The effort to increase the number of minority and female broadcast licensees has already received a shot in the arm this year in the form of merger spin-offs, and Congressional Black Caucus is hoping for more such action. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) will be the host at a session examining upcoming possibilities.
The specific mergers that will be examined are Comcast/TWC and AT&T/DirecTV.
The session will be held in Washington DC at the Washington Convention Center 9/26/14 from 9AM-11:30AM.
Waters will host a panel that currently includes:
* Markham Erickson, Partner, Steptoe and Johnson, LLC (outside counsel for Netflix)
* David Goodfriend, Counsel, Weiner Brodsky Kider, PC (outside counsel for DISH Network)
* Matt Wood, Policy Director, Free Press
* James Winston, Executive Director, National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters
* Orim Graves, Executive Director, National Association of Securities Professionals
* Yolanda Coly, Coly Advocacy LLC. (consultant for the National Association of Minority and Women-Owned Law Firms)
The National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters weighed in, stating, “As the FCC is poised to review over the next year the mergers of Comcast and Time Warner, as well as AT&T and DirecTV, this forum will afford attendees the opportunity to hear from industry stakeholders, and associations representing minority and women owned businesses, how the transactions could promote diversity in media ownership, management, programming, distribution, advertising, and procurement. Attendees will also learn about the technological innovations in the marketplace that may be encouraging these consolidations and how regulators may assess competitiveness and economic impacts on consumers – especially African American and low-income communities.”
Note: This article has been corrected to reflect that this is a CBC event.
