Cogeco-owned Breezeline, which provides cable broadband services in 13 states in the Northeast and Southeast, said it is preparing to offer mobile services to its customers this spring. The first launch market will be in Connecticut, it said.

Breezeline (formerly known as Atlantic Broadband) will operate under the National Content & Technology Cooperative’s mobile virtual network operator agreement, with provisioning supported by Reach.

Breezeline Mobile will be offered to the company's internet customers with unlimited nationwide talk and text combined with By-the-Gig or Unlimited data plans, the company said. Other than Connecticut Breezeline operates in Delaware, Florida, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.

Archtop Fiber, a 2022-founded startup focused on rebuilding broadband providers with all-fiber networks in underserved markets, completed its third acquisition in five months, buying Warwick Valley Telephone with plans to upgrade its network operating in New York's Orange County, the Mid-Hudson Valley and northwestern New Jersey.

Led by longtime cable operator and entrepreneur Jeff DeMond with other senior executives who trace their broadband experience back to Bresnan Communications, Archtop Fiber earlier acquired GTel, of Germantown, New York, and Hancock Telephone, of Hancock, New York. It's also building a new broadband network in Kingston, New York, in partnership with the city government. Archtop is backed by Post Road Group and made the stock-purchase acquisition of WVT with Momentum Telecom, the companies said in a release.

From The Archives (2018): Fulfilling a Vision of Small-Town Broadband

Archtop is rebranding the latest acquisition as WVT Fiber and is “over-lashing fiber onto WVT’s existing lines and making preparations to power up its state-of-the-art XGS-PON network,” the company said.

DeMond said in the release: “We were drawn to WVT for many reasons, not least of which was its reputation as a community institution committed to customer service. We are excited to expand on the strengths of both companies. This is an exciting time for WVT customers as we upgrade their service to fiber. Soon, they will enjoy access to the fastest Internet speeds imaginable along with the myriad opportunities that come with it. We’re proud to be able to deliver this long-awaited service to the community.”

A new overview report on U.S. streaming (OTT) and pay TV trends highlights continued but slowing growth in streaming revenue, in an analysis of 50-plus providers (80 services) led by Netflix, Disney (including Hulu), Warner Bros. Discovery and Amazon. 

Convergence Research puts out yearly reports called The Battle for the American Couch Potato (here's our look at last year's highlights). This report said  programmers and independents will continue to essentially split U.S. OTT access (subscriber) revenue. In 2022, U.S. OTT access revenue grew 26% to $49.6 billion, with a forecast of 21% growth in 2023 and a 13% bump in 2025. 

Programmers, though, are facing more competition for views and profits and also balancing their pay-TV and streaming businesses along with advertising and theatrical distribution concerns. Growth will be slower in terms of household penetration, subscriptions per household and net OTT subscriptions, at a rate from 2023 to 2025 that's half of the growth from 2020 to 2022. Streamers have been tweaking the subscription offerings in response (and currently are running some deep discounts).

In terms of subscriber growth of streamer accounts, the 2022 estimated growth of 57 million (down from 90 million in 2021) should slow to 45 million added in 2023, 37 million in 2024 and 31 million in 2025, Convergence said. Analyst Brahm Eiley said in an email: "Turbulence for the Networks/Studios is only going to increase going forward as they see less revenue from traditional TV advertising and programming sales and less incremental OTT subscriber additions. Hence there will be continuing pressure on the Networks/Studios to raise streaming subscription prices, add more advertising and keep costs (programming and headcount) contained.”

On the pay TV side of things, Convergence estimated 2022 U.S. cable, satellite and telco TV access revenue declined 6% to $85.8 billion in 2022 and said a 9% decline is in the cards for 2023 (though with average revenue per unit growth of 3%) and a 13% dip will occur in 2025. 

In 2022, the report said, U.S. pay TV subscribers declined by 7.37 million (11%) in 2022 and another dip of 8.44 million (14%) is foreseen for 2023. A 16% decline is projected for 2025. As of year-end 2022, almost 70 million U.S. households (over 53% of households) did not have a TV subscription via cable, satellite or telco. Traditional TV access is well into becoming a niche product, Eiley said. 

Broadband continues to grow in subscribers (3.2 million) and revenue (6.5% to $84.8 billion) in the U.S. in 2022, the report said. Higher subscriber additions are forecast for 2023 and slightly lower revenue growth. Cable continues to maintain the lions’ share of residential broadband subscribers but cable’s annual share of net additions has fallen precipitously, a trendline projected to continue through 2025 due primarily to T-Mobile and Verizon. [Fixed wireless access accounted for 95% of home broadband growth in Q1 of 2023, Next TV has reported.]

At a time when the Walt Disney Co. is looking for ways to stream ESPN directly to consumers, a new survey reinforces the notion that cable subscribers feel they “must have” the sports network.

Beta Research said that 78% of network viewers called ESPN a “must-have network."

While linear ratings for kids channels have plummeted over the past few years, 73% of viewers called Cartoon Network and Disney Channel “must haves.” 

Also: Streaming's Share of TV Viewing Tops Cable for First Time: Nielsen

INSP was also labeled must have by 73% of network viewers.

Scoring nearly as high as must haves were Comedy Central, Discovery Channel, CNN, ID and ESPN2.

Beta also asked respondents which networks were most important to their enjoyment of cable, and 42% pf the adult cable and satellite subscribers surveyed named ESPN, Food Network and History Channel. 

Discovery Channel, Fox News, Weather Channel, National Geographic, FX, USA Networks, CNN, TNT and Comedy Central also were named by more than a third of respondents as helping them enjoy cable TV.

Among men, the favorite basic cable channels included ESPN, History and ESPN2, Fox News, CNN, Discovery Channel, Fox Sports 1, Comedy Central and National Geographic.

Among women, the top networks were Food Network, HGTV, CNN, Hallmark Channel, ID, TLC, Lifetime and History.

The Beta Research Multichannel Subscriber Study–Evaluation of Basic Cable Networks was conducted in June with a national sample of 1,200 cable and satellite subscribers.  ■

It seems we were onto something when we named our newest report FASTs Are the New Cable. All sorts of people, in the media and on Wall Street, are noticing just how much the entire streaming ecosystem is starting to look like cable TV again — not just the FASTs.

While there seems to be much hand-wringing about how this could happen, there’s a relatively simple explanation: people actually liked old-school cable TV and the options it provided.

What they didn’t like was the way cable companies treated them, the horrific customer service, the confusing bundles and packages, the sadistic interfaces, the ever-rising prices.

But the actual service itself, at least in its ideal form, was quite popular. 

It gave you a package of hundreds of different channels, the ability to spend hours flipping through them, a high-capacity DVR and a wide range of VOD offerings.

So what’s not to like?

Plenty, it seems. 

Cable’s Undoing Was Largely Its Own Fault

Because they were largely monopolies and because there was a sense that cable TV was a necessity, on the order of electricity or water, many (most?) cable companies fell into the habit of treating their customers like offal.

As in, it wasn’t all that long ago that #ComcastSucks was a popular social media meme and articles like this, about cable company employees all but abusing consumers-who-also-happened-to-be-well-known-journalists, were not uncommon.

Bad behavior aside, there were numerous less subjective features about cable that turned off consumers.

First and foremost was the complete lack of transparency about the terms of the contract, which frequently locked viewers in for two years and foisted both a landline and a broadband connection on them.

It was never clear when and how you could change your service, cancel it, or even upgrade it. Attempts to get a straight answer on that often constituted an exercise in futility involving hours on a phone chain and/or on hold.

Then there were the bills themselves, which always seemed to go up. Cable companies were pros at the low-priced come-on that quickly blossomed into a high-priced monthly bill.

And let’s not forget the interfaces, which felt like they had been designed by the Stasi as a means of torturing dissidents. I remember once accidentally clicking Episode 7 of a show on the Verizon Fios TV on-demand library and the TVOS taking me over 30 clicks (not a typo) to return to the menu where I could then choose episode six.

In addition to the many ways cable companies treated customers like adversaries, there was the issue of the technology itself — outdated set-top boxes that were confusing at best, fragile at worst and where the technicians who installed them became a late-night punchline (and a Jim Carrey movie) for their lack of reliability.

So there was all that too.

And still, in the not-too-distant past, around 90% of U.S. households had a cable subscription. (Can I note how liberating it is to not refer to it as “pay TV” a term no one in the real world actually uses.)

There are multiple reasons for that.

First and foremost is choice. 

Bruce Springsteen might have kvetched about having “57 channels and nothing on” but when most cable offerings had well over 500 offerings — plus a sizable on-demand library — there was pretty much always something on.

Then there was the ease of it. 

You didn’t have to think. You just turned on the TV and a show appeared. If you didn’t like it or if a commercial showed up, you could just click to the next channel or, if you were very sophisticated, you could punch in the three-digit code that would take you to your favorite channel. (At one point I knew the code for ESPN HD on several different cable systems.) 

And, most important of all, you had a single interface, awful though it may have been, that laid out all of the shows that you could watch.

Finally, there was the one bill thing. 

While the bill may have been way too high and while a landline may have been the last thing you wanted, it was, in retrospect, easy to have everything in one place.

Fast-forward and as cord-cutting picked up, most of the cable companies took significant strides to mend their evil ways. Customer service became a priority. Set-top boxes were replaced by streaming devices or apps. Interfaces were modernized. And those completely opaque two-year contracts? Still here.

What the Great Rebundling is doing is taking the things people liked about cable — the choice, the single bill, the top-level overview of “what’s on TV tonight”  — and combining them with transparency, the ability to choose a month-to-month plan for certain services and giving it to them in a far more user-friendly package along with a much more user-friendly interface.

Not to mention a much lower price. (The “F” in FAST stands for “free” after all.)

Linear Channels Make a Comeback

The return of linear channels on both FASTs and SVOD is very much a part of the Great Rebundling. People don’t like having to make a decision every time they turn on the TV.

To understand the “why” look no further than Spotify.

Sometimes people want to listen to a specific song or artist.

Mostly, though, they just want music on as background and don’t want to have to pick a new song every time. Hence the popularity of Spotify’s playlists.

TV is no different.

So why now?

Back when there were just three big streaming services (Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime Video) it was easy enough to manage them along with a cable subscription, especially since most consumers don’t seem to view Amazon as a video service they are paying for, but rather an additional perk of a free two-day delivery service.

But now that we're up to eight mega-SVOD services, people are feeling overwhelmed. They don’t like having to go to Google to figure out which service that new Kaley Cuoco show about the flight attendant is on. Or remembering which six months free offer is about to expire. Or feeling compelled to only watch original series every time they turn on the TV.

Hence the desire for simplicity, for a return to something that looks and feels a lot like the old cable TV system, only without all the bad parts.

What To Look For

While those of us who grew up with cable TV are no doubt nostalgic for it, the key trend to look out for is how all those zoomers and younger millennials feel about the Great Rebundling. Are they going to gravitate towards the new bundles and linear channels? Or are they just as content to do everything a la carte and not get tied down into year-long contracts?

We will know soon enough, but I suspect that simplicity will win out. ■

Fiber internet provider Surf Broadband Solutions marked the imminent arrival of fiber internet services to Mendota, Illinois, with a ceremonial groundbreaking event on Tuesday, June 28. Elected officials, Surf representatives and community stakeholders gathered at the town’s entrance to mark the moment, according to the company.

For Surf employee Terry Barr, this project is personal. Barr, a lifelong resident of Mendota, started Terry’s Computer Shack in 2009. He would often hear friends and neighbors talk about the need for reliable internet connectivity. As time has gone on, the need has only increased, especially in the age of work-from-home and e-learning.

“When I merged my company with Surf back in 2017, I was confident that my dream of helping the Mendota community obtain access to high-speed fiber internet was going to become a reality,” Barr said in a Surf release. “Today’s groundbreaking means more than just giving people the ability to ‘connect faster.’ It also signifies the start of expanded economic development opportunities and competitiveness for Mendota. I couldn’t be more proud.”

Surf CEO Gene Crusie remarked, “Surf has been serving customers in the Mendota region for over a decade through our wireless internet offerings. We are grateful to Terry for his vision and are excited to now bring the transformational technology of fiber internet to one of our hometowns.”

The entire project has been broken out into 12 phases which are in the very early stages of construction, said the company. Surf hopes to have a majority of the work finalized by the end of September 2022. To see if services are currently available for a specific address, visit https://surfbroadband.com/ and click on Check Availability. ■

Amid the sea of numbers about and sectors carved from entertainment that are detailed in the latest annual PwC U.S. Entertainment and Media Outlook is this tangy prospect: Cable TV, or an evolved version of it, might make a comeback over the next few years. 

Mix a “TV lite” version of the traditional cable bundle, a few choice streaming services, add in newer entertainment experiences like cloud-based video gaming, delivered through a broadband connection and voila, you have a possible revival/reformation of what was the most lucrative entertainment sector of the past few decades. 

“Our insights and forecasts suggest evolved packages that center around a broader definition of entertainment are in the future,” PwC’s C.J. Bangah, who is a consulting principal on TMT Customer Transformation, wrote me in an email interview from the Cannes Lions conference. “How we get from where we are today to that future is still being written. The pace at which new pricing models and packages are delivered are likely going to correlate to a few factors, including the broader economic environment.”

