> http://orgmode.org/worg/org-faq.html#ecm
I found that skip-empty-rows works correctly only if ITEM is in the COLUMNS property. Here is an ECM :). As you can see, when ITEM is not included in COLUMNS property, it generates an empty line for the parent heading.

* Columnview with ITEM in columns:PROPERTIES::COLUMNS:  %ITEM %Variable:END:- This correctly skips the parent headline because ITEM is one of the columns#+BEGIN: columnview :hlines 1 :id local :maxlevel 2 :skip-empty-rows t| ITEM            | Variable ||-----------------+----------|| ** Subheading 1 |        1 || ** Subheading 2 |        2 |#+END** Subheading 1:PROPERTIES::Name:     Subheading 1:Variable: 1:END:** Subheading 2:PROPERTIES::Name:     Subheading 2:Variable: 2:END:* Columnview without ITEM in columns:PROPERTIES::COLUMNS:  %Name %Variable:END:- When ITEM is not in columns, columnview generates one empty line on the top:#+BEGIN: columnview :hlines 1 :id local :maxlevel 2 :skip-empty-rows t| Name         | Variable ||--------------+----------||              |          || Subheading 1 |        1 || Subheading 2 |        2 |#+END** Subheading 1:PROPERTIES::Name:     Subheading 1:Variable: 1:END:** Subheading 2:PROPERTIES::Name:     Subheading 2:Variable: 2:END: