Michael's Insight

NYT follows up on online video debate at the Cable Show

Tweaking the Cable Model, to Avoid Newspapers’ Fate [NYT Bits Blog]

NYT's Bits published a good follow-up piece about the convergence debate that was one of the main issues discussed at last week's Cable Show. The post by writer Saul Hansell focuses on whether content creators are opening a Pandora's box by posting full-length shows on the Internet for free viewing without a business model that can support the creation of new content. And does giving users an expectation that all their shows and movies are available for free to legally view online set an unrealistic expectation?  Won't viewers begin to believe that there is little value in paying a subscription for the content they can view online a short time later? In short, does Hollywood risk going the way of newspapers if this is the model content producers adopt?

Operators and programmers are seeking common ground to work together to offer online video to those who otherwise have access to a network's programming.  First, however, there has to be a seamless authentication system in place to authorize access to the programming.

Solving the authentication issue is the key in advancing these subscriber video portals. That is, how do you provide the maximum flexibility for subscribers to view content, whether at home or away, while making sure that the content is secure from hacking or viewing by non-subscribers. As Pat Esser, CEO of Cox Communications says in the article:

“This is a very complex set of discussions around business models that no one fully understands. For example, he asked, how do you convert a cable subscription — which serves anyone in a home — into a service that can be used anywhere? Can only one person be watching online at a time? Should a limited number of devices, perhaps five, be authorized to connect to video content for each cable subscription?

Both Comcast and Time Warner Cable are in the process of building online video portals for their subscribers. I'm looking forward to seeing how they tackle the issue of authentication, and just how flexible their platform will be for activities like watching video on mobile devices.

Cable Show Highlights (Well, maybe not exactly)

The NCTA's Cable Show was a big success by almost all accounts.  More than 12,000 people attended the confab in Washington, DC, 2,000 more than expected and slightly in excess of last year's tally.  Well over 100 members of Congress and 300 regulators, administrators and staffers visited the show, particularly Broadband Nation, the impressive display of futuristic broadband services.

A few highlights...

• Who said a roomful of techies can't be nimble?  Some of the industry's best known technical strategists proved their impressive ability to dodge a tough question.  Jim Chiddix, Time Warner's former tech guru moderated a panel and asked the current crop of chief geeks about whether they would cancel their pending deliveries of set-top DVR's if Cablevision wins its appeal to allow them to deploy network DVR's.  Since other operators have been waiting on the sidelines before declaring whether they support the technology until the Supreme Court rules, here's how they responded..."Mike?" Chiddix asked, looking at Mike LaJoie, his successor at Time Warner.  "You must mean Mike Lee," LaJoie answered, throwing the hot potato to the Rogers top strategist.  I agree with Mike," answered Lee.  And in an apparent desire to have total clarity, Tony Warner, Comcast's CTO weighed in too.  "Ditto."

• Rupert Murdoch believes the recession will last until the end of next year.  He also announced he will sell his Long Island house because the local taxes are going from $3,000 to $7,000 per year.

• On what it's like to compete against Verizon, Cablevision's Tom Rutledge said that, because Cablevision continues to grow their customers despite the competition, "it annoys them (Verizon).  They're a bit like a Sumo wrestler.  They like to throw their belly out."

• Even the current FCC Commissioners are celebrating the change of regime in the Chairman's office.  Jonathan Adelstein, who soon will leave the agency to take the reigns at Rural Utilities Service, expressed relief that staffers were now allowed to answer questions posed to them by the commissioners.  Fellow commish, Robert McDowell said it was nice to see people in the elevators no longer, "looking at their shoes."  He added that one of the first things Chairman Copps did was to remove the sign that said, "The beatings shall continue until morale improves."  He added, "morale improved."

FCC Chairman Copps looks to adopt a fifth nondiscrimination principle

Copps Wants FCC To Adopt Fifth Non-Discrimination Internet Principle [Multichannel News]

Friday marked the final day of 2009's Cable Show. The Friday public policy luncheon at The Cable Show's featured current FCC chairman Michael Copps. Copps announced to the luncheon's audience support for a fifth nondiscrimination principle for the FCC's four current Internet openness principles and support for making the fifth principle enforceable by the FCC. Net neutrality has been a controversial subject for the FCC, which found cable operator Comcast in violation of the Internet openness principles last year in a case that involved network management of peer-to-peer traffic.