It’s hard to imagine the bad ol’ cable tyrants seizing back the monopolistic power they exercised 20 years ago. But what might result over the next few years could settle into a sustainable long-term business, instead of one in seemingly inexorable decline, PwC’s report suggests. 

Consumers will likely have choices even for broadband connectivity, especially if 5G fixed wireless or ATSC 3.0 deliver on their promises over the next few years. That means, the first job of the cable providers is keeping as many of the customers they already have engaged at some minimum level. 

For all their eroding consumer base, cable providers are still in 63% of American homes, the report says, and can use their broadband beach heads to amortize delivery costs for everything else they may sell. The key is maintaining the broadband/lite TV relationship.  

“This is important because it allows cable to weather the storm of cable-cutting and cord-trimming as users move to using more stand-alone TV providers,” the PwC report says. “Retaining these now lower-paying subs means that as the re-bundling of third-party services occurs, cable TV will be able to recoup these losses. Additionally, this strategy preserves the ability for cable to cater to premium subscribers who are using more expensive services like access to sports content.”

With that ongoing customer relationship, the cable companies have a chance to actually solve problems for increasingly vexed consumers overwhelmed by the tyranny of too much choice. 

The re-bundling, or re-aggregation, of TV programming is “increasingly likely,” because navigating between so many major streaming services “takes its toll on the performance of all of them. In order to grow revenue across all of these competing companies, it is necessary for a neutral aggregator to play the role of the consumer gatekeeper.” 

Yeah, that sounds a lot like traditional cable television, except it won’t be. PwC’s outlook for “traditional TV and home entertainment” is expected to continue declining in the United States, both in terms of customers and revenue, and across the rest of the continent. 

Over the next five years, the North American market is expected to drop from 44% of global share to 33%, as cable continues to grow in some overseas territories. Cable in the U.S. is expected to lose another 4.5 million subscribers over the next five years, though at a decreasing rate, but also to evolve into a different kind of platform.

“By 2026, cable distribution is expected to be nearly synonymous with broadband double-play, meaning that for many of these households there will be little difference between a cable and an effective IPTV home,” the report says.

The real advantage with selling consumers a minimal “TV lite” or “pay lite” array of cable networks is the ability to upsell, and not just, say, a three-month trial of HBO. 

Among the new services that can be differentiators is cloud-based gaming. Amazon announced its Luna service a few months ago, running on its Fire TV platform. Apple already had Arcade, with about 200 titles that, like the Fire platform, can be played with an external Bluetooth controller or mobile phone. Netflix launched its own game service last year. 

But unlike delivering video, which requires a consistent, relatively high-bandwidth signal, games need a near-instantaneous response to the player’s actions. The future delivery systems will need to ensure they’re able to keep up with all the demands on their capabilities. 

Making this transition won’t be easy even with the home-field advantages that cable providers can still claim with millions of customers, Bangah acknowledges.

Expensive battles over which platforms or services secure rights to premium live sports and other events are already playing out, with Amazon’s Thursday Night Football deal starting this season, Apple and Peacock new carveouts for MLB rights, and Apple’s 10-year deal for a standalone app with Major League Soccer.  

“There is no clear market-dominant winner for the future of entertainment and media,” Bangah writes. “We see fault lines and innovation opportunities across most segments, and while for traditional TV players there are strengths they can use to help protect and drive market share – there are also very strong headwinds they must compete against.”

The distribution platforms (Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Smart TV OEMs) may become more powerful than they already have, but Bangah cautioned, “There are few clear likely durable winners in the next five years.” 

So can cable TV come back? Maybe so. 

The industry has to provide inexpensive options to keep its remaining customers around, simplify their headaches with subscribing to, paying for and navigating a broad range of services, and make it easier to actually find the shows they want. Piece of cake, right? 

Multicultural News Network (MNN) has secured a multi-year nationwide linear distribution agreement with Charter Communications to make MNN available to its Spectrum customers when the network launches. 

DuJuan A. McCoy, founder and chairman of Multicultural News Network, is aiming for a fourth quarter launch. 

“Charter has been an unconditional supporter of me and my companies since my first interactions with my broadcast TV station group in 2015,” said McCoy. “It is to no surprise that Charter is the first major multichannel video programming distributor (MVPD) to agree to launch MNN this year. They were also the first MVPD to offer to launch MNN in 2018 when they were first introduced to the network. Working with their programming distribution department and multicultural team has been refreshing.”

Cox Media Group is a partner on MNN, which describes itself as “a 24-hour, non-partisan national news network that will bring an unbiased forum for the voices of America’s underserved multicultural communities.” It will target Blacks, Hispanics, LGBT, Asians, Native Americans and people of Middle Eastern descent, among others.

“Charter is dedicated to offering our customers the best programming that showcases diverse voices and perspectives,” said Tom Montemagno, executive VP of programming acquisition for Charter. “We look forward to adding Multicultural News Network to our lineup and giving Spectrum customers access to its topical news and issues-oriented multicultural programming.”

MNN will be headquartered in Indianapolis, in the facility that houses Circle City Broadcasting’s WISH and MyINDY-TV 23.

“As one of the few Black-owned media companies in the United States, I can confirm that Charter is a true advocate for diversity in media and, in my opinion, has been one of the industry leaders and on the forefront of DE&I. I am hopeful that others will take note of Charter’s success in this area and join this necessary movement,” said McCoy.

Comcast has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on a four-year old antitrust suit brought by ad rep Viamedia that could cost the cable giant up to $500 million.

Viamedia sued Comcast in 2016, alleging the cable operator prevented it from representing advertisers in Chicago, Detroit and Hartford, Connecticut, by gaining control of local interconnects. Viamedia originally sued for $75 million in damages, which were later increased to $160 million. After trebling under antitrust laws and pre-judgment interest, the suit could cost Comcast as much as $500 million.

A lower court dismissed Viamedia’s claim that Comcast refused to deal with the company in 2016 and in 2018 granted the cable operator a summary judgment regarding Viamedia's exclusive dealing and tying claims. Viamedia appealed, and on Feb. 24,  the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit reversed the lower court decision, adding that Viamedia’s claims were sufficient to present before a jury.

“The Seventh Circuit’s reversal of the district court’s careful and well-reasoned decision dismissing Viamedia’s claims is inconsistent with longstanding antitrust law, including decisions by the Supreme Court and other circuit courts,” Comcast said in a statement. “We’re asking the Supreme Court to correct this error.”

Viamedia had wanted the trial to start as soon as possible. In court documents it had pushed for discovery to begin in June and for the parties to have their first status conference on July 1, with summary judgments by Nov. 4. Comcast asked to stay discovery in a May 18 filing with the Appeals court, adding that it planned to file a writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court on Sept. 4. 

At the time Comcast said it was confident the Supreme Court would rule in its favor.

“Comcast believes that the Supreme Court is likely to grant the petition because the Seventh Circuit’s decision is inconsistent with the Supreme Court’s leading case on refusals to deal, creates a split with other circuits on the issues of refusals to deal and tying, and presents issues of nationwide importance concerning circumstances when the antitrust laws require competitors to cooperate with one another,” Comcast said in the May 18 filing. 

Also in the May 18 filing, Comcast stressed that the case is legally and factually complex, and that “the current pandemic has made it difficult to move forward with even routine matters in this District and around the nation,” adding that depositions were not taking place, travel was dangerous and the ability to normally conduct business was uncertain. 

“Further, Viamedia’s suggestion that the parties collect, review, and produce four years’ worth of documents in little more than a month would not be plausible even under normal circumstances,” Comcast continued.

As a result, Comcast suggested that the trial be pushed into next year, with the close of expert discovery on April 2, 2021 and the deadline for certain motions moved to May 28, 2021. In an Aug. 18 order, the Appeals Court said it found Viamedia’s shorter proposal “unreasonable and impractical,” and approved the Comcast proposal, provided Comcast submits an appended answer to the court by Sept. 15. 

In a statement,  Viamedia said it will oppose the Comcast Supreme Court petition.

“Comcast seeks to challenge the correct and well-reasoned decision of the Seventh Circuit, which held that Viamedia has jury-ready claims against Comcast for monopolizing in violation of the Sherman Act,” Viamedia said in a statement. “The parties are now engaged in additional discovery in the district court, and we are looking forward to being able to present our case at trial next year. The cable television advertising ‘Interconnects’ were intended to provide for a fair, inclusive, efficient and competitive marketplace for advertisers, cable operators and consumers, which is more important than ever in the face of new challenges to the advertising economy.”

Cable TV operators, satellite service providers, and the behemoth telcos are happy to sell everyone their TV program service — to the tune of $217 per month on average, according to research firm Decision Data. That’s about the same as the average bill for all major utilities combined (electricity, gas, water, sewage and garbage). If you can’t afford that, like many in minority and underserved communities, too bad.

Thank heaven there is an alternative, and it’s free. Over-the-air TV is not only still available and free, but with recently developed and approved new technology, broadcasters will be providing new services to parts of the market written off by pay TV providers. No more “let them eat cable!”

Next Gen TV is based on a new technological standard — ATSC 3.0 — established by the Advanced Television System Committee as the newest version of over-the-air TV. It allows viewers to have a truly amazing array of services, starting with ultra-high definition (4K) video and immersive audio delivering beautiful pictures and sound. It is IP (internet protocol) based, but no internet access is required for it to work. It allows distance-learning channels with no buffering or pixelating and targeted emergency alerts that are not blocked because the cell phone system is down during a storm or overloaded in a crisis. Best of all, it does not need to be anchored to a TV set on your wall at home — it can be available to mobile devices as well — in your car, on your laptop and on your phone.

Next Gen TV for Everyone

This technology is now being incorporated into some new high-end TVs. That’s good as far as it goes. But what if you can’t afford an expensive TV? To make these services available to everyone — including those most in need and who can’t afford pay-TV service in minority and underserved communities — the technology needs to be in ALL receiving devices: TVs, laptops, tablets and phones. This is what the FCC and Congress need to move on. 

Similar to the All-Channel Receiver Act of 1962, where the FCC required all television set manufacturers to include UHF tuners, not just VHF tuners, so the UHF band (then channels 14 to 83) could be received by all, broadcast receiver chips should be mandated for all laptops, tablets and cellphones. Broadcast (TV and radio) receiver chips cost less than $5 and would open to everyone the remarkable benefits afforded with the ATSC 3.0 standard. 

Receiver chips in mobile phones and computers would empower all of us to use this free over-the-air Next Gen technology directly with the electronic device we use. Just imagine, no internet access required, classrooms broadcast to your TV or phone, targeted disaster and emergency alerts and information tied to your location, and sent in multiple languages. And, if the FCC and Congress won’t move on this, the president should consider advancing this crucial public service pursuant to the Defense Production Act, which allows him to influence the domestic industry in the interest of national security.

When a disaster (natural or terrorist) hits, such as 9/11, earthquakes, fires, hurricanes, tornadoes and floods, communication networks are too often overloaded. The massive number of instant users during a crisis paralyzes the phone system. That’s the nature of the cellphone system designed to create a one-to-one connection. The broadcast system, on the other hand, has a one-to-infinite architecture that can never be overloaded. 

Many are recognizing that outages are becoming more and more frequent within the telephone infrastructure. Telcos are also subject to hostile takedowns or the migration of malicious code from other systems. Emergency systems lack interoperability or range, as was the case during the 2011 earthquake in Washington, D.C., or the California fires and other catastrophes. Based on its large area coverage and high-power/high-tower infrastructure, NextGen TV would extend the limited coverage area of first responders, allow remote data and information access during emergencies, and provide for backup due to loss of communication networks during a cyber-attack on communication systems. 

Next Gen broadcast also provides a highly dependable signaling allowing device “wakeup” and deep indoor penetration, coverage due to loss of the first responder network (FirstNet) during catastrophes, and is compatible with the cellular network Advanced Emergency Alerting & Informing (AEA&I) system.

Many Side Benefits

There are other important side-benefits to the Next Gen system. The ability to transmit multiple highly robust broadcast signals provides a basis for building an alternate, terrestrial positioning capability or secondary “GPS” system. Along with positioning comes a secondary precision timing system, which would further protect time-critical functions such as Wall Street trading and financial transactions. 

Finally, Next Gen broadcasting is capable of providing location augmentation and a terrestrial-focused Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) for use by autonomous vehicles and truck freight. That means enhanced tracking of driverless cars and package delivery services. It’s not your father’s broadcast TV anymore.

Those without access to pay TV services should not be relegated to a permanent second-class life. How many kids during this pandemic who didn’t have reliable Internet connections missed out on classes that could be broadcast to a TV in the house or to areas with spotty connectivity? And when there’s a school shooting and the cellphone network melts from overwhelming demand, wouldn’t it be great for everyone to have access to shelter information, evacuation routes and hear it in multiple languages? ATSC 3.0 will be available to 100% of the U.S. population.

Cable TV Pioneers today (July 15) named 22 new members of the organization, while the group continues to work on an alternative induction ceremony after scrapping the usual banquet celebration due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

The group said the new class "includes a wide spectrum of men and women from CEOs and company founders, to techs and trade execs who have and continue to contribute to the growth of our industry. Each has proven through their business contributions, community involvement and entrepreneurial success, their value as a Cable TV Pioneer."

