever says.
May 2010
Discovery gets the nod as Best Programmer
for Women. " It's a really great honor for
Discovery, especially since we're celebrating
our 25th anniversary, " says Adria Alpert
Romm, Discovery's SVP of HR. Signifi cant
new hires have included senior women:
cable vet Margaret Loesch to lead the Hasbro-Discovery
venture, Christina Norman to
run OWN and Laura Michalchyshyn at Planet
Green. Add to that the promotions of TLC
Chief Eileen O'Neill (who began at Discovery
as an unpaid intern) and Animal Planet chief
Marjorie Kaplan and you realize " Discovery
is a place where women can grow, " Alpert
Romm says. Women are 56% of Discovery
staff; 43% are in VPs and above, she says.
Scripps Networks gets two top honors,
for Pay Equity and Opportunities for Women.
" Young women in our organization see role
models at all levels and in all functions, "
says Chris Powell, Scripps Nets' EVP of HR.
Hurdles ahead include Scripps' overseas
expansion. " HR needs to be able to quickly
prioritize, customize and implement programs
that are appropriate and effective
globally, " Powell notes.
Who, What, Where, When
Who: Cox, Discovery and Scripps
What: WICT Signature Lunch
Where: JW Marriott at LA Live!
When: May 11, doors open 11am for 11:30
Who: Honorees Imani Breaker, Matthew
Hong and David Hudson
What: NAMIC Awards Breakfast Next Gen
Leaders
Where: JW Marriott at LA Live!
When: May 13, 7:30 am
cablefaxmag.com
23
http://www.cablefaxmag.com
Cablefax The Magazine - May 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Cablefax The Magazine - May 2010
