The three General Sessions from The Cable Show will be played on C-SPAN, reports Broadcasting & Cable.

C-SPAN, the cable-industry backed public affairs network, says it will air three major sessions from the National Cable & Telecommunications Associaton over the next three Saturday mornings, as well as in prime time on the Memorial Day Weekend -- May 25-28 -- on C-SPAN2.

So, you can watch them again or for the first time.

As has been mentioned several times already, one of the highlights of The Cable Show this year was the demo of DOCSIS 3.0 technology by Comcast Chairman & CEO Brian Roberts, with the assistance of ARRIS Chairman Bob Stanzione. Now, if you missed it, you can see the video.

Links to a sampling of the media coverage went up last night. In addition, Roberts refers to the theme Competition Works. Consumers Win!, which is also a new initiative from the cable industry.

There has been a great deal of discussion this year about distributing content on a variety of platforms, such as a panel on the new consumer experience or a panel on the commercial potential of new platforms. But behind such efforts lie the issue of right management, which was discussed on Wednesday on the panel "The Rights Stuff: Balancing Asset Management and Rights in a Multi-Platform World."

The panel was moderated by Cable World's Seth Arenstein and included Chuck Hurst (Scripps Networks), David Kline (Rainbow Media Holdings), Gwynne McConkey (Lifetime Television Networks), Chuck Pagano (ESPN), and Brian Shield (The Weather Channel). These programmers face the issue of a complex production chain, creating content on a national or even global basis for platforms that include television, print, desktop, mobile, B2B, gaming, audio, and the Web.

Managing digital assets and rights is a complex task. The pieces include creating and versioning programming, managing existing titles, ad sales & traffic. Many of the new distribution platforms do not have traditional infrastructures. Few technical standards exist for managing digital assets. There is no single turnkey solution for a complex and rapidly-changing environment.

The panel agreed that discussion and cooperation could at least help establish some best practices. At the heart of the matter, many of these issues are a product of cultural challenges, not technical ones.

The panel was part of CIO.IT, a set of events at The Cable Show reflecting the growing role of information technology (IT) in the innovation, growth, and success of businesses in the cable industry. This is the second year that the Show has targeted Chief Information Officers and IT professionals.

- Paul Rodriguez

The wideband demo that Brian Roberts showed on Tuesday, made ripples today in the media. What Roberts showed was a next generation cable modem using the channel bonding features of DOCSIS 3.0 to combine up to four 6 MHz data channels, thus achieving download speeds of up to 160 million bits per second.

The demo made the news and even hit top blogs like Slashdot, GigaOM, Engadget and Gizmodo.

Comcast's 150 Mbps Modem is Good for U.S. Broadband

Cable modem that downloads huge files in a few minutes

160Mbps downloads move closer for US cable customers

New Devices Stir Buzz At Cable Show

Comcast CEO Shows Off Super Quick Modem

The cable industry’s charge for the next 12 months: Make just about every cable network available on demand, and develop an advanced-advertising management system for cable that rivals what’s now on the Internet.

Those were the directives issued by Time Warner Inc. President and Chief Operating Officer Jeffrey Bewkes in a spirited conclusion to the 2007 Cable Show’s slate of more than 80 panel sessions. At the Show’s closing General Session (the photo is of the laser show that opened the panel), Bewkes suggested some of the biggest opportunities for cable revolve around new variations of advertising support that have propelled television through decades of growth.

Bewkes was one of several panelists to point to video as an evolving growth engine for an industry that frequently seems consumed by new-media drivers like high-speed Internet service and telephone service. Joining him was Liberty Global Inc. President and CEO Michael Fries, who said new enhancements to television, like high-definition resolution and time-shifting, are creating a renaissance of sorts for a very familiar medium. “At my house, we are falling in love with TV again,” Fries said. The panelists also were bullish on a new era for targeted advertising over cable. ESPN President George Bodenheimer envisioned a more granular approach to viewer targeting prevailing over time, with advertisers progressing beyond “the never-ending pursuit of the young male or young female” to pursue more refined viewer demographics.