The Pioneers had hoped to announce the 2020 class early in July and hold an alternative ceremony on Oct. 13, when the pre-pandemic plan was to meet at a black-tie dinner in Denver at the start of the Cable-Tec Expo. The engineers' gathering, though, was cancelled due to pandemic-related concerns. The Pioneers has not decided on what an alternative ceremony might look like, yet. 

Related Link: 2020 Diversity Week Events Go Virtual

“For the past 10 years, the new class induction has been a sold-out event, and while Covid-19 will make it impossible to hold our 54th banquet, the Pioneer managing board is working hard to create a celebration worthy of honoring this outstanding class,” Dave Fellows, the Pioneer chairman, said in today's statement, adding, “We are hoping to announce alternative plans shortly that will be exciting for our new members and our sponsors.”

Here are the new Cable TV Pioneers and their affiliation as cited by the group:

Jeff Berenson of ITV Partners LLC, Paul Broadhurst of Technetix Group, LTD, Rick Cimerman of NCTA: The Internet & Television Association, Robert Foote of KGP Co., Daniel Greiner of 4th Wave Technologies, Steve Kaplan of Multilink Inc., Craig Leddy of Interactive TV Works, Louise Mooney of JLM Partners, Ann Montgomery of Charter Communications, Daniel O'Brien of Mediashift Technologies, Elaine Partridge of Vast Broadband, Shane Portfolio of Comcast, Richard Prodan of Comcast, Joe Quane of EdgeConneX, Zak Raley of Amphenol Broadband Corp., Dick Rohm of Cable One (Sparklight), Jeff Ross of Armstrong Utilities, Peter Ruben of BMP Resources, Charles Segars of Ovation LLC, Gemma Toner of Tone Networks, John Williams of Charter Communications and Ronald Wolfe of Charter Communications.

The Cable TV Pioneers organization said Friday that it will choose a class of honorees, named by early July, and intends to have an induction celebration on Oct. 13 even though the SCTE-ISBE Cable-Tec Expo to which the ceremony had been linked was canceled. "The organization is studying a variety of options for the 54th Annual induction" which it intends to hold on Oct. 13 as previously announced, the group said in a statement. "As event details become formalized, they will share this information and news among members, sponsors, nominees and friends. In the meanwhile, the Cable TV Pioneers extends its appreciation to SCTE-ISBE and to all supporters while they organize another must-attend induction."

Related: SCTE Cancels 2020 Cable-Tec Expo

The engineering group's Expo was to take place at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver but it was canceled after it was learned the convention center would not be available during the week the Expo was scheduled. Colorado's governor, Jared Polis, said the convention center would keep its designation as a temporary medical facility throughout 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Pioneers said "a new and exciting celebration" would be held "in lieu of the live, major banquet" that had been slated for the evening before the Expo began.

National Association of Broadcasters President Gordon Smith has alerted members and exhibitors that the canceled 2020 NAB Show will not be rescheduled, but will instead be reimagined as a “digital” platform dubbed NAB Show Express, which will launch in April, when the physical show would have been held in Las Vegas.

Smith told C-SPAN canceling the NAB Show due to coronavirus concerns was a “great injury” to the association, but a decision it had to make. He also called it an “agonizing” decision, the economic impact of which — 100,000 attendees, one million feet of exhibit space — he was still calculating. Smith said that if the pandemic wanes he still hopes to have NAB Show 2021 next April.

He also said that this April the association would launch a “digital experience” called NAB Show Express for exhibitors and attendees, and that the October NAB Show New York would be enhanced.

The National Association of Broadcasters has pulled the plug on its April NAB Show.

The show will not be held in April, but NAB is considering its options for a future date.

NAB EVP Dennis Wharton said that one possibility could be to beef up the NAB Show New York in October (Oct. 21-22), though also potentially a summer show in Vegas if the virus threat has been mitigated and if NAB could get buy-in from exhibitors. He said NAB would be having those conversations with stakeholders over the coming days to determine their appetite for various options.

The Broadcasters Foundation of America said it has suspended its planned annual breakfast and charity golf tournament. Both were held in association with the show.

Dear NAB Show community,

As you know, we have been carefully monitoring coronavirus developments both domestically and globally over the past few weeks.

In the interest of addressing the health and safety concerns of our stakeholders and in consultation with partners throughout the media and entertainment industry, we have decided not to move forward with NAB Show in April. We are currently considering a number of potential alternatives to create the best possible experience for our community.

This was not an easy decision. Fortunately, we did not have to make this decision alone, and are grateful to our NAB Show community for engaging with us as we grappled with the rapidly-evolving situation. This Show is as much yours as it is ours, and it is important to us that we move forward together.

For nearly 100 years, NAB Show has provided superior value and the best possible experience for exhibitors and attendees. We knew that if we could not deliver on those expectations, we would not move forward. More importantly, keeping the community safe and healthy is NAB’s highest priority; therefore, we are deferring to the developing consensus from public health authorities on the challenges posed by coronavirus.

We are still weighing the best potential path forward, and we ask you for your patience as we do so. We are committed to exploring all possible alternatives so that we can provide a productive setting where the industry can engage with the latest technology, hear from industry thought leaders and make the game-changing connections that drive our industry forward.

I want to stress that despite our disappointment at how this year’s Show has been impacted by global public health concerns, we are more excited than ever about the future of NAB Show and our relationship with you.We are grateful for each and every member of our Show community. It is your passion for the industry that makes NAB Show a success year after year, and it is that same passion that will drive us into the future as we look ahead to new possibilities later this year and beyond.

Sincerely,
Gordon H. Smith
President and CEO

The World Health Organization has declared the virus a pandemic. 

An industry source confirmed the cancellation would be a "significant financial hit" for the association, which was anticipating close to 100,000 attendees. NAB had no comment on what its financial exposure was versus insurance on the show.

According to NAB, 96% of the exhibitors were still planning to attend the show, which brings together close to 100,000 attendees and participants from around the globe, with the majority of the 4% no-shows Chinese firms under travel restrictions.

But one of the pullouts was Burlington, Mass.-based Avid Technologies, which had announced that in response to the coronavirus outbreak, it is canceling its participation in all conferences and trade shows for the next 60 days.

Video tech company Harmonic praised the move.

"In view of the rising concerns surrounding COVID-19, Harmonic fully supports the NAB's decision to cancel the 2020 NAB Show in April," said the company in a statement. "The safety of our employees, customers and partners is of paramount importance to us. While we will miss the opportunity to connect in-person, we will take advantage of virtual communications to showcase our cloud-based video streaming platforms and vital service continuity capabilities, connecting with our customers and partners through Harmonic Live CONNECTION digital events worldwide."

Photos via NABShow.com.

Coronavirus virus concerns has forced the cancellation of another industry event as the T Howard Foundation Monday postponed its March 25 annual fundraising dinner.

The event, which recognizes and celebrates industry leaders and companies committed to increasing diversity and inclusion in the media and entertainment industry, will be rescheduled at a later date, according to T Howard Foundation president and CEO Jo Pamphile.

“The Diversity Awards Dinner is where we accomplish more than our fundraising goal. It is where we have the chance to celebrate our mission of diversity with our supporters, partners, board members, interns and the T- Howard Team. Therefore, their safetyand well-being must be our primary consideration," said Pamphile in a statement. 

The dinner will honor ABC Entertainment and ABC Studios, Charter Communications and ViacomCBS. The event's postponement marks the second in the last three years for T Howard: an early Spring snowstorm forced the dinner's postponement in 2018. 

The T Howard Foundation dinner joins a growing list of entertainment-based events recently cancelled due to coronavirus concerns including SXSW, Fox News' upfront, Comcast’s FreeWheel event, MIPTV and Mobile World Congress.

Coronavirus Cancellations: Everything You Need to Know

The digital platform is full of opportunities for new and upstart streaming services, but executives speaking Tuesday at NYC Television Week’s Streaming TV event say providing quality, targeted and authentic content to viewers across multiple platforms are key to surviving a competitive landscape.

Executives speaking at “The Upstarts” morning panel said that the digital streaming platform allows opportunities for distribution -- whether it's direct to consumer or through services like Pluto TV which offers live and SVOD content -- that are not available in the traditional linear television space.

Other services like The Preview Channel -- which offers movie and video game trailers -- have succeeded in gaining distribution through Smart TV developers like XUMO and Samsung, according to Preview Channel CEO William Sager. Executives say the key it to be available on as many platforms as possible to reach the widest audience.

“You actually have to be everywhere; it’s all about ubiquity,” said Gregor Angus, founder and CEO of True Royalty TV, which offers British-themed content. “Your audience has to be able to watch you wherever and whenever.”

Damian Pelliccione, CEO of LGBTQ-targeted service Revry, added that offering unique content that’s not available elsewhere helps new services break out from the clutter.

“In the U.S. alone the LGBT community spends over $913 billion in disposable income,” he said. “In addition, 20% of millennials, which is the largest consumer purchasing power in the world, identifies as LGBTQ, and 35% of Gen Z identifies LGBQT. That’s where we see the opportunity as those kids buy homes and cars … we will scale up with them by offering more content to them.”

News-themed service Newsy, which has a footing on both linear and streaming platforms, has been able to secure advertising partners due to its ability to target news junkies on multiple platforms, according to Newsy director of ad sales Ryan Forbell.

“It’s been beneficial to our partners from a sales perspective because we’re able to deliver two very uniquely different audiences,” Forbell said. “Digital offers a much younger audience; the linear space tends to deliver a much older audience.”

In order to survive in an increasingly crowded environment, however, it's important to connect to your target audience in an authentic way and to have the community of viewers that you’re targeting buy into the service’s concept, according to BroadwayHD founder and three-time Tony Award-winning producer Bonnie Comley.

“We are recognized by the Broadway industry as an additive to the business,” she said. “They see BroadwayHD as a streaming platform that was built by people within the industry with input from the industry.”

Added Revry’s Pelliccione: “Building brands today, especially for younger people, have to have social impact -- if they don’t I don’t know why you’re doing it and you probably won’t exist in five to 10 years,” he said. “We have a mission to bring totally authentic representation for the [LGBQT] community to the rest of the globe. There needs to be a cause, a mission and a culture that you brand yourself with.” 

CHICAGO — The Independent Show — which kicks off today (July 29) in Chicago — is shifting with the changing cable sands this year, offering members more marketing, workforce and e-commerce sessions in line with the industry-wide transition toward broadband and IP services. National Cable Television Cooperative CEO Rich Fickle spoke with Multichannel News about the show and and other issues affecting small cable operators. An edited transcript follows.

MCN: What’s different about the show this year? What should operators be looking for?

Rich Fickle: If you looked at the show content three years ago or four years ago, it was probably 80% video-driven. Now you’re seeing a broader mix, more broadband and some other areas relating to the management of companies. So, for example, this will have a focus on three panels regarding workforce hiring. Next generation — there are a lot of family-run companies, so there are a lot of special circumstances associated with that. It’s really an interesting time, in terms of how do you find a workforce that can adapt and operate in a much more software-driven world, given the mix of services? That’s one critical theme.

The folks in our group and ACA [Connects] on the legal side put together a pretty good program that is attracting some of the top legal executives from across the membership. That’s a first for us.

There is much more of a focus on marketing. As some of these services start to look alike across the competitive landscape and there is more competition, how do you differentiate yourself as a smaller operator? Where do you stand in terms of your brand, and what are the best practices that you can learn from others to compete with sometimes larger companies?

MCN: How different is it marketing broadband, apps and IP services than the traditional bundle, which mainly was sold on a price-comparison basis?

RF: Operators used to have a common, triple, double, sometimes quadruple play, and everyone was organized the same way and it was a call-center sales process. Today, I think it’s much more of an e-commerce play — allowing customers to find you easily, make their selections online and, in some cases, fill their requests online and even from the comfort of their remotes at home. That’s a different paradigm.

MCN: I see that you’re doing a General Session with Viacom. Is that a first for you guys?

RF: It is. We recently completed a renewal with Viacom and I think the terms are good, they’re attractive to a lot of our members. It doesn’t mean you won’t see some members think long and hard about the renewals, just because of the way that pressures are with the cost of video. We thought it was appropriate, given that we were able to reach a positive agreement with Viacom, to have their executives spend some time talking about what’s going on with that company, and a little bit about the deal structure and where they’re going. I would give kudos to [Viacom CEO Bob] Bakish and his team in their efforts to revitalize those relationships across the industry, ours included.

You’ll see another similar approach on the technology side. We invited some senior executives from a couple of the large suppliers to talk about their businesses and the challenges they have, given things like competition on a global basis, tariffs and shrinking R&D budgets. We thought we would let these executives help us understand what’s important to them, what the challenges are and how we can work together more collaboratively.

MCN: There are some breakout sessions on topics like HR. Is that becoming increasingly important to your membership as technology advances?

RF: It is. In some ways it’s kind of an aging workforce, and the question is, how do you recruit and attract that next generation? The old way I grew up in cable, you had technicians that were at the top of the food chain in terms of being able to solve problems and turn things around. Now a lot of the tech skills are embedded in support systems, alarming, alerts and diagnostics. [Call-center reps are] no longer customer-service reps. They’re really technical support people now, with tools that are far different than what we had five years ago.

MCN: What can members do for fun at the show?

