Michael's Insight

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!