Ladies First?

Nah.

Ladies always.

Just look through this edition of CableWorld. Our business(es) boast a lot of powerful ladies. Very powerful ladies.

Have you ever been chewed out – and I mean really chewed out – by any of the women on our list?

I have.

More than once.

And I only laughed once.

Just once.

It’s November and time again (this year at least) for the 23rd annual WICT Gala in Washington, D.C.

Since it’s November, let’s give some thanks for all of our prominent ladies.

Cable ain’t perfect (by any definition), but methinks it has done pretty well on some of the diversity issues we all face. Never, of course, good enough. But not bad, either.

In the mainstream press’ (ever wonder why they call it that? It is because it is mainstream) lists of powerful women in business, our business(es) are always prominently represented. Nice.

But, of course, not enough.

And, also, of course, some great ladies aren’t on the list… for one reason or another… like heading for the exit.

One is the WICT Gala Woman of the Year… our friend Lynn Yaeger. I’ve known her awhile (longer than either of us will admit, and I still spell her name wrong sometimes). She’s retiring. She’s been Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs at Time Warner Cable – and a damn good one.

She’ll be missed.

(Pretty cool replacement on her way, so TWC won’t lose but a half beat.)

Meanwhile, competition is heating up a bit.

In cable.

In programming.

In diversity.

In pretty much everything.

Like getting on that list we mentioned.

(Disclaimer: I’m just a columnist… no one listens to me.)

I was running through the list of ladies no longer in the Top 50 (at least this year’s list; always another year)… most impressive.

Almost as impressive as this year’s Top 50. All of whom, I suppose, will be in DC for the Gala. Look especially for Woman to Watch – The Weather Channel’s Wonya Lucas.

Personally, I’m hoping The Closer star Kyra Sedgwick makes it, too… the show (a favorite and a cable hit from TNT/Warner Bros.) is getting a Tribute Accolade. (An Aside: I’ve got one of those old silver cups around my office somewhere, too.) Also being recognized is Vietnam Nurses with Dana Delany… another much-well-deserved honor. Those ladies back in Vietnam (a place I visited a couple of times) were angels and saints.