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.
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