CTAM, the cable industry marketing and communications association, has elected a new chair and board officers.

Deena Demasi, executive VP of U.S. networks distribution marketing for ViacomCBS,  has been elected chair. Jason Wicht, SVP of growth operations for Comcast was tapped as vice chair.

Demasi oversees strategic communications across ViacomCBS's media networks, including various diversity initiatives.

Wicht heads up national acquisition and customer marketing for Comcast.

"Deena is an innovative, forward-thinking leader with the vision needed to guide CTAM in cultivating new opportunities,” CTAM president Vicki Lins said. “Deena and Jason will be important assets in helping to deliver on CTAM’s promise to create tremendous value through collective impact.”

Rob Stoddard, the retiring senior VP of communications and association affairs at NCTA–The Internet & Telecommunications Association, will be honored by CTAM as the winner of its 2021 Beacon Award for Communications Excellence. 

Stoddard, who is responsible for the industry group’s member relations and industry-wide public affairs efforts, as well as its relationships with other industry trade associations and societies, told NCTA staffers last Friday (Oct. 22) that he would retire from the organization effective Jan. 3, 2022. 

The Beacon Award recognizes “distinguished communications leaders who epitomize success in the discipline, demonstrate innovation and inspire excellence in others,” CTAM said in a statement. 

“Rob is an extraordinary communications executive, a mentor and trusted ally to many in our business,” CTAM president and CEO Vicki Lins said. “His insights and guidance helped cultivate opportunities  during challenging times and foster collaboration within our industry to  ultimately achieve greater success.” 

Prior to taking on the senior VP role, Stoddard had headed up NCTA’s communications department for 15 years. He also served as a top communications executive for major cable operators such as AT&T Broadband, MediaOne Group and Continental Cablevision. 

In addition to Stoddard, CTAM also announced its 2021 TAMI Award winners. The TAMI Awards honor individuals for “their exceptional contributions to initiatives critical to driving the continued success of the industry,” CTAM said. 

The 2021 TAMI nominees and their respective initiatives are: 

Retention and Mover Marketing

• Tony Maldonado, VP of consumer marketing Strategy, Cox Communications; 

Business Services 

• Chris Hebbard, senior marketing manager, Spectrum Business;

• Steven Gorman, channel marketing manager, Cox Business;

Piracy and Password Sharing 

• Alfred Perry, VP, intellectual property protection and S&P, AMC Networks.

Award winners will be acknowledged during the virtual CTAM Think conference on Nov. 4. 

The themes of diversity and inclusion resonated throughout several virtual panels during the opening week of CTAM’s portion of the Television Critics Association Winter Tour.

The first of a scheduled two weeks of virtual presentations from more than a dozen cable networks and streaming services showcased a number of new programs featuring diverse casts and producers. Network executives, producers and talent said the shows continue the industry’s efforts to offer more on-screen representation that reflects the diverse audiences that watch television.

The need to create more diverse on-air content for Hallmark Channel was the message conveyed during the network’s TCA executive panel, led by recently appointed Crown Media Family Networks president and CEO Wonya Lucas, as well as executive VP of programming and network publicity Michelle Vicary. Hallmark — which has been criticized for not featuring diverse characters in lead roles in its original movies — is now moving toward providing more diversity and inclusion in front of and behind the camera, according to Lucas. 

“The significant achievements made in the D&I space in 2020 laid the groundwork for us to branch out in our storytelling to approach the complexity of what it means to love and be a family in a more authentic, varied and inclusive way,” Lucas said. “We continue to strive to defy common stereotypes and give our characters more depth and dimension … to more broadly represent the human condition.”

Lucas took over in July after former Crown Media Family Networks president and CEO Bill Abbott stepped down last January, following the network’s controversial move to pull a commercial featuring a kissing scene involving a same-sex couple. She referenced as an example of the network’s increasingly diverse slate a 2020 original holiday film — Christmas Comes Twice — which featured a biracial female astrophysicist as a lead character. Vicary also cited the movie Mixed Up in the Mediterranean, debuting Feb. 20 and featuring Hallmark’s first gay lead character.

“I would say probably 25% of our movies had diversity in them,” Vicary said.

Lifetime, National Geographic, HBO, OWN  and other networks touted new shows with characters that defy stereotypes often associated with characters of color. HBO Max’s Genera+ion, which follows a diverse group of high schoolers testing the boundaries of race and sexual identity in a conservative community, looks to depict today’s teens in an authentic way, according to 19-year-old executive producer Zelda Barnz. 

“Something that’s real and authentic is intersectionality, and the people who identify across the gender and sexuality spectrum, and with different races and different ethnicities,” Barnz said of the show, which debuts March 11. “We drew a lot of inspiration from authenticity and real-world influence when we were writing and creating the show.”

OWN’s new legal drama Delilah provides a rare look at an African-American lawyer and the unique challenges she faces from a race and gender perspective, said lead actress Maahra Hill. The series, from Greenleaf producer Craig Wright, premieres later this year. 