Chairman Copps indicated that notwithstanding his support for an additional nondiscrimination principal, he believed that the adoption process would be best served by waiting until FCC Chairman-designate Julius Genachowski is confimed by the U.S. Senate and other FCC vacancies are filled. Copps also indicated his willingness to work with network operators in drafting language for the fifth openness principle.

I'm glad to see that Chairman Copps is seeking the input of cable operators on a rule change like this one. It's a breath of fresh air at an agency that was in dire need of an "openness" principle of its own during the past five years. I'm looking forward to working with the Commission to develop rules that allow users freedom to use our networks how they choose, while preserving the ability of operators to responsibly manage resources to allow all users to have an acceptable broadband experience.

Rachel Maddow at the Cable Positive Power Awards

Yesterday I had the pleasure of participating in Cable Positive's Power Awards ceremony, where Rainbow Media Holdings CEO Josh Sapan was recognized with the Joel A. Berger Memorial World for his outstanding work in the fight against HIV/AIDS and Charter Communications CEO Neil Smit received the Cable Positive Corporate Leadership Award. Cable Positive is the cable industry's public service organization dedicated to raising HIV/AIDS awareness, supporting HIV/AIDS education, prevention and care, and ending the stigma surrounding the disease. Each year America's cable operators provide millions of free air time for public service announcements produced by Cable Positive.

This year's awards had a special guest that I was privileged to introduce. Rachel Maddow, host of MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show" presented the Cable Positive Power awards to Josh and Neil. She shared her own experiences as an HIV/AIDS activist with the audience that gathered at Cable Positive's booth on the exhibit floor here at the Cable Show.

Here's some video of my introduction and Rachel's remarks prior to recognizing Josh and Neil for their and their companies' important contributions to the work of Cable Positive.

A shot across the bow at the Cable Show

Disney warns cable on restrictive Web TV [The Washington Post]

I mentioned yesterday that I was going to fill-in on a panel here at The Cable Show. The Washington Post has posted an article about the panel's discussion on several issues, including the convergence of television and the Internet when it comes to video content. It's a debate that I've written about in previous posts .

Prior to my panel, I was honored to introduce Disney CEO Bob Iger for the keynote speech.  I spoke from the heart when I said that he has proven to be a guy who "gets it."  That he is a true innovator. 

But I was confused when he warned cable distributors to think twice about making plans to create subscriber-only portals.  He was specifically directing his comments toward Comcast's announced plan to launch Online On Demand and Time Warner's TV Anywhere.  Both portals are being designed to extend the viewing options of their current customers to include online capability.  Sounds pretty user-friendly to me.

Here's what Bob said:

"Preventing people from watching any shows online, unless they subscribe to some multichannel service, could be viewed as both anti-consumer and anti-technology, and would be something we would find difficult to embrace."

Why was I confused? 

Because Disney, which owns ESPN, created and operates a major subscriber-only portal, ESPN360.  Although ESPN360 is available to all Insightbb customers because we have a deal with Disney, it is not available to millions of Broadband customers whose ISP does not have a deal for distribution. 

Perhaps Disney thinks of their service because they don't bill customers directly -- they require the ISP to pay.  But I don't accept that differentiation.  Why don't I?   Because, in the real world, it simply means that consumers indirectly pay Disney, through their ISP. 

This morning, as I was writing this post, I tried to access ESPN360 from my hotel room and here's what I got, in the form of a big red pop-up:

ESPN360.com is available at no charge to fans who receive their high-speed internet connection from an ESPN360.com affiliated internet service provider. ESPN360.com is also available to fans that access the internet from U.S. college campuses and U.S. military bases.

Your current computer network falls outside of these categories. Here’s how you can get access to ESPN360.com....

Isn't this a double standard? 

Don't get me wrong.  I fully approve of the concept of ESPN360.  During the panel discussion that followed his speech, we spoke specifically about how important it is for programmers and distributors to embrace new technology, including the use of the Internet to deliver video.  But I also cautioned that there has to be a business model that won't destroy the economics of content creation which could pile on to the woes of the economy.  ESPN360 offers a viable solution to my concern. 

