Can't We All Just Get Along? NCTC Chief Joins T Howard

The DBS-based T. Howard Foundation has made its first inroads with cable operators, electing NCTC pres/CEOMike Pandzik to its board. In addition, T Howard will make its not- very-secret expansion official, announcing as early as today that it’s eyeing involvement not only from cable operators, but also from the motion picture industry, wireless and other emerging technologies. "T. Howard support has come from TV networks whose content is distributed across all platforms. It’s logical that the Foundation would leverage that support," pres Curtis Symonds says. Pandzik’s pragmatic about joining the historically DBS organization, particularly at a time when DBS has made great strides in grabbing rural customers from cable: "Look, kids need jobs and I’m glad to help…I think parochialism should stop at the door of the HR department," he says. "There are lots of ways we can be parochial in our business, this is not one of them." T Howard’s mission is to increase the number of women and minorities in media through internships. The group is particularly proud that 28 of its 213 interns (’95-’04) are working in the media industry. Pandzik’s a "strong believer" in internships since they influence "kids to go into our industry." He said he advocates all the cable orgs devoted to diversity, including Kaitz, NAMIC and Emma Bowen. "I think [the opening of T Howard] will be good for everybody; people move from one segment of the business to another, programming to operator, satellite to cable, those barriers are pretty artificial." The foundation was established in ’94 and named for Taylor Howard, the founder of the direct-to-home satellite industry. Its chief fundraising event is a dinner in NY; this year’s is Apr 13 at Cipirani.