“I think she reflects Black women and Black America in ways that we haven’t seen on a consistent basis,” Hill said. “I do think that she’s an accurate reflection of women who are trying to balance their lives, as well as fight for things that are meaningful to them in their life.”

HBO’s revival of In Treatment also features an African-American female lead in Uzo Aduba (Orange is the New Black), in the role of the therapist originated by Gabriel Byrne. Executive producer Jennifer Schuur said the new series moves the original show — which ran from 2008-2010 — into the present day and deals with issues prevalent in today’s culture. 

“We have an opportunity to say some very important things about our particular time,” Schuur said. “We have racial justice movements and the Me Too movement happening; we talk about toxic masculinity and addiction. We cover a lot of topics all set in the present day.” 

Vicki Lins is president and CEO of CTAM,  a marketing organization focused on the media entertainment and technology industry. One of CTAM’s projects is to organize, twice a year, press tours that bring together members of the Television Critics Association and a range of content companies to talk about network strategies and let critics ask questions directly to show creators and stars. The last such gathering, in January, included sessions with HBO, Discovery, FX, Oxygen, AMC, Hulu and Apple TV Plus, among others. This summer, the tour, like so many other events, is going virtual, with CTAM planning on half days between Aug. 3 and Aug. 7. Participating networks have not yet been announced. Lins, who joined CTAM in 2015 after stints as chief marketing officer at United Way Worldwide and Clear Channel Outdoor, caught up with B+C content director Kent Gibbons about the whys and hows of a virtual critics’ tour.

How do these get-togethers, between critics and show creators and talent, fit the CTAM mission and inform the public more than they would be otherwise? CTAM exists to strengthen the industry business model, build collective brand and market best-in-class consumer experiences including the content they love. The press tour is an opportunity for the networks to bolster their marketing efforts, and for some networks it is an opportunity to expose critics to content they may have otherwise passed over. The immediate coverage during the CTAM portion of this year’s TCA Winter Press Tour secured over 10,000 press mentions in one week. That type of exposure is quite valuable when you take into account the majority of the coverage spans the six months between tours.

Do you think much will be lost by not having the questions and answers be face to face? Not really. When we’re live in the dark ballroom, talent cannot see the critics while sitting on stage with bright lights pointed at them. In all seriousness, the pandemic and cancellation of the TCA tour drove the decision to present virtually. The opportunity at hand for our industry has been to step up and deliver. It’s allowed us to create new opportunities, to reinvent traditional engagement and move forward in different ways. CTAM and our participating networks have had a lot of ideas and this allows us to flex our creative muscles. 

Might there be an upside, that talent will participate who might not have come to a live session? Feel free to name names. Scheduling talent is always a challenge, and there’s a chance that all of us being at home could change the dimension of participation. Currently, we’re not in a position to talk about the details behind the schedule. Networks always try to put their best foot forward. We’re all very enthusiastic about the lineup. 

How has the rise of streaming services affected the TCA tour? There’s more content available to consumers and they are viewing more content than ever before, making it harder to break through. The competitive nature of the environment makes the tour more important during this time of Peak TV. Having a focused forum for programmers to showcase their work and tell their stories becomes more important. The press tour creates opportunities for networks to expose consumers to content where they are and potentially expand their audience or deepen their existing relationship with the consumer. 

Do you have a favorite moment from TCA sessions past? I love the creative energy that flows throughout the tour. I have dozens of favorite moments ranging from learning about shows I want to watch, to hallway conversations with talent, to laughing out loud with the critics about something funny — or sometimes ridiculous — someone said on stage.

Former Insight Communications senior vice president of brand strategy and research Pam Euler Halling died Feb. 12 after a brief battle with cancer. She was 72 years old.

Euler Halling was a long-time cable executive, starting out in the industry with Continental Cablevision in her native Ohio, and later as a division marketing manager for Cox Communications in San Diego. After a stint as affiliate marketing manager for Cablevision System’s Rainbow Programming Services in Long Island and later as director of consumer marketing for The Disney Channel in California, Euler Halling was lured back to the East Coast by Insight co-founder and CEO Michael Willner in 1988. She served several roles at the mid-sized cable operator over the next 24 years, retiring in 2012 when Insight was purchased by Time Warner Cable. 

Along the way Euler Halling served with several industry groups, including CTAM: The Cable Television Association for Marketing, where she was president of the New York chapter from 1997-1998. After Insight was sold, Euler Halling worked in the real estate business for Hudson River Line Realty in Cold Spring, N.Y.

In a Thursday [Feb. 20] post on the Cable Old Timers Facebook site (which at press time had more than 110 responses), Willner called Euler Halling “a shining light of optimism, grace, humor and love. Six weeks ago, she was living her life, going to work, loving her family, worrying about the world, and being a friend. I am having such difficulty getting my head around life without Pam Euler Halling in it. The world lost a beautiful soul last week.”

Former CTAM CEO Char Beales remembered Euler Halling as an inspiration.

“Pam was a positive force in the cable business,” Beales said in an email message. “She was admired and respected by her marketing peers and a longtime CTAM leader. Pam’s deep experience in both cable and content allowed her to empathize and drive to win-win solutions. Pam’s grace and style are legendary. She’ll be missed.”

SVP Industry & Association Affairs Rob Stoddard remembered Euler Halling as a “smart, articulate, and passionate cable advocate.

“An acknowledged and veteran industry leader in cable marketing, she mentored and encouraged many people as they were coming up in the business,” Stoddard continued in an email message. “Pam’s contributions to CTAM and other industry organizations were substantial and meaningful. I’ll always be deeply thankful for her personal and professional commitment to Cable Positive, when we were working so hard to provide support for industry colleagues living with HIV and AIDS and raise awareness about AIDS treatment and prevention. Pam’s modesty, warmth, wisdom, and gentle sense of humor made her a favorite friend and partner of everyone who had the chance to work with her. Her loss in the prime of life is heart-breaking.”

Former Cable Positive CEO Steve Villano said that Euler Halling's presence on the organization's board for several years was a "gift." 

"Pam combined the qualities we all strive to achieve: integrity, humanity, a calm & intelligent approach to problem-solving, and a great respect for everyone with whom she worked," Villano said in an email message. "If I had a particularly thorny issue to grapple with on Cable Positive's diverse board, I would frequently call Pam for her advice, knowing she would listen carefully, without a pre-determined position, and give me an honest, compassionate, and reasonable recommendation. Without fail, she was always a great source of calm, light and humaneness for me, and a role-model for how to live a life of grace under pressure.

"At a time when few people are present in the lives of others, where incivility and nastiness predominates in many areas, and when inhumanity toward others has become public policy, we need more human beings like Pam Halling, not less," he continued. "Her death is painful for me personally, and an enormous loss, not just for everyone who worked with her, but for our wider society, made poorer by the loss of Pam's life, grace and kindness."

Euler Halling leaves behind her husband Arni Halling, daughter Christine, son-in-law, a grandson and several siblings.

With the CTAM portion of the Television Critics Association’s 2020 winter press tour now in the books, the television industry is poised to continue its evolution, with linear networks vying with streaming services for the hearts and eyeballs of consumers.

Here are three trends that marked this year’s TCA Winter press tour presentations for cable networks and streaming services:

Streaming services stake out positions as streaming wars loom

While Netflix was absent from this year’s TCA tour and NBC unveiled its plans for its new streaming service Peacock during its investor day last week, several streaming services presenting at TCA offered a glimpse into their operating strategies as the streaming wars begin to take shape.

Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke said Amazon Prime is not phased by the increased competition among streamers, adding that they are focused on giving its Prime subscribers quality original programming, which includes Emmy-winning series such as Fleabag. HBO Max chief content officer actually lamented the phrase “streaming wars” to describe the growing competitive landscape for streaming services, adding that many of the services currently offered are providing differentiated content offerings to appeal to different tastes and audiences.

“As these services premiere and roll out ... they really are quite different,” Reilly said.

Meanwhile, Discovery Inc. may soon step into the digital streaming ring with the potential launch of an SVOD service that would curate the company’s lineup of unscripted content from such networks as HGTV, Food Network, Discovery and TLC, according to Discovery CEO David Zaslav.

RELATED: Zaslav teases potential Discovery-based streaming service

Networks, streaming services continue to increase number of lead LGBTQ characters

Several new shows will feature LGBTQ lead characters, further increasing what LGBTQ advocacy group GLAAD recently reported as a noticeable increase in gay and lesbian lead characters on television.

RELATED: Diverse Images Increasing on Screen, but Viewers Want More

LGBTQ character-led shows announced at the TCA include BET’s Twenties, created and produced by Emmy-winning producer Lena Waithe which follows the exploits of a 20-something queer black girl and her two straight best friends; Freeform’s Everything is Going to Be OK, which stars Josh Thomas as a gay man who becomes the guardian of his two half-sisters; and TLC’s reality series Dragnificent!, which recruits four drag queens to rescue people in need of help. In addition, AppleTV+ will stream a documentary, Visible: Out on Television, a five-part docuseries that examines how TV has shaped the American conscience and how the LGBTQ movement has shaped television.

Scripted series still rolling out in record numbers, but cracks are forming in the "Peak TV" universe

Scripted content continued to grow at an unprecedented pace in 2019, with more than 530 scripted original dramas, comedies and limited dramas available on streaming services and broadcast and cable networks, according to FX. But while new entrants like HBO Max,  Peacock and Apple TV+ will help add to the number of scripted series, other companies are getting out of the original series game. Premium service Cinemax will no longer develop original scripted content, according to HBO Max’s Reilly. Cinemax joins AT&T’s Audience Network -- which will be re branded as an HBO Max preview channel -- as services that previously announced a complete elimination of scripted fare. Expect more services to exit the scripted series highway in the months to come. 

