ESPN, Lifetime, OWN, Showtime Top NAMIC Vision Awards

Cable networks took home the lion’s share of NAMIC Vision Awards, the National Association for Multi-Ethnicity In Communications announced Wednesday.

ESPN, Lifetime, OWN and Showtime each won two awards to lead all television networks, according to NAMIC. The Vision Awards, which honor achievements in original programming diversity across multiple platforms, were awarded in 16 programming categories.

Among the winners were Showtime’s Masters of Sex as best drama, with Michael Kenneth Williams winning the best performance in a drama series award for his role in HBO’s Boardwalk Empire.

Lifetime’s Devious Maids was the winner in the best comedy category with actors Raúl Castillo (HBO’s Raúl Castillo: Looking) and Don Cheadle (Showtime’s House Of Lies) tying for best comedy performance.

Also tying in the "Original Movie or Special" category were CNN’s Documented and Lifetime’s The Trip to Bountiful.

An awards gallery featuring :60 second clips of the winning programs in each of the 16 categories can be viewed by visiting http://namicvisionawards.com

“Congratulations are extended to all of the 2015 NAMIC Vision Award winners,” said Raquel Williams, president, NAMIC – Southern California and director, Distribution, Crown Media Family Networks in a statement. “Since the awards’ inception in 1994, NAMIC – Southern California in collaboration with NAMIC National has remained committed to this initiative with the shared goal of fostering programming diversity. As the creation of multiethnic and culturally relevant content expands, we look forward to continuing the legacy of recognizing those within our industry for their achievements in advancing diversity across all digital platforms.”

The complete winners list for the 2015 NAMIC Vision Awards is as follows:

ANIMATION
Doc McStuffins – Disney Junior

BEST PERFORMANCE – COMEDY (Tie)
Raúl Castillo - Raúl Castillo: Looking – HBO

Don Cheadle - House of Lies – Showtime Networks Inc.

BEST PERFORMANCE – DRAMA
Michael Kenneth Williams - Boardwalk Empire – HBO

CHILDREN’S
Nick News with Linda Ellerbee – Nickelodeon

COMEDY
Devious Maids – Lifetime

DIGITAL MEDIA – SHORT FORM
Music Choice Chronicles Fat Joe – Music Choice

DOCUMENTARY
Tanning of America: One Nation Under Hip Hop – VH1

DRAMA
Masters of Sex – Showtime Networks Inc.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE
MTV Agents of Change, Making the Switch – Viacom International Media Networks

LIFESTYLE
Rev Run’s Sunday Suppers – Cooking Channel

NEWS / INFORMATIONAL
Oprah’s Master Class: Cicely Tyson – OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network

ORIGINAL MOVIE OR SPECIAL (Tie)
Documented – CNN
The Trip to Bountiful – Lifetime

REALITY
Welcome to Los Vargas – NBC Universo

REALITY – SOCIAL ISSUES
Helping in Haiti – ESPN

SPORTS
Marquis Goodwin: The Blueprint – E:60/ESPN

VARIETY / TALK SHOW
Oprah Prime: Pharrell Williams – OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network

R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.