DENISE HEFNER RECEIVES 2006 BERNICE COE AWARD
-Award Honors Cable Pioneer Bernice Coe Stavis -

Chantilly, VA- Oxygen, MultiChannel News and Women in Cable & Telecommunications (WICT) today announced that Denise Hefner, Call Center Director for Comcast Oregon, is the 2006 recipient of the Bernice Coe Award.  The award covers all travel, lodging and registration expenses for the WICT Forum 2006. 

“Denise exemplifies the values which guided Bernice Coe’s life and is a worthy recipient of the 2006 Bernice Coe Award.” said Benita Fitzgerald Mosley, WICT President & CEO.  “Her career demonstrates that the values which Bernice Coe embraced, and WICT continues to promote, are integral to success in the cable industry.”

“Denise is the kind of young person that Bernice sought out and championed.” said Geraldine Laybourne, Oxygen Chairman and CEO. “This is what Bernice would have said: ‘Denise saw a need, she invented her own network of mentoring, she focused on others, and she made a difference.”

“On behalf of all of us at Multichannel News, we congratulate Denise on being the recipient of the Bernice Coe Award,” said Larry Oliver, Vice President, General Manager, Multichannel News.  “We were delighted to see such a large number of high quality nominees who have made a difference in their company and in the cable industry.”

About Bernice Coe
Bernice Coe Stavis was a member of the first governing board of WICT. One of the first women to head an independent film-distribution company, she supplied product to launch some of today’s most successful cable television networks, including Nickelodeon and The Discovery Channel. She is best remembered for mentoring two generations of women executives who followed her in the cable industry and became leaders in broadcast and cable television, including Geraldine Laybourne. 

To honor her legacy and further the outstanding work she believed in so passionately, Multichannel News, Women in Cable & Telecommunications (WICT) and Oxygen join together each year to present the Bernice Coe Award. Candidates were nominated by senior level executives from the cable and telecommunications industry.  Nominators were asked to demonstrate how the candidate is expected to influence the future of the industry. A panel of judges from Oxygen, Multichannel News and WICT selected Hefner as the winner.

2006 WICT FORUM
The 2006 WICT Forum will be held March 8-10, 2006 as part of the Spring Cable Week created by WICT’s partnership with Cable Positive, the cable and telecommunications industry’s AIDS action organization.  The week will kick off on Tuesday with a breakfast seminar hosted by Horowitz Associates and will be followed by the annual WICT New York Chapter’s Wonder Women luncheon sponsored by Multichannel News.  That evening Cable Positive will present the organization’s highest honor, the Joel A. Berger Memorial Award for outstanding contribution in the fight against AIDS, to Jim Robbins and Cox Communications at the annual benefit dinner.   

The 2006 WICT Forum is presented by Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., MTV Networks and BET Networks, Comcast, Cox Communications, Advance Newhouse Communications, Time Warner Cable, Charter Communications, Scripps Networks, Lifetime Networks, Rainbow, Starz Entertainment Group, and Discovery Communications.

About WICT
For over twenty-five years, WICT has partnered with cable and telecommunications leaders to provide leadership programs and services, and create professional advancement opportunities for women. With over 5,000 members, Women in Cable & Telecommunications is the oldest and largest professional association serving women in the cable and telecommunications industry. WICT develops women leaders who transform our industry through highly regarded professional events, educational programming and networking opportunities. WICT has 20 local chapters and satellites across the country. For more information, visit www.wict.org.

About Oxygen Media
Oxygen, the only cable network owned and operated by women, is currently available in 66 million homes.  The network was launched in 2000 to fill a void in the television landscape -- creating a network targeted to younger women. Oxygen is rewriting the rulebook for women's television, with the most original programming of all the women's networks including Campus Ladies, Mo’Nique’s Fat Chance and Talk Sex with Sue Johanson.  Geraldine Laybourne, the network's founder, Chairman and CEO, has led the company to be a strong advocate for women.  Through programs like The Mentor's Walk, Oxygen's national program for bringing along the next generation, and "Who Cares About Girls," Oxygen's new documentary series -- Oxygen is creating The New Girls Network.

About Multichannel News
Multichannel News reports weekly on breaking news relevant to the cable TV and telecommunications industries. Regarded as the industry's book of record, it provides the most up-to-date coverage of all programming, advertising, marketing, finance, technology and government activities, as they relate to cable TV operators and their suppliers as well as related developments in broadcast, MDS, DBS, telco and home video. Broadband Week, a special dedicated section within Multichannel News, focuses on the technological changes in the converging telecom and cable broadband markets.

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