Consumers want Internet-connected services that will take care of everyday, repetitive tasks for them and anticipate their needs with timely reminders and encouragement. They'd also like to have options to choose among in terms of service providers -- and if they get user-friendly technology that delivers on what's promised, then those companies can expect to get return business.

Those were among the lessons shared by CTAM from a new study of "connected consumers" done with the research firm Magid. The research involved focus groups of "Internet of things" early adopters and people who were interested in acquiring smart-home products. CTAM plans to release the study to members of the marketing association soon, after discussing it at a meeting in New York on Tuesday of the cable and telecommunications marketing association's Advanced Video and Insights + Analytics councils.

CTAM CEO Vicki Lins said the research pointed to opportunities for cable companies and programmers, even though the brands that consumers in the study expected to rely on for connected tech solutions were Google, Amazon, Apple and Microsoft. Consumers said they want a range of choices, and if cable companies can serve their consumers well and continue introducing voice-enabled search and other time-saving innovations on top of reliable broadband, then cable can win its share of their business, she said.

In August, Magid worked with more than 100 men and women on the study. They were a mix of pay-TV customers, cord cutters and cord nevers and were in 15 focus groups in three cities (Austin, Texas; San Francisco, Calif., and Alexandria, Va.). 

Early adopters were "forgiving and demanding," CTAM and Magid said, and Internet-of-Things prospects were "excited, yet hesitant." 

Google's combining of calendar and map apps to send a reminder that it's time to head out to the next destination is the kind of application consumers are looking for. "As consumers become accustomed to everything being one click or voice command away, they grow frustrated by routine tasks that could be solved more intelligently," Jill Rosengard Hill, executive VP at Magid, said in a release about the study. This leads consumers to believe that the more technology delivers in one part of their life, the more it should simplify the other parts of their life."

READ MORE: Altice USA Hawks Nest Smart Home Products

There's a lot of interest in technology that can help with caring for the elderly and physically challenged with a mix of monitoring, on-demand interaction and coaching, the study found.

Consumers aspire to have devices, platforms and brands that work together and that "get to know me" -- and they want worry-free, ubiquitous connectivity.

Based on the research, CTAM and Magid expect password sharing and tapping into unauthorized content to continue, and it's up to the affected industries to figure out how to provide simple, easy and reasonably-priced access to minimize that behavior. CTAM and Magid also published an infographic to illustrate the study results.

This article was updated to reflect in the headline that the story is based on a study, not a survey.

John Lansing, former head of Scripps Networks and the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing, oversees all U.S. government-funded independent international news media. He has headed up the Broadcasting Board of Governors and its five networks — Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, Radio Free Asia and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks — since September 2015.

hired by the board, chaired by then Chair Jeff Shell. Only the board was nominated by the WH

He was hired by the BBG board, which was nominated by the White House (Editor's Note: The story initially said he was a presidential appointee, which was not correct).

In addition to running the Scripps cable networks and the cable marketing association, Lansing brought a TV-news background to the job of providing unbiased and uncensored information “to people who need it the most,” along with providing a model of free and independent news to the people who lack it.

There has been concern, with recent changes to BBG oversight and a new administration with a “fake news” fixation, that the mission could become clouded or co-opted. That’s not happening, Lansing said, and it won’t on his watch. But what has been happening is a tech-focused upgrade and use of the tools of the cable network trade, ratings and research, to help make the case for BBG on Capitol Hill, where money is tight.

Lansing talked with Multichannel News Washington bureau chief John Eggerton about BBG’s impact in the current administration and more. Here’s an edited transcript.

MCN:Can you explain the Broadcasting Board of Governors’s mission?
John Lansing: To inform, engage and connect people around the world in service to freedom and democracy. We broadcast in 61 languages in over 100 countries and parts of the world that either lack a free press or have a press that is under some control by their governments.

MCN:BBG is not a U.S. government controlled outlet, correct?
JL: It’s not, but that is a really good question and I’m glad you asked it. We are an independent agency of the federal government and by law there is a firewall that prohibits the government from interfering with the independence of any of our journalists or networks.

That firewall not only exists, but it has been my experience over two years that it is fully respected. I have never had anything come up that was even approaching related to government interference in our editorial independence.

MCN:There has been some concern outside of BBG, and some inside it, that the Trump administration could use BBG as a propaganda arm. It is not a farfetched concern in the world in which we find ourselves. Can you further assuage any concerns?
JL: I can only tell you my experience with this administration, and that is, as with all agencies of the federal government when there is a new administration, they assigned in our case two individuals for transition purposes and, on the first day they came aboard in January, I sat down and explained to them the sanctity of the firewall and I was very impressed with their understanding. They were willing not only to abide by it, but actively support it in their communications back to the White House.

So, they became advocates for the firewall. And there was never any pushback from the White House. So, notwithstanding how it might seem and what some reporters around town may have assumed, and I would be the first one to raise my hand, there has not been any attempt by the administration to put any spin of any kind on our editorial decisions.