What's really in play here is not whether it's good or bad to offer content over the Internet on a subscription basis.  I guess I'm just troubled by the use of this issue to wage a fight over who gets to aggregate that content.

Rupert Murdoch keynotes Cable Show session

Cable Show 2009: Murdoch: Market Troubles Could Last 3 Years [Multichannel News]

Yesterday afternoon's general session at the Cable Show featured News Corp chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch, keynoting and participating in a panel that included Jeffrey Bewkes (Time Warner, Inc.), Philippe Dauman (Viacom, Inc.), Michael Fries (Liberty Global, Inc.), Fox News and Fox Business Network's Neil Cavuto as moderator.

Murdoch commented on the current state of the global economy, predicting that "we're not going back to the old levels in any hurry at all," and indicating that he believes that the economy will recover by the end of next year. Despite the economic conditions, Murdoch told the audience that Fox's overall advertising revenues are up.

And if you're looking to get free articles from The Wall Street Journal anytime soon, Murdoch quickly dispelled that notion regarding one of News Corp's latest acquisitions. The "disruptive" technology of the world wide web has caused consumers to expect online content for free, but News Corp plans to keep the Journal's online content a subscription-based product. Since an online ad supported model doesn't perform as well as the Journal's current model, there's not any impetus to change to free, ad-supported content.

In the current environment where some major newspapers are going out of business or heavily reducing staffing levels and going to an online-only format, it makes me wonder whether other major newspapers will pick up the subscription-based model for their online content, rather than making it available to everyone for free.

Cable creating the Broadband Nation

Here at the 2009 Cable Show in Washington DC, the cable industry has over 20,000 square feet of exhibit space dedicated to giving convention-goers and policy makers a hands-on opportunity to experience the  products and services that cable companies are bringing to consumers today and in the future. Yesterday, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke cut the ribbon on Broadband Nation. After the ribbon cutting, Secretary Locke made some brief comments.

"It's impossible for an elementary school or a middle school or a high school to offer a teacher in every single subject mater that a student may be interested in," Locke said in his remarks after the tour. "But through the power of technology -- the Internet, and of course the incredible speeds offered by cable -- those students can be taking courses ... in a subject matter that's not offered in the school. There's really no reason why they can't be sitting in on lectures at M.I.T. or Harvard or Stanford."

Broadband Nation offers a glimpse of Main Street America and the life-changing technologies that cable has brought into our lives. At Dr. Al Better's office, telemedicine technologies are on display, and over at Broadband Horizon Middle School convention visitors can see a demonstration of distance learning technologies -- all powered by cable's broadband pipe. There's even a vehicle equipped with the latest 4G mobile broadband. Cable products on display in Broadband Nation include DOCSIS 3.0 broadband, tru2way interactive television, voice over IP solutions, WiMAX mobile broadband, and more.  And the U2 concert in high def 3-D is awesome. 

Thirty-five companies contributed to the technologies that power Broadband Nation's homes and businesses. If you're at the Cable Show, I encourage you to spend some time in Broadband Nation to see the neat products on display. I'm sure after you play one of the 3D video games at Broadband Theater or interact with the tru2way televisions in the Lofts on Fast Lane you will be looking forward to the day in the very near future when these products are widely available to customers of America's cable companies.

By the way, the Cable Show Blog has some video of Broadband Nation available here and here.

Opening day at the Cable Show

Yesterday afternoon, I had the privilege of opening the first general session of the Cable Show with my co-chair for the convention, TV One CEO Johnathan Rodgers. As I mentioned yesterday, Johnathan and I got some experience riding around on the Segway for an opening video for the session - that innovatively featured the two of us riding around Washington DC. 

Okay, truth be told.  We really weren't riding around on the big-wheeled vehicles.  We produced a cheesy video on Tuesday in front of a green screen that made it look like we were riding around.  I've been told, more than once, we will never live that one down. 