The focus on television’s future doesn’t mean advancements in data throughput and mobile communications aren’t captivating the industry. Cox Communications President Patrick Esser pointed optimistically to the outlook for huge leaps in cable data bandwidth, saying they’ll create a new palette for applications that will tantalize customers. But regardless of the application, Esser said the key to success will remain preserving trusted relationships with customers and retaining cable’s reputation as the a sort of do-it-all service provider than can fix problems when they occur.

The panelists, queried by CNN senior business correspondent Ali Velshi, also addressed the phenomenon of user-generated content and the much-cited “long tail” theory of digital media, which suggests mass-market appeal of content will give way to broader, but smaller, audiences for niche productions. Time Warner’s Bewkes resisted that analogy, saying user-generated content appearing on  YouTube and elsewhere is a modern-day variation of an enduring arena that’s similar to baseball’s “minor leagues” – a breeding ground for creativity, the best of which will rise up  to attain mainstream appeal.

- Stewart Schley

CableNET celebrated its 15th anniversary this year in Las Vegas. As it has in year's past, this educational technology showcase highlighted a wide variety of next-generation broadband technologies and services that cable operators are expected to deliver to consumers in the near term.

One technology popped out at me, since it has some interesting implications: a Motorola digital set-top box with ATSC off-air content tuning. As part of the Digital Television Transition, broadcasters have switched over to digital television and have also created multicast signals. Cable has been carrying these signals, with local cable systems carrying the digital signal of 788 unique broadcast stations as of June 2006, eight-and-a-half times the amount in January 2003, when 92 such stations were carried.

What you see in the photo is the external version of the Motorola device, which is a little larger than a pack of gum. It has a tuner, a demodulator and a USB interface. You connect an antenna to it and then it maps the off-air signals to your channel line-up. As you tune the channels, you can switch seamlessly from a cable channel to an off-air signal. Thanks to digital broadcasting, reception technology has improved. With the use of newer antennas and amplifiers, consumers would have an easier time of getting DTV reception.

- Paul Rodriguez

This afternoon, we released the following projected attendance and exhibitor numbers for The Cable Show ’07.

• 15,000 attendees
  
• 196,000 square feet of exhibit space
  
• 389 exhibitors

All of these projected figures are on par with last year's numbers.

“Advertising” and “on demand” seem to be tied at the semantic hip here, as momentum builds for new systems and approaches designed to weave advertising support into cable’s growing video-on-demand business.

Panel sessions organized by the Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau included frequent references to on-demand advertising, even when they weren’t ostensibly devoted to the subject. A discussion on political advertising, for instance, segued into a conversation about the appeal of on-demand platforms as a way for candidates to get across detailed information about issues and platforms. A sales success story offered by an AE from Comcast’s Seattle operation revolved around a local VOD sports programming venture. And, more predictably, Wednesday’s Opening General Session about advanced advertising included an extensive dialogue around the subject, with network executives, including Oxygen Media’s Lisa Gersh, calling for more urgent action on deployment of “dynamic” VOD ad insertion – the technique that lets commercials ride along with unique VOD program streams.

A backdrop to the theme was Tuesday’s announcement of an advertising-supported program distribution deal between ABC/ESPN and Cox Communications Inc. The dialogue is welcome if it helps to foster more understanding of how on-demand advertising can (or will) work, said Matt Timothy of the cable spot ad rep firm National Cable Communications. Right now, he said, “there’s tremendous confusion.”

- Stewart Schley

Yesterday afternoon, Cable in the Classroom presented a session at The Cable Show featuring a panel of high school students drawn from Clark County-Las Vegas schools and teen media marketing expert, Anastasia Goodstein of Ypulse. At a conference full of cable industry experts and analysts, you may be wondering what these teenagers had to offer that hasn't already been said. As a standing-room-only audience learned, the answer to that question is “Plenty!”

Simply put, today’s youth are the most media-saturated, connected and tech-savvy generation ever. Their behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs about technology and media are shaping the world today and will do so only more in the future.

Among the big takeaways: Teens are very particular about the technology in their life and make it their business to stay current with the latest and greatest products and services. They have a large influence over their parents purchasing decisions for advanced products and services in the home. And, while they are voracious consumers of audio and video content, they are challenging many current advertising-supported business models – especially ones that do not do a good job of targeting their interests.

