The FCC will hold at least one informational hearing on...

school in Chicago and will include two panels and a two-hour session for members of the public to ask questions and “share their views” about the deal, the regulator said. It’s unclear if there will be additional hearings, though some at the FCC hope for more, a commission official said. A Media Bureau spokeswoman said no additional events are now planned. Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Michael Copps will attend the gathering, their aides said. “We hope the FCC will plan for more hearings in the very near future,” said Free Press Policy Counsel Corie Wright. Separately, Comcast and NBC Universal emphasized their deal would empower minorities. The comment came in a filing Wednesday at the FCC answering questions for Comcast and NBC submitted to the commission by Congress. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., among other legislators, has criticized the companies’ commitment to minorities. “We believe that, more than any other [pay-TV company], Comcast has facilitated ownership and programming opportunities for Latinos, African Americans, Asian Americans, and women,” the cable operator said. “Based on our record and the voluntary commitments we have offered in connection with the NBCU transaction, Comcast’s contribution to minority ownership and programming opportunities has been and will continue to be very strong.” The companies plan to use the deal to “offer an unprecedented set of ownership opportunities to people of color and women in broadcasting, on cable, On Demand, and online,” Comcast said. As the combined company carries out its commitment to add two new independent channels each year for the next three years, Comcast will give “heightened consideration to the carriage of networks that are owned by or affiliated with people of color or women,” it said. Comcast has never commissioned an independent diversity report or implemented a business strategy prioritizing ownership and program diversity, but it has conducted internal reports to enhance programming diversity, the companies said. NBCU conceded later in the filing that none of its primetime programs are owned or supplied by minority production companies, nor do any feature minorities as show runners. Comcast said it’s made “significant strides in recent years to increase diversity” among top-ranking employees. The company currently has “106 executives of color, 50 (almost half) of whom have been promoted through the ranks.” None has been in his or her position for more than 10 years, but 35 have been there more than five years, it said. Ten percent of the cable operator’s “corporate officers are people of color,” and the company employs 1,353 managers who are minorities, it said. Comcast has “a number of programs in place to ensure a diverse workforce” and plans to expand them after the NBCU deal, it said.