After our introduction, NCTA president and CEO Kyle McSlarrow delivered the keynote address of the session, outlining the progress that the cable industry has made over the last decade and the bright future that cable promises to bring to American consumers. Kyle's remarks included the following:

The truth is we really don’t know what the future holds . . . we have merely an imperfect glimpse of what a truly connected nation would look like. But it is an exciting vision, and our industry fully intends to do its part to lead.

Competition and our willingness to invest and to take risks have made every aspect of our business more innovative . . . more nimble . . . more responsive to and focused on the consumer.

The full text of Kyle's remarks are available here.

After the keynote address, former FCC Chairman and Insight board member William Kennard moderated a panel of four of the industry's top executives discussing the "Agenda for the New Media Era." That panel consisted of Pat Esser, President of Cox Communications, Jerry Kent, Chairman and CEO of Suddenlink Communications, Craig McCaw, Chairman of Clearwire, and Brian Roberts, Chairman and CEO of Comcast.

The panel discussed the future of streamed Internet video and the models that cable could use to coexist with Internet video offerings. Wireless was also a hot topic. Three of the panelists (Cox, Clearwire, and Comcast) are all involved in mobile broadband ventures. Jerry, representing mid-sized operators like Insight, was keeping a watchful eye on their efforts.  There was also discussion about the cable industry's ability to weather the current economic climate, which is mostly good news for the cable industry because consumers continue to flock to the industry's products despite the recession.

There are a number of things I want to report on but, as you can imagine, my duties as convention chair are keeping me very busy.  Today, I am filling in on the general session for Insight's COO, Dinni Jain who was stricken with an untimely flu bug, participating in Cable Positive's recognition of Rainbow's Josh Sapan and Charter CEO, Neil Smit for their efforts in the fight against HIV and AIDS and attending public policy events, and helping to host the numerous policymakers and regulators who are visiting the show.

So, given my schedule, I'm keeping it brief while I'm here -- giving you the highlights.   Next week,  I'll follow up with some of the things I didn't have time to blog about while here.

The Cable Show 2009

I'm up bright and early today as the 2009 Cable Show is getting ready to open today in Washington, DC.  I arrived yesterday to start my duties as this year's Convention Co-Chair, along with Johnathan Rodgers, the CEO of TV One.  We participated in a very successful "Cable Cares" event at the Hart Middle School where a truckload of food was donated for DC families in need.   The highlight for the kids was a fabulous concert starring Robert Randolph and the Family Band, sponsored by The Gospel Music Channel.

Jonathan and I got some Segway experience as we prepared for our welcoming introduction at the opening session today at 1:45 pm and we'll cut the ribbon to this year's terrific exhibition hall at 3.  The buzz about the displays is all about Broadband Nation, a presentation of the many advanced services that today's cable industry provides to communities large and small.  I hear there's a high def 3-D demo of the band U-2 that dazzles the senses.  I definitely intend to sneak a peak.

Last night, Senator John Kerry (D-MA) delivered a candid assessment of his agenda as the incoming Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet to cable's Key Contacts members, our grassroots lobbying organization. 

Today, before the official opening, Comcast's David Cohen, Johnathan and I will cut the ribbon opening a brand new media center that is being provided by Cable Cares and Comcast to the Truesdell Educational Campus.  Then some meetings, a public policy luncheon, followed by the opening general session and the exhibit hall ribbon cutting.  Finally, a long day will end at the Cable Pioneers dinner tonight where I will introduce the new chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA).

I'll be up early tomorrow morning to report on some of the events of today and to tell you about some of the neat things on display and being discussed.

The Cable Show starts tomorrow in Washington DC

On on my way to Washington, DC today to get ready for the cable industry's annual convention, the 2009 Cable Show which officially begins tomorrow. This year's Cable Show is being held at the Washington Convention Center, and will be co-chaired by my good friend, TV One CEO Johnathan Rodgers and me.

I'm looking forward to blogging from the convention, and bringing you a glimpse of some of the newest technologies that will be on display from the exhibit floor. The Cable Show will also feature Broadband Nation, a technology showcase of Main Street America highlighting the advanced broadband, video and phone services provided by cable companies. Broadband Nation will showcase DOCSIS 3.0 broadband speeds, tru2way interactive television and more.