MCN: We assume that you would not only raise your hand, but perhaps ball your fist, if that were the case?
JL: Yes, that’s my job. It’s not a hard thing to explain to you, because you get it, but it has been pretty well understood when we have explained it at the State Department and the White House that the credibility of our information is really what makes it effective and useful.
If people in, say, Cuba or North Korea or China or Venezuela or the Philippines, you name it, believe that what they are hearing from Voice of America, or Radio Free Europe in the Ukraine, or Radio Free Asia in Southeast Asia, or in the Middle East, is tainted and non-credible, then it really would have no meaning or purpose and be ineffective.

MCN:What are some of the BBG’s big current initiatives?
JL: Most significant is we launched a Russian- language cable network in Eastern Europe on the Russian periphery that is doing very well. A top priority of most everyone you meet on the Hill is, “what are you doing in response to Russian misinformation” and that is staying in our lane and doing objective journalism. It is the first substantial initiative in that regard and has gained a lot of support for us.

MCN:Are there any parts of the world you are particularly focused on?
JL: We are expanding in many areas, including the Philippines and the Middle East, of course Venezuela. Cuba continues to be a great concern of ours notwithstanding the rapprochement. Certainly North Korea right now is a key focus. We do our very best to stay in tune with U.S. foreign policy. We understand what parts of the world most need our resources.

MCN: But you are not promoting that foreign policy, correct?
JL: No. The analogy that I would use is that at a newspaper or TV network or station, you have beats that are important to your audiences. You’re on the D.C. beat, or someone is on the transportation beat. So, these organizations make judgments about where to put their resources based on the particular outcomes they hope to have and we did the same thing.

MCN:What impact does the “fake news” tag this administration keeps sticking on journalists have on your ability to maintain that credibility on the world stage?
JL: That is a fair question. I think different people and audiences hear that term and react differently. I think it is an oxymoron. There is no such thing as credible news that could be fake, and I think that credible news and information is easily discernible based on the quality of the reporting and the writing. I think in certain sectors and audiences it may resonate and call into question any publication, but I don’t know how big that receptive audience is.

MCN: How did running the Scripps Networks or CTAM prepare you for this job, or was it a leap into another dimension?
JL: Early in my career [starting at age 17] I was a news photographer and editor, then became a local news director in Kalamazoo, Minneapolis and later Chicago, WBBM, then when I joined [E.W.] Scripps my first several years as managing TV stations in Cleveland and Detroit, before I took over the broadcast group. So I began as a journalist in the field and led some very good newsrooms. We won the [Edward R.] Murrow Award for station of the year. And I have always been a journalist at heart.

To turn your question around, it was a challenge for me to move into the [Scripps Networks Interactive] cable nets. I had been so steeped in broadcast news I didn’t know whether I could transfer my skills to lifestyle programming [HGTV, Food Network, Travel Channel and others]. I think I was able to successfully do that.

MCN: Talk a little about technology. We are thinking about the aerostat used to get a TV Marti signal to Cuba, which at one point broke free and was shot down by a jet fighter as a precaution and, if memory serves, recovered by fishermen, which sounds a little like the Keystone Cops meets Rube Goldberg.
JL: My No. 1 priority coming in here two years ago was to drastically evolve all of BBG to a much more digital-first posture. And that is true with all of the services, VOA, RFE/RL. We understand now that we have a target audience just like we do in the private-sector media. And of course I come from Scripps, where targeting the audience is really the art of the business model.

And now we understand that our target is not necessarily 50-plus men listening to radio, but it’s 15-to-25-year-old future leaders, young people getting the bulk of information off digital, social, mobile platforms. So, that has been our very, very aggressive push all across the BBG for the last few years.

MCN: BBG created an office of internet freedom. What is that and why do you need it?
JL: It existed when I came and I enhanced it when I learned more about it. But it is a direct investment in tools that help citizens in repressive societies gain access to the internet and to be safe in gaining access to the Internet.
It allows them to talk to one another without being spied on, or access independent media without being persecuted.

MCN: Enhanced it how?
JL: More money. We went to Capitol Hill and demonstrated the impact we’re having. One of the things that has resonated there is my insistence that the BBG measure our impact, whether it be through digital media, or TV or radio, objectively and bring our scores, if you will, to hold ourselves accountable on Capitol Hill so we can show with some objectivity that we are having a greater impact. In this case that was true about the Internet Freedom initiative.

I was also able to show that, last year, we increased our total audience by 52 million, but also increased the impact on our audience through Gallop research around the world that measured actions people take based on the consumption of BBG media, whether it be sharing content, commenting, “liking.”

We have a whole impact model that we now hold ourselves accountable to. And that gives us credibility with Capitol Hill. It is really no different from private media, where we measured not just ratings at Scripps, but also the quality of those ratings. It is the same approach.

MCN: Why did you want this job, which would seem to us like herding multilingual cats?
JL: Jeff Shell [chairman of the BBG] two years ago called me. My contract happened to be coming up at CTAM, and he asked if I would consider taking this over as CEO. They had hired Andy Lack, but he only lasted about six weeks because of the Brian Williams situation, when they brought him back to NBC.