For cable, we can see these changes afoot as a challenge to our businesses or as an opportunity. Whether they are aware of it our not, many of today’s students are heavy users of cable’s broadband connectivity, they enjoy our award-winning programming and online interactive content, and are looking forward to our wireless offerings.

As an industry, we are well-positioned – perhaps best positioned – to offer them what they want, when and how they want it. Of course, the road ahead may not be entirely clear or even easy, but cable is a dynamic business and with a level playing field, there is no doubt that we can innovate, compete, and earn the trust of both today’s and tomorrow’s customers.

For more insights into the rapidly evolving views of teens be sure to check out Anastasia Goodstein’s blog.

- Doug Levin

Tuesday, May 8th:

11:45 – 12:30 p.m.
John Atanasio, CEO of Art World Television, LLC, announced the premier of the Art Gallery TV channelset for launch later this month on Comcast VOD.  Art Gallery TV will be the first program produced for Art World Television.  Art World Television hopes to provide advertisers and audiences with more specified programming choices through integrating VOD technology.  Atanasio revealed that this will be the first of fourteen art-themed VOD shows, promoting art through an interactive way.  Future programs will include Art Auction TV, Wine Show, Wine Auction TV, South of Houston and Drip.  The programs will also be available on the Art World Television Website in conjunction with the VOD availability. 

1:30 – 2:15 p.m.
RFD-TV Founder and President Patrick Gottsch, discussed the launch of their HD channel in conjunction with the launch of a new show, Ralph Emery Live.  Scheduled for launch in October 2007, RFD-TV HD will broadcast to an estimated 30 million homes and continue delivering genres of agriculture, rural lifestyle, equine and music and entertainment.  Ralph Emery Live will be hosted by country music’s well-known radio and television talent, Ralph Emery.  Originating from Nashville, TN, the new weekly one-hour television program featuring a legendary country music artist in a conversation setting along with a number of “live” phone calls and questions from the audience.   RFD-TV has affiliate agreements with DIRECTV, Charter, Mediacom, DISH Network, NCTC cable systems and Suddenlink. 

One of the more popular tchotkes from the Show floor are these foam rubber nunchuks from Lifeskool. This martial arts weapon goes back over a thousand years, but were popularized by Bruce Lee in the Seventies in films like Fist of Fury. If you scored a pair and want to learn how to use them, check out these videos from the North American Nunchaku Association.

- Paul Rodriguez

Once again, gaming is being addressed at The Cable Show.  If you drop by the Cable Game Arena, for example, you can see "Into the Pixel," a juried exhibit of video game art, such as in the photo to the left. There are also some video games available for a quick mid-day break and the wideband demo that Brian Roberts showed yesterday.

There is also a day-long series of panels on the topic. This morning, Don Daglow, President & CEO, Stormfront Studios, will address "Where Games Are Going and Why Cable is So Important." According to the Entertainment Software Association, 44% of most frequent game players say they play games online, up from 19% in 2000. The majority of cable High-Speed Data subscribers are playing games on a PC or console.

Here is some more data from ESA:

• US computer and video game software sales grew six percent in 2006 to $7.4 billion.
• The average game player is 33 years old and has been playing games for 12 years.
• Thirty-five percent of American parents say they play computer and video games.
• Thirty-eight percent of all game players are women.
• In 2005, 25 percent of Americans over the age of 50 played video games.

Below is a photo from last night's reception at the Game Arena. If you're here in Vegas, be sure to check it out.

- Paul Rodriguez

The changing television environment was addressed yesterday in a first-ever gathering of industry Chief Digital Officers.  "A Wider Canvas: TV Creators on the Potential (and Peril) of New Platforms" was moderated by the L.A. Times' Dawn Chmielewski as she led a discussion of the creation and delivery of content in the new digital media era.

As the availability of programming online, whether streaming or as downloads, continues to grow, there is considerable anxiety about the impact of such trends.  George Kliavkoff (NBC Universal) stated that online viewing of programming seemed to drive ratings, not cannibalize TV viewership.  The online availability of shows was used as a substitute for a DVR, allowing people to catch up on older episodes or timeshift their viewing.

