Public Affairs Initiatives

Cable Is Socially Responsible

Cable industry companies have a long-standing tradition of acting as socially responsible corporate citizens in the communities they serve. Cable invests a tremendous amount of capital in its communities, and it provides assistance in many forms. Whether it’s cable employees volunteering for community service work in their local areas, cable companies donating free high-speed Internet service to schools and libraries, cable networks staging educational events in local communities, or cable companies donating funds or commercial airtime for local non-profit organizations – the cable industry is unique when it comes to local community support. Take, for instance:

C-SPAN - A public service created by cable in 1979, C-SPAN airs live gavel-to-gavel coverage of the U.S. Congress, and other forums for discussion of public policy issues. C-SPAN is committed to providing a balanced perspective, and direct access to and from elected officials without any editing of content.



Cable in the Classroom (CIC) - CIC, the cable industry’s nonprofit education association, was created in 1989 to help schools, parents and teachers take advantage of educational cable programming and technology. Not only does CIC provide free modems and cable connections to schools and libraries, and facilitate access to commercial-free educational cable programming, but it also has become a leading advocate for media literacy.


Cable Positive - Founded in 1992 by three concerned cable executives, Cable Positive’s mission is to organize cable’s resources in the fight against AIDS. Cable Positive is supported by all facets of the industry in its campaign to raise HIV and AIDS awareness, support education programs, and erase stigma by encouraging compassion for those affected by HIV and AIDS.


Cable Hope Fund - In the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, the cable industry immediately stepped up by establishing The Cable Hope Fund to help rebuilding efforts and aid displaced cable employees. As of December 2005, cable industry companies and individual employees had donated more than $800,000 to the fund, which in turn supported such organizations as Habitat for Humanity, Oxfam America and the State Educational Technology Directors Association. The fund also donated more than $200,000 for employee assistance to the three cable companies operating in Gulf Coast communities that were hardest hit by the storms.

ACC, The Association of Cable Communicators (formerly CTPAA) has estimated that the value of cable’s community contributions amounted to more than $1.6 billion in 2004.

To peruse the variety of public affairs initiatives in action at the local level, please visit the Public Affairs Initiatives Guide