RF: We’ve got an afternoon out at Wrigley Field, giving members and their families the chance to run out on the field, run the bases, throw pitches, hear from the Cubs management and a few players. I think it will be a tremendously popular event and it’s being done in partnership with Sinclair, which struck a relationship with the Cubs [forming RSN Marquee Sports Network]. … We’re grateful to Sinclair, to have them participate in a big way, and once again it’s a sign of the different approach to how we’re adapting to the challenges in the industry.  

ATLANTA — Having won the speed wars, cable operators should now set their sights on providing reliable and relatable broadband services, a panel of small cable operator executives said at the NCTC Winter Education Conference here Monday.

Cable operators, especially smaller companies, have increasingly de-emphasized video service, with Cable One being one of the more aggressive operators on that front. At the conference’s "General Session: First-String Leaders" panel, Cable One senior VP of technology services Ken Johnson said cable companies should embrace the shift away from video.

Operators who have spent the past few years focusing on increasing broadband speeds should now concentrate on something different, Johnson added.

“The race for speed is over,” Johnson said, noting that 97% of cable homes offer 1-Gigabit service today. “What they [customers] are looking for today is reliability, available 100% of the time. Embrace the video trend, recognize that we’re delivering. We’ve won the speed battle. Now it’s about reliability.”

North State Communications executive VP and chief marketing officer Scott Watts said although his company launched video about a decade ago, it has become primarily a retention tool for broadband services.

“We’re at a place where consumer behaviors are changing,” Watts said. “They’re consuming content from multiple sources, they want to do it on their own terms. We’re looking at alternative options, things like app-based services that don’t require a set-top box.”

Johnson added that only about 15% of Cable One’s homes passed take video and the operator is looking at providing links to other video services like Sling TV and Mobi TV and an even an in-house IP video solution.

“Consumers have decided how they want to get video,” Johnson said. “We just happen to be further along in that continuum than most people. It’s moving towards an app-based world, it’s moving toward an over-the-top streaming solution. We’re trying to figure out what’s our migration path. We’re actually embracing it.”

Johnson added that Cable One still has video customers and is still supporting them, it’s just spending more time and energy on other platforms for customers to access content.

“We are trialing things like Sling TV and Mobi TV, we’re looking at all the OTT partners and seeing what makes sense to bring in and comparing that to an in-house solution. Ultimately that is an ROI [Return on Investment] decision that will drive us one way or the other,” Johnson said. "Other than a hosted TV Everywhere product that we offer today, we are not actively providing OTT content.”

He added that whatever Cable One decides, it will not include providing billing services for third party OTT providers.

“We’re not looking to be in the middle of that,” Johnson said. “We look at cable as something we’re moving away from, not towards. We don’t want to have the burden of billing for that.”

Watts agreed, adding that North State is evaluating an app-based solution and has offered streaming service HBO Now in the past. But he added that the rising number of OTT providers makes being an aggregator difficult.

“There’s just so many different offerings, it’s tough to get in the middle of that,” Watts said. “It’s so complex, the different offerings, the different levels of service, trying to bill for a lot of different partners and be that aggregator, I don’t know the value we could bring to that.” 

The future success of audience research could be defined by the industry’s ability to offer data transparency, but reaching that lofty goal might be difficult to achieve in the short run, executives said during a panel session Wednesday at the TV Data Summit.

Executives speaking at the Data Analytics: TV's New Table Stakes panel, said that while there’s a lot of TV data available, deciphering what through the numbers to determine the most efficient data remains difficult.

“When we look at TV data we see retaining ID’s that couldn’t possibly be the same ID’s over and over again,” said Beth Logan, chief data scientist for dataxu. “I think what we really have to do is be really vigilant about checking those metrics.”

Added Ben Tatta, co-founder & president of 605, a television data and analytics company: “We need to do more on the transparency side. It takes a lot to make a data set representative, whether its representative nationally, or representative of the household. Blending the data sets together to get a more holistic view is essential, but I also think the method by which that happens needs to be disclosed.

Dativa CTO and chief data scientist Tom Weiss also said that its extremely difficult to be transparent given all of the information available. “We have to be transparent but we’re not mature and stable enough where we can expect everyone doing this to be at the same level of understanding," he said.

Added Tatta: “Its wonderful that there’s as variety of data sets that are available, and there’s a lot of companies with really smart people managing that,” Tatta said. “In the past there’s been a hesitancy to reveal [methodology] that because that’s our secret sauce, but at the same time I think it’s really important to have full transparency with clients.”

Read More: Complete Coverage of the TV Data Summit

With regard to analytic transparency, Roku’s head of ad and programming research Dan Robbins said the industry is “getting better at” but still has a ways to go. "I don’t think we’re there yet but we spend a lot of time trying to be diligent and rigorous about making sure that folks that we partner with have a good sense of what’s going on,” he said. 

ATLANTA -- Bill Warga, vice president, Technology for Liberty Global, and Tom Adams, executive vice president, Field Operations for Charter Communications, will co-chair the program committee for SCTE•ISBE Cable-Tec Expo 2019 in New Orleans.

The news broke during day one of the Cable-Tec Expo 2018 in Atlanta. Warga and Adams were re-elected as chair and vice-chair, respectively, of the SCTE•ISBE board of directors here.

Now the cable industry’s largest annual convention, the Expo -- which will mark its 50th edition next year -- is slated to be hosted in Denver and Atlanta multiple times between next year and 2019, with one-time stops in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

“In our role as the industry’s applied science arm, SCTE•ISBE is looked to for engineering expertise and workforce development that can move the needle in deployments,” Mark Dzuban, president and CEO of the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers and the International Society of Broadband Experts, said in a statement. “Bill Warga’s background as immediate past chair of our Engineering Committee and Tom Adams’ keen understanding of the connection between workforce education and operational excellence ensure that Cable-Tec Expo 2019 will address those areas in ways that can have material impact on operators’ bottom lines.”

“The innovative spirit of our vendor community and the desire of operators to drive new customer experiences continue to fuel the success of cable telecommunications,” Warga said in the release. “Tom and I will be working together with the SCTE•ISBE Cable-Tec Expo 2019 Program Committee and our partners at NCTA and CableLabs to harness that energy and build an event that creates real value for our industry.”

“Ensuring that the workforce has the knowledge and the resources needed to convert new technologies into great customer experiences is key to cable’s future success,” Adams said. “I look forward to working with Bill and the 2019 Program Committee to continue the enhancement of SCTE•ISBE Cable-Tec Expo’s role in the industry’s educational and operational ecosystem.”

The news media is under siege but its role in society has never been more important and needed than in today’s hyper-political environment, according to CNN news anchor Don Lemon.

“Everyday it’s like drinking from a fire hose of news … it is exhausting,” said Lemon, who serve as the keynote speaker Tuesday at the 32nd annual NAMIC Conference. “Everything has changed when it comes to this new world order and beyond in the media.”

Lemon, who anchors CNN Tonight with Don Lemon, said he never expected to experience the current level of vitriol and attacks directed at the mainstream news media when he first began his TV journalism career.

“It was never my intent to be fighting people who write and say the most vile and racist things about me on social media and television,” he said. “It was not what I intended [to see] that my profession would constantly be under attack by the Oval office and from masses of Americans. But let me tell you, I’m here for it and I’m ready to live up to that challenge.”

Lemon, the only African-American journalist currently hosting a primetime cable news show, said that right now is the most important time in recent history to be a journalist to serve as a reliable check and balance to often misleading and unreliable information coming from all corners of the political spectrum. He added it’s also a perilous time for reporters, pointing to the recent disappearance and suspected murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

“In the context of this new world order of dramatic political, social, and unparalleled technological change, the role of media has never been more important, and it's also never been more dangerous,” Lemon said. "Foreign reporters in war zones, as well as domestic reporters and journalists like me in war zones of our own here at home, are facing angry people and the threats of violence.”

Lemon also said traditional news media outlets also face threats from social media, which often posts inaccurate news and information. “It is incumbent upon the owners and managers of those sites like Facebook and Twitter to do their due diligence, and it’s incumbent upon you and the rest of America to make sure that they do it,” he said.

Anaheim – With broadband speeds doubling every two years, operators need to focus on innovation, network reliability and connectivity to drive results, a panel of experts said at a Monday (July 31) panel session at The Independent Show here.

Read More: MCN's Coverage of The Independent Show

CableLabs chief operating officer Chris Lammers noted that according to Nielsen's Law, high-end users’ bandwidth needs will grow by 50% every two years. With that in mind, Lammers said ultimate speeds will rise from 1 Gigabit per second in 2016-17, to 10 Gbps by 2023 and 100 Gbps by 2029.

ShenTel senior vice president, cable Tom Whitaker said operators need to make sure their networks are up to snuff to deliver higher and to know who their completion really is. While 5G wireless is getting a lot of press, in many cases the technology isn’t economically feasible for small communities.

Whitaker pointed to a Verizon Communications 5G deployment in Houston that cost the telco about $15.50 per covered POP. In a smaller market, like Lexington, Va., 5G could cost $55 per covered POP.

“Maybe 4G is a better option, a better long-term solution for many wireless networks in most of the small towns where we do business. So, I wouldn’t get all jacked up about 5G unless it’s in a bigger town,” Whitaker said.

Deploying fiber also has a halo effect on the entire company, said TDS Telecom director of product management and development Scott Schultz. While TDS does better in areas where it has deployed fiber, the halo the network gets from offering the service extends to areas it hasn’t upgraded yet. Take rates for copper-based services increased about 9% in neighborhoods that haven’t gotten the full fiber treatment yet, Schultz said.

“Even when you don’t have fiber to add, it works,” Schultz said. 

Anaheim – Video isn’t quite dead yet, it’s just taking a different train, according to a Monday (July 30) panel session at The Independent Show here. And small operators are finding ways to pair content offerings with broadband to satisfy changing consumer habits.

Read More: MCN's Coverage of The Independent Show

At the opening session, “Tackling the Challenge of Change… and Everything Else,” Multichannel News managing director, content Mark Robichaux and a panel of executives at top mid-sized and small operators picked apart the business, which has been dominated over the past few years by broadband and commercial services. The panel insisted that despite high programming costs and changing viewing habits, video is still an important arrow in cable’s quiver.

Video is taking a different form and instead traditional lineups packed with linear networks, smaller operators are offering the product through broadband apps and OTT services.

Schurz Communications vice president, cable Brian Lynch agreed that the video business has evolved, but added the industry has seen this before.

“The video challenge is a real one, but we’ve survived DirecTV and Dish [Network] in 1993 to 1995. The outcome of that was we got better and stronger,” Lynch said. “I think the same thing is going to happen with the onset of OTT. It’s a clear risk, we have time to solve this, but the main focus has to remain high-speed data.”

Fidelity Communications president John Colbert said while broadband and business services are the profit centers, less expensive forms of video are gaining traction with consumers.

“The challenge is to find how do we provide video and find a way to do it less expensively. I’m still long on this industry,” Colbert said. “We still have the best pipe in the house.”

Still, Colbert said most of Fidelity’s new customers are single-play broadband. In the last 36 months Fidelity grew broadband by 36,000 customers, half of whom were single-play broadband subscribers. He added that making it easier for customers to navigate between different OTT services has helped grow that segment.

“The ease of that transition supports the fundamental growth of high-speed data,” Colbert said. “Video consumption is going up.”

At Cable One, which was one of the first cable operators to move broadband to the front seat years ago, chief operating officer Michael Bowker said ease of use is essential for success.

“Our goal is we don’t view [video] as friend or foe,” Bowker said. “We want to enable our customers to have access to consume the video product however they want. If they’re doing that over my HSD pipes, then I win in that scenario.”

Broadband is fueling most of the growth of small cable and it doesn’t show any signs of letting up soon. Colbert said in some recently acquired markets, penetration rates are in the high 30% range.

“I don’t see why we can’t have 70% penetration,” in those markets, Colbert said.

Small operators are at an advantage in rural areas because the competition can’t always invest the capital to offer superior speeds. That has even been the case for newer players.

At Allo Communications, which has overbuilt several markets in Nebraska and Colorado with fiber, the company has captured 80% to 90% market share in business services in some locations. It is expecting similar results in Lincoln, Neb., when it completes its fiber build there later this year.

“The avalanche is coming,” Allo president Brad Moline said.  

The Cable TV Pioneers said Tuesday its 2018 class, to be inducted on Oct. 22 in Atlanta, will have 25 members, with Discovery Inc. CEO David Zaslav and his one-time NBC colleague, WinView executive chairman Tom Rogers, among the best-known executives on the diverse list.

The organization recognizes the contributions made by individual men and women in the cable industry to their businesses and their communities over 20 years or more. The 52nd Annual Cable TV Pioneers Banquet will be at the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel the night before the SCTE-ISBE Cable-Tec Expo begins. 

RELATED: Cable TV Pioneers: 50 Facts for 50 Years

The new class includes five women, including the CEO of cable-marketing association CTAM, Vicki Lins. It also includes the longtime Multichannel News senior content producer - technology Jeff Baumgartner, who began his industry career at the former cable operator Jones Intercable.