Stay tuned here the next few days for posts from the Cable Show. If you're looking for more coverage of the Show, check out the Cable Show blog or Cable Show on Twitter.

Motorola to demo 3D TV at next week's Cable Show

Exclusive News: Motorola Brings 3D TV to The Cable Show [Motorola - mediaexperiences2go]

Next week, I'll be heading to Washington D.C. to chair the cable industry's 2009 convention - The Cable Show. The Cable Show offers a great opportunity to see and experience the cutting edge of video technology, and based on some of the preliminary announcements that exhibitors are making, it sounds like this year will be no different. As this year's co-chair, along with TV One CEO Jonathan Rogers, I have a jam-packed schedule.  But I definitely intend to find time to walk over to the Motorola booth to check out their display of 3D TV.

According to this post, Motorola will be using a television and a Motorola set-top that's already on the market to deliver 3D video. Motorola claims that a high end set-top capable of MPEG-4 compression support and video delivery of 1080p at 60 frames per second can deliver 3D content without using any more bandwidth than high definition video. 

I'm looking forward to writing about the 3D TV technology as well as some of the other neat technologies that will be on display next week.

Tru2way showcase ready for next month's Cable Show

Plenty of tru2way demos planned for The Cable Show in April [EngadgetHD]

The Cable Show is coming up at the beginning of next month in Washington D.C., and it promises to be a showcase for tru2way, the up-and-coming standard for interactive televisions. EngadgetHD has linked to a release that details a number of tru2way set-tops and tru2way program guides, games, web browsers and more tru2way programs to be on display at The Cable Show's CableNET. CableNET is a joint technology showcase of the NCTA and CableLabs.

I'll be taking a look at the new tru2way products at The Cable Show next month. Last year's Cable Show was the debut of tru2way devices, and this time it looks like we'll have some new products based on the standard. In between my duties as this year's convention chairman, I'll be blogging from The Cable Show again this year.   I'm looking forward to profiling some new products and applications, so stay tuned.  The show runs from April 1 through April 3.

Convention Update: Sports

There were no fireworks at the session on sports programming yesterday.  I showed up prepared to air the laundry between distributors and programmers so I wore a referee's shirt.

But the panel was more committed to discussing ways the two natural opponents

Blogs covering The Cable Show

As the final day of The Cable Show winds down, I wanted to point your attention to a couple of blogs that are covering the events and exhibitors here in New Orleans. EngadgetHD has a great photographic tour of the convention floor's various exhibitors. EngadgetHD also has a series of individual product-based articles about the exhibitors here.

Over at IP Democracy you can read about U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez's comments on net neutrality (supportive of "reasonable network management") and a panel discussion that was held by three former FCC members acting as proxies for the presidential candidates on the issue of broadband policy.

Convention update: Want television interactivity? Meet tru2way

The CableNet showcase on the exhibition floor here in New Orleans is displaying examples of a plethora of new technologies. It's a good opportunity to see what's coming next in cable television and broadband.

In my post last Friday, I said that I was looking forward to seeing the true2way

Convention Buzz: Strong Results and WiMax

The Cable Show opened on Sunday in New Orleans.  I've been to around 30 of these annual events and the mood of the industry is usually quite clear.  Coming off a string of very strong Q1 results by all reporting companies, the mood is good.  We reported last Thursday record increases in basic, broadband and phone customers.  We had a great quarter, adding over 15,000 basic customers and increasing our revenue by 17% and operating income (the financial guys call it OIBTDA) by 22%. 

So, here in New Orleans, there's a sense of optimism

Getting Ready for the Big Easy

I'm getting ready to attend the Cable Show starting Sunday in New Orleans.  Lot's of technology, programming and software to check out.  I plan to attend some public policy discussions, technical seminars and I get to moderate a session on Sports.  I'm really looking forward to that one! 

I also want to check out the True-2-Way products and see what type of 3rd Party opportunities are beginning to be developed for digital cable's new interactive open platform.  I know the cable industry is preparing to welcome developers to add great new products to the next generation of video service and I want to make sure we're being hospitable.

I hope to have a chance to post some thoughts while I'm there.  Don't blame me though if the crawfish etouffee and dirty rice keep me out late!