I said I would be willing to consider it. I became convinced that I was at a point in my career where I could invest my time and energy and experience in something that had a national service aspect to it.

I’ve never done that. My father served in World War II and I always admired that. I saw this as a chance to get involved at a senior level and really do something supportive of building and growing more free and democratic societies. If felt like a career capstone for me.

MCN: Did you advocate to Congress for concentrating the governing power in the CEO position? Congress ultimately voted to phase out the “board of governors” of the Board of Governors and concentrate that power.
JL: No, I didn’t advocate for that. That was something that was done in the House Foreign Affairs Committee. I got a phone call last May from a staffer over there that this is what the reform measure was going to do. I actually worked with my board to see what their reaction was and how they wanted me to represent them on the Hill. It really was a runaway train and happened of its own momentum.

MCN: How do you think that phasing out of the board of governors is going to change the dynamic?
JL: On Dec. 23, President Obama signed the NDAA [National Defense Authorization Act, which included the BBG restructuring]. There was a signing statement that dealt with what the Justice Department felt like was a Constitutional concern that the Congress didn’t have the authority to eliminate a presidentially appointed, Senate-confirmed board of governors, and that until the CEO is nominated and confirmed by the Senate, whether that is me or someone else, the board will stay in place until the new CEO is confirmed.

So, we’re in that period where the board continues to serve and I am grandfathered in as the CEO until I am either confirmed or replaced and there has still not been any indication from me whether there was going to be any action on that from the White House one way or the other.
I expected to hear something months ago, but never had.

MCN: Is there a lame-duck quality to not knowing, or are there things you want to get done before you go?
JL: I don’t know whether I will be gone. Theoretically I could be nominated, or I could not be, but there isn’t a lame-duck feeling.
In fact, the report we are receiving through the appropriators based on the work we have been doing over the last two years indicates a lot of support, at least on Capitol Hill.

MCN: Can you give us an example of that work?
JL: Most significantly is we launched a Russian-language cable network in Eastern Europe on the Russian periphery that is doing very well. A top priority of most everyone you meet on the Hill is, “what are you doing in response to Russian misinformation” and that is staying in our lane and doing objective journalism. It is the first substantial initiative in that regard and has gained a lot of support for us.

MCN: Any final thoughts?
JL: Three key things, and I will just underscore them, are targeting audiences that we want to impact; modernizing our approach to those audiences through digital, social and mobile platforms; and holding ourselves accountable for not just reaching bigger audiences, but how much we are impacting those audiences. Those are the things we think about the most.

Amid the technology overload at the National Association of Broadcasters convention, programming and marketing are often the forgotten step-children of the converging/diverging media world.

Although the TV ecosystems had plenty of content and advertising participants among the 103,000 people at last week's NAB Show in Las Vegas, it was CTAM, a cable TV stalwart, that produced a first-day SuperSession on April 24, which plunged into the complicated content issues at the core of the media landscape.

As Vicki Lins, president and CEO of the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing, explained, "marketing and content are at the 'Center of Media Transformation,'" which happened to be the title of the session she moderated. Lins characterized them as "fundamentally driving changes in how companies are engaging with consumers."

[The 55-minute panel discussion is available as a video stream HERE.]

Jamia Bigalow, senior VP, distribution marketing at Fox Networks, affirmed the necessity of thinking across platforms.

"For us it's more important than ever to build our network brands, especially because of multiple channels," Bigalow said. She explained that Fox is "busier than ever because we have more ways than ever to distribute," emphasizing that the distribution windows are "overlaying each other," thus requiring new tactics for viewer engagement.

"You have to be where the eyeballs are," Bigalow added, stressing that "Fox brands are highly social" and that current efforts are focused on "maintaining viewership after launch" of new programs. She recommended that programmers "find an organic path,” which often involves working with "a lot of partners in promotional relationships."

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Bigalow also pointed out that people are "spending more time viewing and less time searching for shows, which improves monetization." She urged programmers to think about "discoverability" and "all the ways that content is being served." In particular, Bigalow said that meta-data enables "content discovery to run very deep."

Another panelist, Thomas Hughes, executive VP, Worldwide Digital Distribution for Lionsgate, affirmed the importance of content discovery as creating new ways to build interest in a show. He emphasized that in today's multitasking era, it's vital to understand how consumers engage in programs.

Hughes also described the transformation of his company (a studio) after its acquisition of the Starz pay TV network and divestiture of its share of Epix network.

NAB 2017: O'Rielly Says Pai Could Herald FCC Golden Age for Broadcasters

"We have 90 shows across 40 networks," he explained. "We are perfectly willing to sell, create and distribute content across lots of different platforms. That puts us in a unique position. We don't think of ourselves as a brand because we have so many brands," including ethnic and specialty labels.

