There are practically no people of colour at the top

NAACP president Kweisi Mfume

The NAACP report comes just days after the release of figures by the Screen Actor's Guild which revealed that more ethnic minority actors were seen on American screens last year than ever before.

NAACP president Kweisi Mfume condemned the networks inadequate efforts.

"There are practically no people of colour at the top,'' he said.

"I still can't understand why after 50 years of television there aren't any African Americans who can green-light a show, hire and fire a director or make any real decisions.''

Figures from the SAG show 15% of roles last year were filled by black actors, the highest since records began.

Levels of Latin/Hispanic and Native Americans also hit new highs.

But the industry is still dominated by white actors who take up more than 76% of roles.

Anger

The NAACP report highlighted the organisations' anger at the lack of representation for minorities in "the news, public affairs and sports departments" of ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox.

Entertainment programming also came in for harsh criticism for its scarcity of minority writers, producers and casting directors.

Sidney Poitier is on the board of Walt Disney

Directors from the civil rights' group plan to meet in October to consider a boycott of one of the networks which Mfume refuses to identify.

Other options include the possibility of legal action against the industry and regulatory intervention from Washington.

ABC was criticised more harshly than the other networks for what Mfume called an "untenable" lack of progress in diversity efforts.

Fox, CBS and NBC were said to have made "relative progress" but ''when juxtaposed against ABC, they were outstanding'.'

Officials at the network insisted the criticism was unfair claiming minority actors in recurring roles on ABC prime-time shows this fall will be up by 40% on last season.

ABC's Zenia Mucha said the sitcom "My Wife and Kids'' produced by and starring black actor Damon Wayans, is the number one programme among black viewers.

"I think the facts speak for themselves," he said.

Fox has boosted the number of minority actor in prime-time series to 41% in the 2000-01 season, up from the preceding season's 24%.

CBS is also reporting an increase of black actors to 29%, compared with 17% in the previous season.

Diversity campaign

Mfume launched his groups' diversity campaign in 1999 when he claimed television has become the most segregated industry in America.

The NAACP threatened a TV boycott or legal action and the networks began negotiating with civil rights groups.

In 2000, the four stations reached an agreement with the NAACP to implement ambitious plans to develop the inclusion of ethnic minorities.