Albert Cheng (Disney ABC Television Group) described how ABC has seen its popular programming illegally traded on peer-to-peer networks, which led to the deal that made their shows available on iTunes and ABC.com. However, since those platforms are only available for domestic audiences, and there are different release patterns globally, overseas viewers are still prone to pirate content.

There was also discussion of services such as Joost, the P2P platform for distributing TV shows and other forms of video digitally which has been mentioned on a number of panels at The Cable Show this year.  However, Cheng would like online distribution partners to spend money to drive awareness and not just rely on viral marketing for promotion. There are also key questions to ask.  What can the partner do that the programmer itself cannot?  Will the partner be a threat to the existing cable model?

The panel looked at the huge potential in the mobile market. James McCaffrey (Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.) suggested that the cable industry should take a look at the more advance mobile applications in other markets, particular Europe and Asia. Kliavkoff pointed out that there are standards in place in those markets for mobile content, as well as revenue opportunities for programmers.  He also noted how the very personal nature of a mobile device means that consumers will accept different pricing structure: a complete song can be bought for about one dollar, while a fragment of that song -- in the form of a ringtone -- is cheerfully purchased for three times that amount.

Diane Robina (Comcast Corporation) acknowledged that digital rights management issues must be addressed, but said, “Your users will always want to play with your product because they like it. You have to let the user do what they want but in a safe way.”

One amusing note: Chmielewski's description of Google as "frenemy" of cable.

- Paul Rodriguez

Today was Day Two of the 8th annual Supplier Diversity workshop (see previous coverage). Giving the keynote address today was Alfred E. Osborne, Jr., Ph.D., Senior Associate Dean & Associate Professor of Global Economics & Management, Founder & Faculty Director, Harold Price Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, Anderson School of Management, UCLA. He focused on entrepreneurship and new business development for WMBEs and highlighted two key elements: change and reinvention.

He encouraged entrepreneurs to take a flexible approach, experiment at the margin, and achieve adaptive success. He suggested that a company ought to be integrationist in nature. Taking a holistic and inclusive view of an organization creates freedom for the individuals who work there, leading to a rise in the accountability and personal ownership of the employees, which in turn raises the intellectual capital of the enterprise.

Woman and minority business owners should hire talented people and keep their organizations flat and small, with less than three levels. This kind of structure encourages collaboration, while a multi-layered beauracy stifles creative and innovated thinking. You can lose the ability to raise intellectual capital by keeping employees in boxes with very specific tasks in the production chain.

- Helen Dimsdale

Here are a few highlights from press conferences here in Las Vegas:

From Monday, May 7th:

9:00 – 9:45 a.m.
Gallery IP Telephony, a software development and integration house, presented their platform for a seamless transition from existing PSTN networks to future IMS network technology.  Ilan Friedman, director of marketing and sales, stressed the importance of developing a solution for all segments of the service providers market.  Gallery IPT has provided what they described as a reliable and cost-effective class-5 alternative softswitch products suite that includes SS7 Gateway and an Advanced Features platform enabling built-in capacity and scalability.

10:00 – 10:45 a.m.
President and Founder of The Fright Channel, Rob Claridge, introduced the first independent horror-themed cable network set to launch in select markets nationwide on Friday, July 13.  The Fright Channel intends to provide an 18-39 year-old demographic with classic genre films and exclusively licensed features.  A slate of original programs are in development in addition to future broadband online broadcasts on www.thefrightchannel.tv, the recently launched Web site.  The Web site hosts a network supporting grassroots affiliates called “The Fright Force,” and a platform for user- generated content.  Claridge also announced The Fright Channel’s sister broadcasting entity, Fright, Jr., a channel aimed at the younger, 3-12 year-old demographic.  A limited Fright, Jr., DVD series is being created in collaboration with educators and child development specialists.

11:00 – 11:45 a.m.
The Media Group (TMG), a leader in the development and delivery of enhanced, transactional media, presented their core focus on “Integrated Transactional Media.”  “Integrated Transactional Media” describes how TMG is taking advantage of new technologies and existing media opportunities to deliver an interactive television experience.  The Media Group presented their business model that merges traditional programming with direct response.  The results of which can be seen through the launch of networks geared toward very specific demographic and enthusiast groups; including Men’s Outdoors & Recreation (MOR), Healthy Living Channel and Beauty & Fashion among others.