RELATED: Cable TV Pioneers Head West Into a New Era

Here is the 2018 class, in alphabetical order, with company affiliations provided by the Cable TV Pioneers:

Judi Allen, Nielsen; David Baldwin, HBO and Starz; Michael Bates, Comcast Corp.; Jeff Baumgartner, Multichannel News; Larry Beauchamp, Comcast; Jane Bulman, Comcast (ret.); Craig Cuttner, HBO; Chris Ewing, CommScope; Hank Fore, Comcast (ret.); Fred Kaiser, Alpha Technologies; Holly Leff-Pressman, Screen Engine SCI; Vicki Lins, CTAM; Guy McCormick, Cox Communications; Glyndell Moore, Storer and Summit Cable (ret.); Andy Parrott, Altice; Enrique Yamuni Robles, Megacable; Fred Rogers, Quality RF (ret.); Tom Rogers, WinView; Arthur Sando, Turner and CBS (ret.); Rob Shema, American Cable Association; Tony Speller, Comcast; Curtis Symonds, Symonds Synergy Group; Shawn Tylka, Cisco; Steve Williams, Williams Communications; David Zaslav, Discovery. 

Details about the upcoming banquet can be found at CableTVPioneers.com.   

The SCTE/ISBE said the CEOs of three policy- and tech-facing organizations will kick off the Innovation Theater component of this year’s Cable-Tec Expo in Atlanta, and shed some light on the issues affecting tier 2/3 cable operators and rural service providers.

The Innovation Theater kickoff panel, called Off The Beaten Path: Strategies For Success In Small, Midsize and Rural Markets, is set for Tuesday, Oct. 23. It will feature Shirley Bloomfield, CEO of NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association; Rich Fickle, president and CEO of the National Cable Telecommunications Cooperative (NCTC); and Matt Polka, president and CEO of the American Cable Association (ACA).

“Small, mid-size and rural service providers are essential to fulfilling the promise of ubiquitous broadband coverage,” Mark Dzuban, president and CEO of SCTE/ISBE, said in a statement. “NTCA, NCTC, and ACA are well-positioned to share their members’ needs with the Expo audience, as well as how that translates into future technology roadmaps.”

Cable-Tec Expo 2018 is set for Oct. 22-25 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. Pat Esser, president of Cox Communications, will keynote the show’s opening general session.

RELATED: NCTA, CableLabs, SCTE/ISBE CEOs to Share Stage at Cable-Tec Expo

The presidents and CEOs of three industry organizations will share the stage in a joint panel at Cable-Tec Expo 2018, set for Oct. 22-25 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.

The panel, to be part of the show’s opening general session on Tuesday, Oct. 23, will feature Michael Powell, president and CEO of the NCTA — The Internet & Television Association; Phil McKinney, president and CEO of CableLabs; and Mark Dzuban, president and CEO of SCTE/ISBE, the organization that’s putting on the annual event.

The panel, titled, An Integrated Circuit: Closing the Links Between Innovation, Deployment and ROI, will be moderated by Tony Werner, president, technology and product, Comcast Cable.

SCTE/ISBE announced last week that Pat Esser, president of Cox Communications, will keynote the show’s opening general session.

Kevin Hart, EVP and chief product and technology officer of Cox, is serving as program chair for this year’s Cable-Tec Expo.

Last fall’s Cable-Tec Expo in Denver drew 8,800 registered attendees.

“The cable industry’s leadership in deploying new technologies has been a cornerstone of our mission to provide consumers with services that make their lives better,” Powell, said in a statement. “As technology continues to transform connectivity and entertainment, our organizations will lay the foundation for rapid implementation of next-generation products that will continue to meet consumer demand.”

“When we look at the next 10 years, we see tremendous opportunities not only for cable but for cable’s impact on healthcare, education, automotive, and any industry that requires access to high-speed broadband,” added McKinney. “The close relationship with NCTA and SCTE•ISBE helps the industry deploy CableLabs’ innovations to the benefit of those customers.”

“SCTE•ISBE’s applied science mission is fundamental to bringing the vision of NCTA’s members and CableLabs’ innovators to life,” said Dzuban. “Our collaboration with both organizations has spurred development of training, certification, and standards that have helped to accelerate the time-to-market and ROI for products that are maintaining cable’s competitive edge.”

Cable television is rooted in the clear transmission of federally-licensed broadcast TV signals. The acronym CATV meant Community Antenna Television. In the late 1940s, in areas of the country where it was difficult or impossible to watch broadcast TV channels, cable lines were connected to a large antenna, often located on a mountain top, and then to poles in the community below. From there, to individual homes.

The arrangement was mutually beneficial. TV stations picked up viewers they did not already have, and that extended the reach of their advertising, increasing both revenue and ratings for the stations.

Remember, the public airwaves, that part of the electro-magnetic spectrum that includes television signals, are limited. Congress saw fit, when television came along, to mandate that TV stations operate in the “public interest, convenience and necessity.” As we all know, TV stations now operate low-margin businesses making billions of dollars for their media company owners.

Those giant, multibillion dollar companies will argue that local news is their contribution to the community. Local news on a station is a moneymaker. If it were not, local news would consist of 15 minutes of a talking head reading stories at 7 a.m. on Sunday mornings.

When cable grew in the 1970s and 80s, it was important to keep local broadcast signals available to those who no longer used “rabbit ears” to receive their local stations. “Must carry,” in that circumstance, makes sense. Cable operators complained that their First Amendment rights were being usurped in having to carry channels that they did not necessarily want. In this case, the public good overruled those objections. In effect, the government was protecting the “broadcast” of local TV stations.

Retransmission consent, where the cable operator is required to pay for the signal of federally-licensed use of the public airwaves, is an abomination. Cable operators must now pay for programming that is free over-the-air with the simple use of an antenna built into or connected to a television.

How did we get to this point? Why hasn’t the cable industry fought harder against this?

Early last year I left the cable TV industry involuntarily. After 35 years of free or deeply discounted cable services, I am now paying full price. One thing I noticed were the large fees for broadcast TV. In my case, $7.50 a month. And now the cable operator has announced that these fees are increasing!

$7.50 a month for broadcast channels that I could tune in without cable? Free, over-the-air publicly licensed stations. Wait! The retransmission consent fees are being used to produce more local news and community programming? Sadly, no. Retransmission fees are pure profit for the multibillion dollar media companies that own the stations.

Related: Murdochs Say Retrans Rates Could Rise 'Aggressively' at New Fox

The broadcast TV model worked just fine for decades without retransmission consent. Even with falling ratings the economics are unchanged. Look at Les Moonves and his $70 million salary. Or Ellen Pompeo’s new $20 million contract. Not to mention the $3.3 billion dollars Fox will be paying out over the next few years for the NFL on Thursday nights. Personally, I only made five figures annually in the TV business, nothing like the eight figures Moonves and Pompeo are pulling down. I may never work in the media industry again as I’m “overqualified” (too old).

Shouldn’t the federal government get all or a large portion of those retransmission-consent fees? That’s certainly worth the cost of a license to operate a station in the public interest, convenience and necessity on the public airwaves so these large companies can continue to profit, right?

Randy Smith is a former cable TV industry professional. Pictured: A Jerrold Electronics CATV tower in Meadsville, Pa., circa 1953; photo courtesy of The Cable Center, Barco Library.

SCTE/ISBE, CableLabs and NCTA-The Internet & Television Association has set a March 30 deadline for paper proposals for the Fall Technical Forum at Cable-Tec Expo, which is set to run October 22-25 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.

Selected tech papers will be presented during Cable-Tec Expo and will be published as part of the industry’s archival body of technical literature, the Fall Technical Forum Proceedings.

They said the Expo the Fall Technical Forum this year will target the following areas:

-Wireline Access Network

-Wireless Access Network

-Internet of Things

-Digitizing the Customer Experience

-Cloud & Virtualization

-Operational Transformation

-Business Services

-Video Services

-Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality

-Security

The Expo 2018 Program Committee is chaired by Kevin Hart, EVP and chief product and technology officer for Cox Communications.

Last year’s Cable-Tec Expo in Denver drew about 8,800 attendees.

SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- New Street Research managing partner Jonathan Chaplin said the cable business is going to look vastly different in the next five years.

“In five years you’re going to go think about this industry very differently,” Chaplin said at the NCTC Winter Educational Conference here Monday. “Today the wireless and cable industries have completely separate networks. In five years, those networks will be as one. The industries are going to converge as well.”

Read More: Additional Coverage of the NCTC Winter Educational Conference

Chaplin calls the coming wireless battle a Clash of the Titans, pitting large cable operators like Comcast and Charter against wireless behemoths like AT&T and Verizon Communications.

Both industries are putting their competitive toes in each other’s business, with Comcast and Charter Communications striking Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) agreements with Verizon Communications. Altice USA struck a similar deal with Sprint late last year and Cox Communications is expected to have a similar offering, most likely with Sprint at some point, Chaplin said.

MVNO agreements help make the economics of wireless better for cable operators, Chaplin said. He estimated that with their current MVNOs, Comcast and Charter can offer wireless service at the same cost as the No. 3 operator in the country, T-Mobile. As more and more voice traffic moves over IP and WiFi, those costs drop to the level of the No. 1 and No. 2 providers, Verizon and AT&T.

Lower costs mean a greater opportunity to offer disruptive pricing. And the advent of 5G will further lower those costs, as well as reducing dependence on MVNOs.

Chaplin estimated the wireless business is about twice the size of the cable business and that in the ensuing battle for customers, cable will win, gaining nearly $30 billion in wireless revenue, mostly at the expense of existing carriers. Those carriers will likely gain about $5 billion in broadband revenue, which will be offset by the wireless declines.

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – As the number of connected devices in the home expands, the threat of consumers cutting their broadband cord increases, but operators are not powerless in the battle to grow and retain customers, according to a session at the NCTC Winter Educational Conference here Tuesday (Feb. 13).

Parks Associates senior director of research Brett Sappington said that connected devices in the home have increased from just over eight in 2015 to 9.2 in 2017, and consumers are demanding higher and higher bandwidth to accommodate that equipment. At the same time, he said that about 12% of U.S. households are mobile-only.

Read More: Additional Coverage of the NCTC Winter Educational Conference

Sappington said the consumers most likely to go mobile-only aren’t surprising – they are mainly younger people who have been in their homes a short period of time. Price sensitivity is also an issue. Customers of the least expensive wireless services like Metro PCS and T-Mobile are more likely to go mobile-only (about 12% of Metro PCS and 11% of T-Mobile wireless customers say they would go mobile only, compared with 7% for AT&T and 5% for Verizon wireless customers).

As unlimited wireless plans and zero-rating for video continue to proliferate, so does the drive to go all mobile. But fixed service has speed, throughput and latency advantages over wireless, according to Sappington.

He added that loyalty for existing broadband subscribers is pretty high – about 50% of consumers that have both a fixed and mobile service say they will absolutely not switch, according to Parks Associates research.

Cable operators can continue to battle the mobile-only threat by doing what they have been doing in the past – partnering with wireless service providers, bundling services, providing access to OTT options and offering premium WiFi options.

“Bundling still works,” Sappington said, adding that operators have to “learn to live with mobile services, and how we can evolve or strategies to include the reality of mobile data in our packages.”  

SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- Operators should embrace subscription video-on-demand services, making it easier for younger viewers to access their Netflix, Amazon Prime Video or Hulu subscriptions, a duo of researchers told attendees at the NCTC Winter Educational Conference here Monday.

Parks Associates senior director of research Brett Sappington noted that most users of SVOD services like Netflix, Amazon and Hulu are younger (aged 25-34) and have been in their homes less than 12 months, adding that people who have SVOD subscriptions also have some form of pay TV service.

Sappington said the fastest segment among video consumers are households that are taking two, three and four services, so they aren’t averse to paying for content, they just don’t want to pay or what they don’t want.

“People that love video pay for video,” Sappington said.

Read More: Additional Coverage of the NCTC Winter Educational Conference

Hub Entertainment Research president Peter Fondulas pointed out that SVOD usage is growing as well as the number of services they use. But according to Hub’s research, live TV is still the first thing that most viewers turn on when they want to watch content. According to Hub’s research, 47% of respondents went to live TV first, followed by Netflix (19%) and the DVR (13%).

Pay TV distributors can tap into the younger SVOD market in several ways, he added. Partnering with SVOD providers through promotions – offering six months of free Netflix, for example – is the easiest. Next is actively selling a service alongside of or as a replacement for existing service – like Amazon is doing with Amazon Channels – followed by bundling an SVOD product with broadband or integrating SVOD apps into set-top boxes.

Sappington said that distributors should be open to forming partnerships with SVOD providers, as well as leveraging industry innovation; tying tech products like TiVo or Roku to their brands will uniquely address customer needs.

Related: RCN Rolls 4K-Ready Box in Lehigh Valley

Fondulas said another plus would be making more episodes and seasons available for binge watching, as well as making it easier for customers to find shows they might like.

“People worry that there are shows they will love that they’ve never heard about,” Fondulas said. “This is creating opportunities for companies that can aggregate across sources. Pay TV operators are already taking advantage of the opportunity.”

He noted Comcast’s and Cox Communications’ moves to integrate the Netflix app into their set-tops, adding that other ways to attract the next generation of viewers is to offer slimmed down bundles of programming to address content proliferation, as well as considering incorporating other online platforms into the set-top to keep viewers in the ecosystem.

“Pay TV is not dead,” Fondulas said.     

