WASHINGTON, DC -- The National Cable Television Association today announced nominees for the Third Annual Community Spirit Awards, honoring outstanding local and regional cable programming achievements. Three finalists are recognized in each of six categories (listed below). Winners will be announced Wednesday, March 28, during an awards ceremony & luncheon, which will conclude NCTA's first local & regional programming symposium.
"Participation in The Community Spirit Awards continues to grow," said Barbara York, NCTA's Senior Vice President of Industry Affairs and Chief Administrative Officer. "We've experienced a steady increase in entries into the competition each year. And for 2001, we're proud to introduce a two-day local & regional programming symposium, which will precede this year's awards ceremony."
The Community Spirit Awards were established in 1999 to recognize the quality, value and contributions a collective body of local programming (distributed by a cable system or regional cable network) makes to a specific community, particularly in the area of news, sports or public affairs. All programming submitted for consideration must have aired on a cable system or regional cable network in the United States between January 1 and December 31, 2000.
A blue-ribbon panel consisting of executives representing programming, MSO operations and public affairs judged the categories in a one-step process. In evaluating entries, judges considered the following criteria: program content, execution and viewer impact. Judges' scoring determined the three nominees in each category, with the nominee receiving the highest score winning the award.
Registration for the symposium is complimentary for employees of all systems and regional networks that entered the 2001 Community Spirit Awards. There is a nominal fee of $150.00 for non-entrants. Registrations are due by Friday, March 9, 2001 to NCTA's Industry Affairs department. For further details about the symposium or to request a registration form & brochure, contact Michelle Ray, Director of Special Events (NCTA's industry affairs department), at (202) 775-3669.
Finalists from the competition's six categories are as follows:
CABLE SYSTEMS: LESS THAN 50,000 SUBSCRIBERS
Adelphia Communications (Chino, California)
Adelphia Communications (Oxnard, California)**
Sunflower Cablevision (Lawrence, Kansas)
CABLE SYSTEMS: BETWEEN 50,000 - 150,000 SUBSCRIBERS
Comcast Cable Communications (Southfield, Michigan)
Daniels Cablevision (Carlsbad, California)
Time Warner Cable (Palm Desert, California)
CABLE SYSTEMS: MORE THAN 150,000 SUBSCRIBERS
AT&T Broadband of the Greater Chicago Market (Elmhurst, Illinois)
Cox Communications Louisiana (New Orleans, Louisiana)
Time Warner Cable of Syracuse (Syracuse, New York)
REGIONAL NETWORK: NEWS
New England Cable News (Newton, Massachusetts)
News 12 Long Island (Woodbury, New York)
News 12 Westchester (Yonkers, New York)
REGIONAL NETWORK: SPORTS
Comcast SportsNet (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Fox Sports Net Chicago (Chicago, Illinois)
Fox Sports Net Ohio (Broadview Heights, Ohio)
REGIONAL NETWORK: COMMUNITY & PUBLIC AFFAIRS
The California Channel (Sacramento, California)
CN8, The Comcast Network (Oaks, Pennsylvania)
The MetroChannels (New York, New York)
**Until January 2001 was owned and operated by Jones Intercable