Hughes focused on the value of program brands rather than studio or network brands. He cited Lionsgate-produced shows such as Orange Is the New Black (which a Lionsgate unit makes for Netflix), Mad Men (for AMC) and Nashville (which originated on ABC-TV broadcast network and is now carried on CMT and Hulu). Hughes called Nashville distribution "a hybrid solution," which he attributed to "the nature of windowing, which is what we do."

James "JB" Brown, executive VP, Content Distribution, Talent and Marketing at Revolt Media and TV, emphasized the challenge of launching a new network - especially one aimed at millennials and Generation Z audiences. He stressed that young viewers "look at shows differently because they get programs somewhere else, not necessarily on the linear network.

Brown acknowledged that Revolt's goal, which he credited to the vision of its co-founder Sean Combs (aka Diddy, Puff Daddy, etc.), is to reach young viewers who instinctively know "what music is coming next or who will perform."

"They may access us through streaming, through our network or through YouTube," Brown said. But the network always seeks to push its brand. "We always say something about Revolt and our distributors to remind them [the viewers] how to get the full network."

Image Caption: (From left) NAB Content panel: Vicki Lins, CTAM; JB Brown, Revolt Media;  and Jamia Bigalow, Fox Networks.

CTAM: The Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing, has elected Turner senior vice president of brand distribution marketing Heather Baldino to serve a two-year term as chair of its board of directors.

CTAM also said named the following officers to two-year terms: Rick Lang, SVP, Marketing and Sales, Comcast, and CTAM Vice Chair; Jon Hargis, EVP and Chief Marketing Officer, Charter Communications, and CTAM Secretary; and Jamia Bigalow, SVP, Distribution Marketing, Fox Networks, and CTAM Treasurer. 

In addition to her role on the CTAM Board of Directors, Baldino also serves on CTAM's Advanced Products Council, its TV Everywhere initiative and its Content Provider Council. Most recently, she advised on the strategic integration of CTAM and the former Association of Cable Communicators.

"Heather is a consummate leader, with the experience and insight needed to guide CTAM's success during this era of constant change and new opportunities," CTAM president and CEO Vicki Lins said in a statement. "Her keen understanding of the power of cooperation across member companies to deliver best-in-class consumer experiences makes her an ideal chair." 

The Board also elected the following new members to two-year terms:

• Dylan Jones, EVP, Chief Communications Officer, Scripps Networks
• Leigh Woisard, SVP, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs, Cox Communications

A complete list of the CTAM Board of Directors can be found at ctam.com.  

The Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing said it has completed the integration of the Association of Cable Communicators, naming former CTAM SVP of communications and marketing Anne Cowan as the combined organization’s chief communications officer.

CTAM announced the combination in October.

Cowan is an 18-year veteran of CTAM and in a statement the organization said her first move will be to launch an executive-level Communications Steering Council to set the integration goals, lay the ground-work for communicators to align with marketers on product and industry positioning, and design new educational opportunities. Cowan will also serve as a close advisor to CTAM president and CEO Vicki Lins, continue to co-lead the TV Everywhere and Industry Positioning initiatives and oversee CableMover communications, corporate marcom, and the Television Critics Tours.

“Anne’s experience and passion for the power of integrated marketing communications make her vital to the success of this unification,” Lins said in a statement. “She has the industry knowledge, professional connections and creative thinking needed to lead communications executives in supporting CTAM’s efforts to define, market and communicate best-in-class consumer experiences in today’s dynamic marketplace.”

CTAM added that industry communications executives will be engaged at the top level of the organization’s governance, filling two seats on the CTAM Board of Directors and one seat on the MSO Marketing Co-op Board. The newly-elected Directors, along with the executives serving on the inaugural Communications Steering Council, will be announced in late March. 

Noting that deployments of home-based authentication and single sign-on have already reduced friction for its clients, Synacor said its approach to TV Everywhere “is in alignment with CTAM guidelines” soon after CTAM and Adobe announced an “industry standard” aimed at making it easier for pay TV subs to sign on to TVE apps from programmers and MVPDs.

“Synacor’s approach to TV Everywhere authentication is in alignment with CTAM guidelines, including those for Home-Based Authentication, that Synacor has specifically helped shape through our long-standing participation in the OATC,” John Kavanagh, senior director, authentication platform at Synacor, said in a statement to Multichannel News.

Synacor “looks forward to continuing to deploy Cloud ID Advanced Authentication, Synacor's identity management platform that already implements many of CTAM’s recommended HBA & SSO best practices,” he added, noting that the company has been an early adopter of new authentication technologies such as OpenID Connect

CTAM said parts of this solution for in-home and out-of-home TVE authentication will be available this year, and that it’s part of a TVE- focused collaboration between the organization and the OATC (Open Authentication Technology Committee). Several programmers and MVPDs have committed to deploying this new “unified” TVE solution in the next six to 12 months: A+E Networks, AMC Networks, Comcast, Cox Communications, Disney/ESPN, Fox Networks Group, Mediacom Communications, NBCUniversal, Scripps Networks Interactive, Turner and Viacom.