San Antonio, Texas -- With a new focus on acquiring content that was previously relegated to pay TV services, social media and tech giants like Facebook, Amazon and Google are focusing more on disrupting traditional pay TV, director of USC’s Annenberg School of Media Innovation Lab and author Jonathan Taplin told an audience at the opening keynote of the NCTC Winter Educational Conference here.

Read More: Additional Coverage of the NCTC Winter Educational Conference

Taplin, whose book Move Fast and Break Things traced the monopolization of the internet by Google Facebook and Amazon, noted that while over the years those three companies focused on other business segments, they are increasingly honing in on the video business. Facebook’s $610 million bid for streaming rights to Indian Cricket matches – it lost out to Fox – is just one example of how serious the tech giants are becoming about video.

The largest corporations of the world -- Google, Amazon and Facebook --  are going to be the new gatekeepers, Taplin said.  

In addition to Cricket rights, Facebook has tried to incorporate its GUI into set-top boxes as part of the Federal Communications Commission’s “Unlock the Box” initiative back in 2016, which has since fizzled in the new administration but could surface again. Taplin said giving Facebook access to set-tops cold decimate pay TV’s local ad business.

“They’ll keep trying that,” Taplin said. “So, you’ve got to be careful.”

Adding to the pressure is that the next generation of TV viewers have grown up with 100-Mbps broadband connections, creating their own media systems without cable.

“You have to be aware that this notion of cord-cutting is real,” Taplin said. “These companies are coming for your business.”

Taplin said operators can fight back in several ways, offering skinnier programming bundles in response to competition and reliable, high-speed data connections. He added that the traditional method of delivering and buying programming also will change in the future.

The current ecosystem where distributors are forced to buy large bundles of programming from content providers, even those shows that have little viewership, has to change, he added.

“A lot of those channels don’t pass the ‘who cares’ test,” Taplin said. "You have to stand up to the channels that nobody is watching.”

With the cable industry in probably its greatest period of change since the invention of hybrid fiber coax, small and midsized cable operators are set to converge on San Antonio, Texas, next week (Feb. 12-13) for the National Cable Television Cooperative’s annual Winter Educational Conference. Themed “Break the Rules,” the conference offers networking opportunities as attendees engage with peers and experts in the technology, legislative and business fields to share ideas and best practices. NCTC president Rich Fickle spoke with Multichannel News about the conference and some of the topics that are top of mind for small and midsized cable operators across the country. Here are highlights.

MCN: What do you see as the biggest issues facing small and medium-sized operators today, and how are you addressing them at this conference?
Rich Fickle: On the video front, our focus based on members’ input is to help them get to a video platform that is low cost, but has very competitive features. One of the main themes that you will see at the show is we’re encouraging members to think about going app-based. In other words, you don’t have to have a set-top, you can download an app onto Roku or an Android set top or Apple TV and it will have the cable operator’s lineup. That blends the content choices in with OTT offerings for the consumer.

The driver of that is twofold: One is lowering the cost structure, because programming costs are taking most of the money out of the video business; and secondly, in an IP world with consumer devices like that, you can get a lot more innovation than you can out of the traditional MPEG2 set-top-supplier world.

MCN: How is that going to lower costs? Is it just equipment — set-tops and the like — or is this going to mean lower costs for programming, too?
RF: I wish it would lower programming costs, but definitely the cost of set-tops. In our world, members have been paying $300 to $400 per home or more just for set-tops and in this environment you could choose to let the consumer provide the set-top or you could provide one that is a lot less, like $70 per TV. This type of transmission, using IP, is a lot more bandwidth-efficient, so it is going to save, over the long term, bandwidth. If you want to have a more robust on-demand offering, if you want to have a better mobile solution, these things are part of the whole offering. You don’t have to stand up a lot of new infrastructure to get that done. It’s just a lot easier to bring new features in without huge cost.

MCN: Do you think the time is ripe for this because broadband has taken such a front-and-center role, and cable appears to be the quality and capacity leader?
RF: If you’re going to put investments into your business, the best place to put it is in making sure your broadband network is robust and high capacity and things like helping customers with their home network and ensuring that the service quality is super high with wireless routers and monitoring capabilities. It’s much better to put your money in those things rather than legacy video set-tops or legacy video headend equipment.

MCN: What other things are you seeing that look promising on the tech front for smaller cable operators?
RF: The home networking side is looking pretty exciting because there are now a dozen new companies entering that space. The interesting part is the software control systems that monitor what’s happening in the house and make it easy to ensure the quality is really good.

[In] the network itself, there are a lot of interesting things going on with deep fiber, the idea of wireless to the home from the last couple of hundred feet — we have a few members testing that out already. So instead of running a cable drop, you’re setting up a wireless connection into that home and in some cases a business.

MCN: Tell me what else is in store for conference attendees?
RF: We’ve got some great speakers. Jonathan Taplin, who wrote a book [Move Fast and Break Things] about breaking the rules. He’s kind of a renegade in the media world; he should be a provocative opening speaker. We also have the editor-in-chief [Nicholas Thompson] from Wired magazine. The other item that we are focusing on in this show is more sales and marketing. We’ve got a couple of really good sessions and a dynamic speaker to talk about, in this world of more competition, how do you change your approach to sales and marketing. Plus, we’re going to have fun. A big part of the reason people come is they want to share ideas and it’s where they learn what’s working and what’s not working.

NCTC’s WEC at a Glance

Where: Marriott Rivercenter, San Antonio, Texas When: Feb. 12-13 Key Speakers: Jonathan Taplin, director emeritus of the Annenberg Innovation Lab at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and author of Move Fast and Break Things; Wired magazine editor-in-chief Nicholas Thompson; Meridith Elliott Powell, author and business strategist; Matt Polka, ACA president; Gerard Kunkel, founder/managing partner, Next Media Partners.

NPR CEO Jarl Mohn has declined his invitation to join the Cable Hall of Fame as he deals with the broadcaster's sexual harassment issues.

The Cable Center said Mohn made the decision "to focus all of his efforts on NPR."

UPDATE: NPR CEO Jarl Mohn to Take Medical Leave 

Mohn, the former head of E! Entertainment, has been criticized for the way sexual harassment allegations against NPR’s news chief, Michael Oreskes, were handled.

Oreskes resigned last week but some staffers said management, led by Mohn, did not respond quickly or forcefully enough to complaints about Orsekes's behavior and are now seeking Mohn’s dismissal.

RELATED: Cable Center Announces 2018 Cable Hall of Fame Class

“We understand and support Mr. Mohn’s decision regarding his nomination,” Jana L. Henthorn, president and CEO of The Cable Center, said in a statement. “We are looking forward to the celebration, which will be held on April 4, for the first time in New York City at the Ziegfeld Ballroom.”

Mohn’s inclusion in the 2018 Hall of Fame class was announced on Oct. 31.

NPR's issues are part of a wave of sexual harassment allegations across the entertainment and media business that began with reports that studio head Harvey Weinstein of The Weinstein Co. had for decades engaged in inappropriate behavior with women. The disclosures have led to the firing or resignation of a number of top executives, agents and actors.

DENVER — Just over the past year, connected devices including light bulbs, refrigerators, televisions, automobiles, insulin pumps and the electricity grid in the Ukraine were successfully hacked. All are evidence that the security threat for IoT and connected devices is real, but not insurmountable, according to panelists at a Cable-Tec Expo session, “IoT Security: Is It Really a Risk?”

Answer: Yes. “Security is a process, not a one-time thing,” said Petr Peterka, CTO of Verimatrix. “We need to be thinking about these devices over their entire lifetime.”

Read More: Complete Coverage of Cable-Tec Expo 2017

“We have got to stop this,” said Brian Scriber, principal security architect at CableLabs. “We have the tools.”

Scriber pointed out that manufacturers have little to no economic incentive to provide post-sale updates or security measures, let alone for their anticipated lifetime, Scriber said.

Plus, patches to remedy hacks and not always designed for the everyday person. Light bulbs don’t usually come with USB ports, for instance; depending on the type of IoT device hacked, the remedies can range from requiring special adaptors, custom cables, and even soldering irons.

Hackers hack for different reasons, Peterka said: Academics do it to expose flaws “because they want to protect us.” So-called “hactivists” usually have a political leaning they want known; thieves hack to steal; terrorists hack to cause large-scale damage.

Peterka characterized four levels of threats, associated with IoT hacks: Threats to brand and reputation, threats to lives (e.g. medical aides we have in or on ourselves), threats to national security, and threats to critical infrastructure.

Because set-tops and gateways are, in essence, the very first “connected IP devices” in a home or business, some security elements have already been solved, and can be applied to the IoT scene, he said. In particular, his list of the four corners of IoT device security includes device integrity, secure boot-ups, authentication, and the security of collected data.

He referenced work happening within CableLabs and some of its members with the Open Connectivity Forum, or OCF, as a solid flanking mechanism. “We have leadership there — which matters, because IoT security will absolutely impact our networks … and the fact is that we’ve solved these problems before,” Scriber said.

Veteran NCTA-The Internet & Television Association executives – senior vice president of association affairs Jadz Janucik and senior vice president of industry affairs Barbara York – will retire from the organization this fall.

"Jadz and Barbara are great leaders who have had immense impact on NCTA and our industry,” said NCTA president and CEO Michael Powell in a statement. “They truly represent the collaborative, entrepreneurial, and innovative spirit of our business, and they've helped mold the vibrant industry we represent today. We’re deeply indebted to them for their passion and commitment, and we wish them well in the days ahead.”

Janucik, who will retire after Oct. 13, has served nearly 41 years with NCTA. She has been recognized with numerous honors throughout the course of her career, including being named as a Multichannel News Wonder Woman, a recipient of the Touchstones of Leadership Inspire Award from the Women in Cable Telecommunications Washington, DC / Baltimore Chapter, and being inducted into the Virginia Cable Hall of Fame and as a Cable Television Pioneer. Janucik has led NCTA teams organizing grassroots activities to support federal initiatives, tracking telecommunications policy at the state level, and collaborating with the many regional and state cable trade associations that support the industry. She also has managed major coalitions supporting industry policy objectives and overseen NCTA State Government Affairs and the association’s Membership Services division.

York will leave the organization after Nov. 3 and is a 36-year NCTA veteran, best known for her leadership of NCTA’s trade shows for 35 consecutive years. She and her team also have managed a wide variety of NCTA events and activities, ranging from board meetings to industry conferences, to the creation and maintenance of the association’s headquarters innovation display area, to the move of NCTA headquarters from DuPont Circle to Capitol Hill over a decade ago. She also is a former Multichannel News Wonder Woman and was inducted into the Cable Center Cable Hall of Fame and as a Cable Television Pioneer. She has served as NCTA chief administrative officer, and as executive director of the National Academy of Cable Programming, responsible for the production of more than a dozen National and Local CableACE Awards programs.

The unveiling of WICT and NAMIC’s biannual diversity employment survey for the cable industry highlights the industry’s annual Diversity Week festivities kicking off today (Sept. 25).

The week’s festivities — which will include Women in Cable Telecommunications’ daylong Leadership Conference and Touchstones Luncheon today, the National Association for Multi-ethnicity in Communications’ s 31st Annual Conference on Tuesday and Wednesday, and the annual Walter Kaitz Foundation fundraising dinner Wednesday evening — will be highlighted by a Tuesday morning Town Hall announcing the results of WICT’s PAR Cable Telecommunications Industry Diversity Survey and NAMIC’s AIM (Advancement Investment Measurement) AIM-PAR Workforce Survey. That research is geared to help companies determine the factors that influence the industry’s ability to recruit, retain and advance its workforce.

Related:NAMIC’s Annual Awards Now a Rite of Fall

Diversity advocates are hoping to build on results in the last report in 2015 that indicated modest increases for females and people of color in executives and senior-level managers, but declines in the number of full time female employees and promotion rates for people of color compared to the 2013 NAMIC AIM report.

Other key Diversity Week events include:

WICT Leadership Conference
Journalist and author Katie Couric will open the annual WICT Leadership Conference, which will feature as its theme “Level Up. Focus Forward,” WICT president and CEO Maria Brennan said.

“We’ve seen so much of the industry evolving over the last two or three years, and part of that evolution is ensuring that the women inside of our universe remain focused,” Brennan said. “We want to make sure women continue to advance, that they are leveling up and they are focusing forward for the good of themselves as well as the good of their organization and the industry.”

Actress, producer and director Trudie Styler will deliver keynote remarks at the organization’s Touchstones Luncheon, which will honor the 2017 Women of the Year, BBC America president and general manager Sarah Barnett and Comcast executive vice president and chief communications officer D’Arcy Rudnay.

Gretchen Carlson, the TV journalist and women’s empowerment advocate, will open the second day of the conference with a keynote based on her new book, Be Fierce: Stop Harassment and Take Your Power Back. The conference will conclude with the WICT’s “Pearls of Wisdom” series of mini-keynotes.

31st Annual NAMIC Conference
The theme for NAMIC’s annual conference is “Diversity at the Speed of Change,” which reflects and captures the rapid innovation and change that has been going on in the cable business, according to NAMIC president Eglon Simons.

“While we look at all the different changes and things that are going on within the industry, we can talk about diversity, advocacy and inclusion because that never goes away,” he said. “The conference brings a confluence of people — young and old — that must have their appetites and their knowledge expanded.”