From Tuesday, May 8th:

8:30 – 9:15 a.m.
Food Network announced today it will enter into its first, exclusive multi-year charitable partnership with Share Our Strength®, the nation’s leading organization working to end childhood hunger in America.  The network and organization will identify ways to end hunger in America, which 12 million children are at risk of.  The announcement today surrounded the first endeavor in the partnership, to support Share Our Strength’s Great American Bake Sale®, kicking off May 19. The Great American Bake Sale is a national campaign that mobilizes people to help end childhood hunger in America by holding bake sales in their communities.

Here’s the cornerstone question raised at a Monday panel session on home-media technology: Is Wall Street Journal digital-technology guru Kara Swisher the embodiment of the future, or what a statistician would call an aberration?

The answer is important not because Swisher writes about technology, but because she might represent a new era in how people watch TV. Moderating a Cable Show panel session titled “Everything I Need to Know I Learned from the iPod: Harmonizing the Consumer Experience,” Swisher said she watched the latest season of ABC’s Life of Brian via her broadband-fed personal computer. “It looked beautiful,” she said.

Whether TV at large crosses the chasm from living-room TV set to PC is one of the big questions confronting cable industry strategists. But sentiment at the “iPod” panel was largely tilted toward the living room. One of the impediments to TV’s broadband-Internet migration is that full-blown high-definition TV still performs poorly over even the fastest Internet connections, explained Time Warner Cable executive vice president for product management Peter Stern. That’s one reason he sees most viewers sticking with the traditional TV environment.

Not that Stern or anybody else was dismissing the impact of new digital technologies on established behaviors. Still, the panelists at large said glitzy new devices like video-enabled iPods and media-center PCs tend to produce more impact in news reports than they do in the real world. Few owners of video-ready iPods actually use them to watch video, noted Ryan O’Hara, president of TV Guide Channel. And the much-awaited media center PC – a sort of do-it-all vessel for movies, music, digital photos and more – hasn’t achieved much traction. (Swisher called Microsoft’s Media Center PC software platform “a disaster.”)

For any device to achieve the breakthrough status accorded the iPod platform in general, panelists said two features are essential: simplicity and control. Simple point-and-click schemes for navigating television and interacting with new services seem to resonate across a wide spectrum of age groups, O’Hara noted. Agreeing was Dan Simpkins, president of Hillcrest Labs, which is developing new technologies to help viewers find their way through a growing tonnage of TV content. “The age of the up/down, left/right remote is over,” he said. And Comcast senior vice president of marketing and sales, Marvin Davis, suggested developers err on the side of simplicity. “I think it’s worse to offer a lot of content that people can’t get to,” he said.

Time Warner Cable’s Stern advised that focusing on end experiences ultimately will win the day. In a hyper-competitive multichannel TV environment, fighting at the margins over rights to exclusive programming won’t produce much value. Instead, he said the key to market success “is not about exclusivity; it’s about delivering end-to-end experiences.”

- Stewart Schley

At this morning's opening General Session, Brian Roberts, Chairman & CEO of Comcast, showed off a powerful new capability for cable's high-speed offering. First, the audience was treated to a video of Roberts at the 1996 National Show, showing off the superiority of a cable modem over dial-up or ISDN by simply downloading two pictures. Then, with the help of ARRIS Chairman Bob Stanzione over a video conference connection, they showed off wideband at work, seen side-by-side with a standard cable modem connection. Large video files were downloaded in as many seconds as the number of minutes it took a 3 MB modem connection. For example, a file of a Slowskys ad was coming in around 16 minutes by a 3 MB connection, while it took about that many seconds to travel by the wideband connection of around 150 MB. A 4 GB file would take around three hours by standard cable modem and a little under four minutes by wideband.

State-of-the-art high-speed access has definitely changed over the last 11 years.

