The Why: Roggero increased the Latino-owned and -operated Fuse Media’s efforts to deliver entertaining content representative of its diverse young adult audience and launched a separate production unit, Ignition Studios, to develop and produce IP for clients seeking content that mirrors their audiences’ life experiences. Total minutes watched of Fuse Media’s FAST channels quadrupled from 4Q 2021 to 4Q 2022. Roggero also led an industry effort requesting the FCC establish a content vendor report to track diversity of content vendors used by licensed media and telecom companies.
He Says… “The reality is that while there has been some movement in the right direction, it’s not enough. To truly achieve a society that values diversity, equity and inclusion, we need to move beyond lip service and make these values part of our industry’s DNA.”
How do you define inclusion? Inclusion means giving everyone a seat at the table and a chance for their voices to be heard. We pride ourselves in being an industry leader when it comes to championing DEI efforts throughout all facets of our business, including our corporate leadership, content and programming, partnerships, advocacy and more.
Do you think there has been significant progress on DEI in the industry in the past year? DEI has become a buzzword that people like to talk about, but unfortunately talk isn’t enough. We need to see action. The reality is that while there has been some movement in the right direction, it’s not enough. To truly achieve a society that values diversity, equity, and inclusion, we need to move beyond lip service and make these values part of our industry’s DNA. This is one of the reasons why Fuse Media has petitioned the FCC to create a content diversity report. Talk is cheap. It’s only through action that we will be able to make significant progress.
Organization you’re proud to support: We’re very thoughtful and purpose-driven with organizations we work with and have had the pleasure of partnering with so many that are doing meaningful work as part of our prosocial initiatives and Fuse Docs franchise. This includes Voto Latino, Color of Change, and NAACP, to name a few. We are currently working closely with Common Cause, the National Hispanic Media Coalition, Public Knowledge, and the United Church of Christ Media Justice Ministry on the petition to the FCC to establish a new, annual report on the diversity of content vendors used by regulatees in broadcast, cable, broadband and satellite.