Veteran journalist John Quiñones, host of What Would You Do?, will serve as the keynote speaker for the two-day conference, which will be highlighted by an impressive roster of industry business leaders and experts.

The conference will culminate with NAMIC Awards Luncheon, which will feature the organization’s 2017 Next Generation Leaders Awards. Also during the luncheon NAMIC will honor U.S. Tennis Association CEO and president Katrina Adams with the Mickey Leland Humanitarian Achievement Award.

The Walter Kaitz Foundation Dinner
The 34th annual Walter Kaitz Foundation Dinner, which helps fund diversity-themed programs and organizations within the cable industry, will look to best last year’s fundraising mark of more than $1.7 million. To keep things lively, the dinner will feature appearances by Sean “P Diddy” Combs and Insecure co-star Yvonne Orji, according to foundation officials.

HBO will be honored as the foundation’s Diversity Champion, an award given to organizations that act as catalysts for diversity throughout the cable industry.

Girls Who Code will receive the Diversity Advocate Award, presented to an organization outside of the cable industry that has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to diversity.

INDIANAPOLIS – Rising pole attachment fees and delays in obtaining necessary permits from municipalities are the biggest roadblocks in building out broadband infrastructure in rural America, a panel of experts said at The Independent Show Monday (July 24).

Read More: Get complete coverage of #TIS17.

ShenTel EVP and chief operating officer Earle MacKenzie said for the small market telecom company, simply obtaining permission to string its lines on a utility pole and obtaining a reasonable rate can delay projects for months.

“It’s a different story with each pole owner,” MacKenzie said at the panel session, moderated by Kelly, Drey & Warren LLP partner Tom Cohen. One of the major issues is getting a good estimate upfront and getting detailed billing so we know what we’re paying for.”

He added that last year, ShenTel had 60 construction projects that were delayed an average of 60 days because of pole attachment issues.

While obtaining permits and getting local government approvals can be a hassle, Chattanooga mayor Andy Berke, who has overseen the construction of one of the most extensive municipal broadband networks in the country, said they are necessary.

“We really care about aesthetics,” Berke said, adding that making sure the city gets a fair price and engages with its contractors to make sure the process goes smoothly. “We don’t want 25 people digging up streets. We want to dig once.”

But he added that cities want to be fair to contractors, while keeping their priorities straight.

“Part of the challenge for us is to set up a regulatory scheme and a payment scheme that is fair to the city and constituents and to allow the economic development to put people to work,” Berke said

McKenzie added that Chattanooga can be the exception. Many municipalities, he added, have no clue what they want or how to get it. He pointed to a project in the city of Roanoke, Va., where the telco was delayed in getting the proper permits to run fiber to local schools.

“If we are serious about getting service to everyone, we need to take down the roadblocks,” MacKenzie said. “The last thing we want to do is irritate our customers. We really are in business to make money and make our customers happy. If we have to scratch a different itch in every town, it gets expensive and in some cases it’s not worth going forward.”

Berke suggested that contractors and providers make sure they take into account where local governments stand when they are proposing to build a network to ensure a smoother process.

“If you’re going to a city that doesn’t have clear rules, make sure you’re talking the language of the people running city government,” Berke said.

The Federal Communications Commission, which has in the past kept pole attachments disputes at arm’s length, opting instead to let the market find a solution, has been considering getting more involved, said FCC Wireline Competition Bureau deputy bureau chief Madeleine Findley. FCC chairman Ajit Pai created the Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee earlier this year to specifically address these issues. Findley said the BDAC docket is still open and encouraged operators to offer questions and comments about issues including timelines, rates and fees, best practices and ways to encourage more efficient deployment.

“The chairman is very concerned about closing the digital divide,” Findley said, adding later that the commission is aware that there is no simple solution for the problem.

“The commission is cognizant that this is not an area where one size fits all,” she said. “There are different issues. We want to be available as a resource.”

Findley said the commission is considering whether to impose a 180-day shot clock on itself for such issues to help speed up the process.  

“This is not a once and done thing for the commission,” Findley said. “It’s going to be an iterative conversation. We want to be a participant in that conversation.”

INDIANAPOLIS – The rash of recent M&A deals in the small cable space is likely to continue, but money also will flow into the sector to build out networks and increasingly focus on in-home networking, customer service and improving the overall experience according to a panel session at The Independent Show.

The handful of top executives at small cable operators said they expect consolidation to continue especially as larger companies recognize the strength of their networks and the rising demand for fast and faster broadband speeds.

Read More: Get complete coverage of #TIS17.

Already there has been a flood of deals in the past year – private equity firm TPG’s purchase of RCN and Grande Communications last August for $2.25 billion and its May agreement to buy Wave Broadband for $2.36 billion; and Cogeco Cable’s July agreement to purchase MetroCast for $1.4 billion.

New deal currencies form recent IPOs at WideOpenWest and Altice USA also should provide fuel for more deals.

But the operators during the panel session moderated by CNBC senior analyst and commentator Ron Insana said there is also a big push to continue to improve the overall customer experience, and that means a sharper focus on in-home networking and customer education.

WOW CEO Steve Cochran, which went public in May, said he was encourage most by the fact that many of the recent deals involved small companies buying small companies.

“It’s all about knowing the customer segment you’re going after,” Cochran said, adding that he was happy that recent transactions involved many of the people that are in this room coming together.”

Knowing that customer segment involves providing faster data speeds for both residential and business customers. At EPB, the Chattanooga, Tenn.-based municipal electric utility, that means providing a good product and with strong customer service.

Vice president of new products Katie Espeseth said customer service said customer service is still the biggest differentiator for small operators competing against larger, deeper pocketed competitors.

“It’s what really sets us apart,” she said.

Related: Indie Cable Operators: Small but Powerful

Espeseth sees small cable and municipal broadband operators not just as providers of less expensive, more efficient service, but as catalysts for the local economy.

“We see our role as being the sparkplug in the community,” Espeseth said. “We spur economic development; we see these type of broadband services as being a catalyst not only for residential customers but to improve businesses and provide an environment for entrepreneurs to grow and flourish.”

But Espeseth said with choices and options increasing exponentially as new methods of content delivery emerge, from streaming to over the top services and TV Everywhere, customers are getting increasingly confused.

That means that education is becoming increasingly important to help customers navigate their choices and to “steer [them] to an experience they feel they personally curated.”

Wave Broadband chief operating officer Harold Zeitz added that allowing customers to integrate their services and devices via in-home networks is the next big priority for the industry, adding that it is essential that operators educate customers in how to use the products they’re offered.

Harron Communications EVP and general counsel Ryan Pearson said in-home networking is high on his priority is, adding that it is also important for customers to be able to interact with their provider in the way they want, whether that be via e-mail, text, or social media.

SES said 30 U.S. pay TV providers are using its platform to test the delivery of 4K programming to the home after adding nine cable MSOs and IPTV providers to the mix.

Read More: Get complete coverage of #TIS17.

The latest batch of trial participants includes Alliance Communications; Cincinnati Bell; Douglas County Community Network in Washington; Hotwire; Midco; Midwest Video Solutions (MVS); Oneida Telephone Exchange; Skitter TV; and South Dakota Networks (SDN), which delivers IPTV services in partnership with 19 telcos in South Dakota.

NAB 2017: Two MVPDs Roll Out 4K with SES, Vivicast

They’re on board to test out an integrated platform that offers a package of programming from content partners that include Fashion One 4K, Travelxp 4K, 4KUNIVERSE, NASA TV UHD, Insight TV, UHD1, C4K360, Funbox 4K, Nature Relaxation 4K, as well as SES’s UHD demo channel. SES is hosting the channels using a set of satellites (SES-1, SES-3, AMC-18).

RELATED: Verizon Teams with SES on Ultra HD Trial

“Momentum continues to build as SES accelerates the delivery and commercial availability of Ultra HD services throughout North America, and we expect more cable and IPTV providers to join the trio of operators who have already launched their commercial Ultra HD services using our platform,” Steve Corda, VP of business development at SES Video, said in a statement.

Other trial participants include Marquette-Adams Communications; Highlands Cable Group; EPB Fiber Optics; Verizon Communications; Frontier Communications; Buckeye Broadband;  Service Electric Cable TV; enTouch Systems; Cable America, Golden West Telecommunications; MTC Cable; Aureon; GVTC Communications; KPU Telecommunications; Shrewsbury Community Cable; and Sjoberg’s Cable TV.

SES has been delivering 4K TV at 18 Mbps using HEVC coding. In an earlier interview, Corda reasoned that that bit rate squares with cable operators, because it allows them to fit two 4K TV signals into a 6MHz-wide channel.

RELATED: SES: 18 Mbps Is the Right Rate for 4K TV (subscription required)

Most of the cable operators that in the pilot are delivering the signals over QAM transport to set-top boxes, but some are also considering deliver over DOCSIS networks using IP multicast technology.

DirecTV, Layer3 TV, Dish Network, and Comcast are among other U.S. MVPDs that have rolled out or are testing 4K services.

INDIANAPOLIS -- National Cable Television Cooperative members will be able to offer fuboTV’s broadband and over-the-top streaming TV bundle as a result of a partnership reached ahead of the co-op’s annual conference, The Independent Show, here July 23-26.

“This partnership gives our members the ability to provide added value to their broadband customers, while also providing more content options for our members, who will now have access to a turnkey OTT video bundle that includes some of the most popular sports, news and entertainment channels on TV,” said NCTC’s vice president of product management John Childress in a statement.  “There is growing demand from certain consumer groups towards live streaming video services, and we feel these partnerships help provide members options to reach these different types of consumers.”

Read More: Get complete coverage of #TIS17.

Sports-first virtual multichannel video programming distributor (MVPD) fuboTV’s entry-level “Fubo Premier” bundle includes 60-plus live channels – including 34 that carry sports; 80% of the country’s regional sports networks (RSNs); and seven of the top eight broadcast networks – and can be accessed on desktop or mobile web at fubo.tv; via Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick; Android and iOS devices; Apple TV; Chromecast; Kindle Fire; and Roku.  Additionally, subscribers can access a growing video on demand (VOD) library, and at no additional cost, can use their fuboTV ID and password to log in to dozens of networks’ authenticated TV Everywhere apps and websites.

Also as part of this agreement, NCTC members will have the ability to offer extended free 30-day trials of Premier twice annually on a company-by-company basis, with fuboTV providing materials that can be used by each member’s marketing teams. Fubo Premier is currently available at an introductory price of $34.99 per month, with a seven-day free trial.

“As the only independent live streaming TV service in the space, we are looking forward to partnering with hundreds of independent providers to help them level the playing field in an increasingly competitive marketplace,” said fuboTV co-founder and CEO David Gandler in a statement.  “I’m confident that this relationship will be mutually-beneficial, and am thrilled to be making this announcement in advance of fall TV premieres and the upcoming NFL, NBA, NHL, soccer and college football seasons, and the MLB pennant race.”

Liberty Global CEO Mike Fries will be the first of two general session keynote speakers when the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) and its global arm, the International Society of Broadband Experts™ (ISBE), host SCTE•ISBE Cable-Tec Expo 2017 on Oct. 18, in Denver.

Fries will discuss a wide range of topics during his keynote conversation, including how the convergence of wireline and wireless is helping to drive new business opportunities for pay-TV providers.

Fries joins another top cable executive – Charter Communications chairman and CEO Tom Rutledge – at the Cable-Tec Expo general session.  Rutledge will offer keynote remarks on the future of cable telecommunications and how network innovation will be a significant contributor to business results.

“With multiple industry organizations holding events during Expo Week, the eyes of the industry will be on SCTE•ISBE Cable-Tec Expo 2017,” said SCTE-ISBE CEO Mark Dzuban in a statement.  “Mike Fries’ insights and vision will underscore the impact of technology innovation, seamless product deployment and SCTE•ISBE in helping all sectors of our industry achieve success in a rapidly changing marketplace.”

Under Fries, Liberty Global as grown to provide broadband, entertainment, voice and mobile services to 25 million customers in more than 30 countries. A founding member of the management team that launched the company’s international expansion over 25 years ago, Fries was named president and CEO of Liberty Global in 2005. Fries also serves as the company ‘s vice chairman, alongside founder and chairman Dr. John Malone.

“Technology and constant innovation are the keys to keeping our customers happy in this ever changing digital world,” Fries said in a statement.  “SCTE•ISBE and its Cable-Tec Expo play vital roles in delivering the education, the standards leadership and the technology advances that will make this happen.”

SCTE•ISBE Cable-Tec Expo will be held Oct. 17-20 at the Colorado Convention Center. Expo Week begins Oct. 17 with the start of almost four-dozen technical workshops, as well as the Cable TV Pioneers Annual Banquet and Class of 2017 induction ceremonies. Registration and additional information on registration options are available at http://expo.scte.org.

Women in Cable & Telecomunications says its Signature Luncheon series will return for year two to the CES show in Las Vegas.

With the shuttering of NCTA: The Internet & Television Association's annual INTX convention last year, where the luncheon had taken place since 2010, WICT had to find new digs. WICT has called CES "the perfect partner for the group."

The next lunch will be held Jan. 10 at the Aria Hotel. The lunch salutes the best companies for women in cable and telecom.