CableNET Glimpses the Future – for the 15th Time – a preview of the annual technology showcase that began back in 1993 at the old Western Show

NCTA's Unflappable Eye of the Hurricane – a profile of Barbara York, NCTA's senior Vice President of Industry Affairs and organizer of The Cable Show

The Industry’s Convergence, the Consumer's 'Flow' – The Cable Show's co-chairs George Bodenheimer and Pat Esser offer a preview of this week

20 Years On, a New Climate – editorial by Cox's Pat Esser

Cable Tech Execs Talk OCAP – article on cable operators' rollout of OCAP

McSlarrow Preaches Calm Amidst Chaos – an interview with Kyle McSlarrow, NCTA's President & CEO, about cable’s legislative outlook

NCTA: Cable “Just Scratching Surface” of VOD – coverage of the panel “Cable 2.0: Growing Cable’s Next Business Opportunity”

Convention Speakers Call for Broadband Partnerships – article on the Town Hall of state & local regulators, mentioned previously

This year brought the first OCAP Developer’s Conference, which finished at noon today. As you can see from the photo, it turned out to be a standing-room-only event, attracting more than 300 attendees. Cable industry vet and tech expert Leslie Ellis was kind enough to share a few highlights from yesterday with me.

After a two-hour primer on OCAP (highlighted previously), the first panel featured four operators: Mike Hayashi, Time Warner; Chris Bowick, Cox; Arthur Orduña, Advance/Newhouse (Bright House Networks); and James Mumma, Comcast. Cox has OCAP in two markets now, with plans for five systems by year's end and a national footprint by the first half of '08. Time Warner Cable's set-tops will be OCAP or OCAP-capable by July 1, '07 and they will hopefully be in trial by year-end; Brighthouse is in a similar position. Comcast is ramping up to support an 80% footprint by year-end '08, with trials up in Denver, CO; Union, NJ; and parts of Boston, MA.

Some of the OCAP applications that are on the table so far include: ordering & changing cable services, email, bill payment, games, caller ID on TV, voting/polling capabilities in live TV, the ability to rewind live TV to the beginning of a show without having remembered to record it on your DVR.

Several sessions looked at applications development, from design to delivery. One interesting term was used: squeezeback, which which refers to what happens when an interactive application changes the size of the video currently displaying on the TV screen. For example, one might try to determine whether to do a squeezeback or an overlay in such a situation.

Some design tips were offered. When new content pops up on-screen, developers should be cautious with the transparency of the pop-up, since such transparency, although very elegant looking, is very processor-intensive. It pays to keep load times down as much as possible; while an instantaneous response is not necessarily realistic, there are compromises that can be made such as removing heavy graphics from the content. Developers were cautioned to keep it simple. As Comcast's Gerard Kunkel warned, "The more interesting you think you’re making it by adding features – chances are that you’re making it more complicated for the consumer."

A panel offering a business and deployment overview of OCAP, gave a glimpse of the complexity of OCAP rollout, courtesy of Cox's Steve Calzone. He began by saying, "I will talk about the highly technical nature of the onramp to OCAP."

He then proceeded: "You have the headend, including VOD and out-of-band, servers, multicasters, point-to-point asynchronous messaging, then the back office components in billing systems and load balancers and XMOL translation, and the on-demand assets identification interfaces." In light of all this, he offered this advice: "Minimize complexity."

- Paul Rodriguez

This morning, NCTA held a Town Hall meeting, entitled "Local & State Official Talk Telecommunication Policy." There was discussion of broadband deployment, which local officials are increasingly focusing on. Virginia State Delegate Terry Kilgore addressed the challenges with deployment and adoption of broadband access in rural areas.  He pointed out that there is great difficulty in attracting a redundant broadband infrastructure without businesses driving the technology deployment. Pennsylvania State Rep. Curtis Thomas believes that what is needed is a path to adoption through public-private partnerships.  Communities should encourage companies to invest and restrain public policy that hampers such investment. Massachusetts Senator Michael Morrissey addressed the challenges of low population density.  For example, in areas of Massachusetts, there are great distances between homes, and wiring them together is expensive.  He believes that tax policy to encourage investment should be explored.

Florida State Representative Rene Garcia expressed the belief that local government is closest to the people.  Over the years, cable has been a good local partner investing in communities.  Therefore, state and federal efforts to move the authority away from local government will lead to less broadband deployment rather than more. Rhode Island Rep. Peter Kilmartin said that while government moves slowly, technology moves much faster.  Local authority should govern with a light touch, and not hamper an industry that moves so quickly.

- Michael Turk