RELATED: Cable TV Pioneers Names 2017 Class

"On behalf of the WICT Board of Directors, we are very excited that the WICT Signature Luncheon will return to CES, the largest media and technology event in the world," said Martha Soehren, chair of the WICT Board of Directors and chief talent development officer, senior VP, Comcast, in a statement. "The remarkable support we received from WICT's stakeholders during our debut earlier this year reaffirmed our partnership with CES and offers WICT a strong platform to highlight the business imperative of strong gender diversity."

Comcast is the luncheon's "premiere sponsor."

Washington — The policy-driven ACA Summit in the nation’s capital March 28-30 will feature the new Federal Communications Committee chairman Ajit Pai as a speaker before cable and telecom operators spread out over the city to take their message to the agency and the Hill.

In some ways, they will be preaching to the converted.

The American Cable Association is coming off a string of victories at the FCC, most notably Pai and fellow Republican Michael O’Rielly’s successful effort to renew and expand the small business waiver from the FCC’s enhanced transparency rules that kicked in in January.

The ACA, which represents smaller, independent cable operators, had been pushing for the extension and expanding the carveout from systems of 100,000 subscribers or fewer to 250,000 or fewer. It got bipartisan support in Congress, and then Pai and O’Rielly delivered.

The chairman has also circulated an order granting the ACA’s petition that it modify the Charter Communications- Time Warner Cable overbuild condition so that the mandatory buildouts don’t have to include 1 million high-speed overbuilds.

ACA members in the potential path of those overbuilds were not happy about the condition, and the ACA let the FCC know it.

While at press time the item had not been adopted, that may only be because all three commissioners have to vote an item on circulation. Pai is clearly on board, and O’Rielly dissented from that and other conditions when the deal was approved — his office would not confirm his vote, but it almost certainly will be to jettison the condition.

Asked what the ACA will be pushing for in the new administration, Matt Polka, the association’s president, signaled the group would be pushing for “Congress to address government and private-sector barriers that hinder broadband deployment, apply light-touch regulation to the provision of broadband Internet access service and provide targeted support to encourage broadband deployment in unserved areas.”

The ACA would also like to see “new policies that modernize video regulations that also serve to spur broadband investment and deployment.” The ACA has argued for retrans reforms and preventing what it sees as unfair carriage contract provisions, like bundling, but that will be a much tougher ask from the Pai FCC, given the chairman’s past issues with stepping into contract issues.

The FCC’s new majority members will both be in the speakers’ lineup at the ACA event. O’Rielly is scheduled to speak March 29 at 1:15 p.m. and Pai March 30 at 8 a.m.

Also scheduled to be on the dais: Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W. Va.), March 29 at 8:30 a.m.; Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.), March 29 at 10 a.m.; and House Republican Conference chair Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), March 29 at noon.

FCC chairman Ajit Pai will address the American Cable Association annual policy summit in Washington, according to ACA.

Pai will speak on the morning of March 30, before the attendees fan out to the FCC and Hill to carry their message of keeping the needs of smaller and midsized operators top of mind.

"Chairman Pai has long recognized and appreciated the important role that smaller providers play in deploying high-performance broadband networks in small communities and rural areas and in bringing competition to urban areas," said ACA president Matt Polka. "Moreover, he understands that regulations can be disproportionately costly for smaller providers and deter them from investing to meet their customers' needs.

"ACA members have spent billions on their networks over the past decade, and, as these smaller providers prepare to continue upgrading and expanding their networks, they are eager to hear from chairman Pai about his plans for the FCC to remove barriers to growth and ensure broadband service is provided to all Americans as efficiently as possible," Polka added.

Pai joins the other FCC Republican, Michael O'Rielly, who is already scheduled to speak. The summit is taking place at the Grand Hyatt Hotel March 28-30.

The American Cable Association has added another top D.C. policymaker to its policy summit in Washington March 28-30.

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rogers (R-Wash.), chair of the House Republican Conference, will speak at the summit March 29.

Also among the speakers at the event is Republican Federal Communications Commission member Michael O'Rielly and Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.).

The event combines panels, speeches and networking opportunities with a chance for ACA's medium and smaller operators to take their issues to the Hill and the FCC.

The ACA Summit will be at D.C.'s Grand Hyatt Hotel. Multichannel News is a co-sponsor of the event.

According to sources, Washington, D.C.-based NCTA: The Internet & Television Association is looking at April 27 for the event it signaled could be in the offing after the trade group pulled the plug on INTX, its annual trade show, which was to have been held in April in the capital.

April 27 would be the day after the Cable Hall of Fame ceremony in Washington, which features top cable executives from NBCUniversal, Discovery Communications, Cox Communications, HBO, Liberty Global and Scripps Networks Interactive, and those in town to honor them, so it would make sense to capitalize on that concentration of industry executive muscle. The event will be by invitation only, sources said, and NCTA targeted “very high level” guests, which sadly might rule The Wire out.

NCTA had signaled the event would not be a downsized version of INTX, so no convention center or display floor. An NCTA spokesperson had no comment at press time.

The source said NCTA appears to be looking at a mix of speakers and tech demonstrations — as well as a lunch — at a half-day, afternoon conference to be held at the event space at Union Market, which bills itself as a “unique warehouse event venue” with 22-foot tall ceilings and exposed concrete floors. Holding it in the afternoon could be an accommodation to Cable Hall afterparty revelers. This year, the Hall isn’t competing against other INTX-related events, so the afterparty, possibly including cast members from inductee The Sopranos, could be more popular than usual.

A cable-industry source who confirmed the date said it appeared to be targeted primarily at D.C. policymakers. That would certainly make sense for a trade group run by a technology and policy uber-wonk, Michael Powell, whose resume includes commissioner and chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.

Given the Washington location, and the current industry interest in what the Trump administration and new FCC chair will do about net neutrality, broadband subsidies, privacy, business data services and more, a policy-centric conference would be a good fit.

Assuming the venue is correct — and we have it from multiple well-informed sources — then the conference will be held “directly above the artisanal marketplace, which houses over 30 of the top food producers in the region.”
Count us in, and pass the focaccia.

Google Assistant Wasn’t Much Help At YouTube TV’s Launch Event
Google-owned YouTube put on a technologically glitzy presentation for the media introducing its new YouTube TV streaming service that will at launch offer 40 channels of live cable networks for $35 a month. The March 1 event, held in Los Angeles but simulcast to offices in San Francisco and New York, gave a detailed look at what You- Tube director of product management Christian Oestlien dubbed “a chance to reimagine television for the YouTube generation.”

After successfully showing gathered reporters the various technological features of YouTube TV — including simple search options, ease of recording to the service’s unlimited DVR and the ability to cast YouTube TV to a large screen through Chromecast-enabled devices — executives had less success with a Google Home-driven, voice-based innovation that is expected to debut a few months after the actual YouTube TV launch.

In theory, the Google Home integration will allow consumers to control every aspect of YouTube TV through voice commands, from recording favorite shows to changing channels, Oestlien said. But several attempts to use the feature during the press conference failed, ending with the computerized Google Assistant voice cryptically saying that “something went wrong” or “there was a glitch.”

Attendees politely giggled at the flub, but The Wire suspects YouTube will make sure that feature is purring at launch.
— R. Thomas Umstead

Split in the Ticket? Trump, Pence Differ On Anonymous Sources
The Trump administration has a bifurcated view of journalists and unnamed sources.

President Donald Trump, addressing a conservative conference in Washington, said journalists should not be allowed to use sources unless they name them.

But interestingly, that came while White House officials were planning to brief reporters on the president’s budget on the condition that they be identified as unnamed sources.

Then there is the source-protecting history of Vice President Mike Pence.

As a member of Congress, and as a former radio talk show host, Pence was a strong supporter of a federal shield law to protect reporters against government attempts to make them name unnamed sources.

It may have been an exercise in wishful thinking, but shield law backer Sen. Dick Durbin (DIll.) talked up the Pence connection in a speech to broadcasters in town to lobby the Hill and the Federal Communications Commission.

“Maybe Vice President Pence can persuade President Trump to work with us to finally pass a federal shield law that protects reporters’ sources in all 50 states,” he said.

As we said, wishful thinking.
— John Eggerton

Small operators seeking insight and information on competition, continued industry consolidation and the power of Internet-protocol video can seek it this month at the National Cable Television Cooperative’s Winter Education Conference. If for no other reason, it’s in New Orleans.

The NCTC said more than 270 members have already signed up for the Feb. 20-21 gathering (more than the number that attended last year’s meeting in Phoenix). More than 200 exhibitor representatives have signed on for about 80 booths and tables.

Advanced video platforms will be the focus of this year’s meeting, a topic on the minds of every small cable operator looking for a competitive advantage.

“The focus will be emphasizing how to compete in the new video world. There are several components to it, a blend of technology, marketing and market research,” NCTC CEO Rich Fickle told The Wire, adding the co-op is in the middle of finalizing an RFP with 16 different companies for IP and advanced video technologies.

Click through to the WEC agenda.

SITTING ON AN ANDROID

“We’re looking at systems that can be used without set-top boxes and, in some cases, they can sit on top of an Android TV set-top,” Fickle said. “The choices for how cable operators serve their customers have opened up quite a bit.”

The event will also feature industry experts from Leichtman Research, CableLabs and Parks Associates, among others, addressing topics including the evolution of the U.S. video market, leveraging IP video and the connected home. The conference also offers multiple networking opportunities and a Solutions Showcase exhibit hall featuring the latest suppliers and innovators, as well as product forum presentations.

Fickle pointed to the proliferation of digital MVPDs like Sling TV, DirecTV Now, Sony PlayStation Vue and YouTube Unplugged, adding that the NCTC will unveil some market research at the WEC that will offer more insight into how consumers look at apps and the services delivered through them.

Attendees can also gauge the regulatory climate in Washington, D.C., with a Monday, Feb. 20, discussion headed by America Cable Association CEO Matt Polka. Leichtman Research president and principal analyst Bruce Leichtman will offer a look at the state of the video and broadband industries, and panel discussions from top executives at Eagle Broadband, RCN, CenturyLink, CableLabs, Cable One, Parks Associates and Buckeye Broadband will provide insight into competitive and technology issues.

Pricing and packaging of services will also be discussed, especially as skinny bundles proliferate throughout the pay TV universe.

“We have several members who have been doing different flavors of that,” Fickle said, adding that there will be panels and research released at the conference around those strategies. “It’s all about how to compete and how to drive costs down but improve the customer experience. A lot of it is done through IP, which is a different approach than we have done in the past.”

TAKING IT EASIER

Fickle added that programming contracts, which had constrained smaller operators from offering skinnier bundles, are easing up.

“The deals we’ve done over the last few years with the programmers have changed the restrictions,” Fickle said. “It’s not what everybody wants, which is, you can package anything you want, but it’s pretty comparable to what the larger MVPDs can do.”

Consolidation, a big topic when Charter Communications was pursuing Time Warner Cable — it closed the deal in May — isn’t as high on the priority list for small operators today. While there are likely some deals left to be done, Fickle said the emphasis is on cooperation.

“There are efforts underway to find ways for smaller operators to either partner up with some of the larger companies or band together even tighter to replicate some of the same capabilities, working together as a cooperative group of entities,” Fickle said. “Some of that needs to happen. I don’t think it’s something to panic about. Probably in the next five years it needs to be pursued in earnest.”

Elsewhere...

Mr. Wheeler’s Tweets Offer Pointed Words

Former Federal Communications Commission chairman Tom Wheeler didn’t take long to signal he would be a vocal critic of the new Trump administration, both at the White House and at the agency.

After tweeting “Congratulations Chairman Pai” on Jan. 20 — when Wheeler exited the FCC — by Feb. 1 he was taking aim at Pai’s decision to take the set-top box rule out of circulation. Wheeler had kept it in front of the commissioners for a possible vote, though that was highly unlikely to come from either Pai or his fellow Republican, Michael O’Rielly, who both opposed the revamp.

Wheeler and Pai had what often appeared to be a rocky relationship, exhibiting at times a strained courtesy at meetings, sparring in Hill hearings, and clearly at loggerheads over key policy and process issues.

On Jan. 31, after Pai pulled the set-top revamp item (a Wheeler centerpiece), and the day Pai presided over his first public meeting, Wheeler’s tone shifted as he took aim at both Pai and the cable industry — the latter a familiar target.

“Removing set-top box rule victory for Cable-wood over consumers,” Wheeler tweeted (Hollywood studios joined ISPs in pushing back on the set-top item), adding: “$200 million Pai Tax on helpless cable subs. Trump helping little guy??”

The chairman’s office had no comment. The Wire’s comment: Ouch!

— John Eggerton

Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.) will speak at the upcoming American Cable Association annual policy summit (March 28-30) in Washington, the ACA said Wedneday (Jan. 18).

"Rep. Schrader has a solid understanding of the issues that ACA members care about the most," Matt Polka, ACA president, said in a statement. "ACA members greatly appreciate Rep. Schrader's attendance so they can thank him personally for helping fight unfair set-top box regulations brewing last year at the Federal Communications Commission."

Schrader joined with other legislators to register their concerns with FCC chairman Tom Wheeler's proposed set-top revamp, which was ultimately pulled due to bipartisan pushback, including from within the FCC itself.

Schrader is a small business owner who shares similar perspectives with ACA members, who are small and midsized cable operators and telecom providers.