Synacor, a company that specializes in TVE authentication systems and customized portal services, has customers that include AT&T, Armstrong, Atlantic Broadband, CenturyLink, Blue Ridge Communications, Cincinnati Bell, Hargray, Consolidated Communications, GCI, BendBroadband/TDS, Suddenlink (Altice), WideOpenWest, Verizon, Midco, Cable One, Charter Communications, Grande Communications and Hawaiian Telecom, among others. Sling TV, Dish’s OTT-TV service, uses Synacor’s Cloud ID platform.

“Synacor’s deployments of HBA and SSO,” Kavanagh added, “have already reduced friction for our Cloud ID Advanced customers; we’re thrilled that CTAM is ready to push for adoption of similar experiences across the entire industry.” 

Read more of our INTX 2016 coverage.

BOSTON -- Reports of the death of TV everywhere are greatly exaggerated, executives from Comcast, CTAM, Disney-ABC and Viacom said at an Imagine Park session late on Monday.

“Today, thousands of hours of content is available live, on-demand, and streamed, on your choice of hundreds of apps, across a dozen or more devices -- oh, and it’s free with your pay-TV subscription,” Anne Cowan, senior vice president of communications and marketing for CTAM, said. “We need a lot more love for this experience. Just sayin’.”

The real story about TVE is studded with telling numbers: Double-digit growth in TVE viewing in the first quarter; 84% of frequent TVE users say it’s a reason they’ll stay with their provider for another year; adoption of TVE grew by 36% amongst pay-TV subscribers in the U.S.

Comcast’s Net Promoter Scores (NPS) are a whopping 29 points higher amongst partakers in Xfinity TV Everywhere, said Vito Forlenza, senior director of TV everywhere content and product strategy. “When we saw that, we knew were onto something -- that it was time to double-down.”

Comcast launched its TVE product in 2011 with 45 on-demand titles. Now, on-demand, live and linear content is streaming across 18 devices, with 115 linear networks (and 150 by year end) available in the home, or outside of the home. 

Under a marketing tagline of “if it’s on TV, it’s in your hands,” some 40% of its total video base is using the service, every quarter.

ESPN, which recently added live streaming and personalized notifications (from final scores to in-game highlights) to its app, is averaging 7 million unique devices per month, which is about 30% growth per month, said Julius Lee, senior director of affiliate partnership development and operations for Disney and ESPN Networks.

“We know that fans are accustomed to coming to the ESPN app to check the latest scores, highlights and news -- now they can live stream, too,” Lee said. On its “bread and butter” college football genre, usage (measured in minutes of viewing) is up 72%; in the football nailbiter between Clemson and Alabama, fans watched via the app for 140 million total minutes viewed (a 32% increase), on 2 million unique devices (a 38% lift.)

Some 26 million Nickelodeon fans downloaded the app, and usage is more than doubling, year over year, said Andrew Borak, vice president of marketing in the Viacom Media Networks Content division. At MTV, he said, average monthly downloads are up 54%, and monthly streams are up 84%, year over year. “This past month we hit an all-time high for authentication.”

Now all that’s left is to tackle the remaining barriers. On that list, and based on research conducted by Hub Research, for CTAM: A lack of understanding (54%), a lack of awareness that even exists (53%), an assumption that it costs extra (51%).

“There’s an art and a science to breaking down barriers,” Borak said. “The art is how to use the right language -- how to say it’s free, without saying ‘free.’”

The science is the blending of traditional audience research with consumer insights from specific audiences.

Nickelodeon, for instance, unleashes kids aged 8-12 into a design lab, with instructions to create the “ideal TVE experience.” That effort identified the graphical icon of the lock and the key as the biggest barriers. “They think they have to do something to unlock it, like with a game."

(This article was updated on to correct the number of Nickelodeon fans that downloaded the app and how many minutes viewers logged on the ESPN app for the Clemson-Alabama football game.)

CTAM, the cable network and operator-focused marketing trade association, has hired Vicki Lins as its new president and CEO, succeeding John Lansing, who is now CEO at the Broadcasting Board of Governors. Lins, like Lansing before her, has long experience in cable circles, though Lins's experience is more in marketing for the advertising side of the business. Most recently she was executive vice president and chief marketing officer for United Way Worldwide and Clear Channel Outdoor. Before Clear Channel, she spent 15 years at Comcast and Canoe Ventures. Before Comcast, she headed marketing and communications for Adlink.

After Lansing -- who succeeded longtime CEO Char Beales two years ago -- left in August, the group hired Howard Fischer Associates to search for a replacement. Mark Greatrex, the Cox Communications chief marketing and sales officer who chairs CTAM's board of directors, said in a release: "Vicki is first and foremost a seasoned senior marketer with deep experience in media and technology businesses. In turn, she has worked closely with distributors, programmers, suppliers and agencies, and has a strong network of connections that puts her in an optimum position to build bridges and align CTAM members as we move forward together. The selection committee uniformly agreed that she will bring new energy and perspective to help CTAM positively position the collective brand, strengthen the pay-TV business model, and market best-in-class consumer experiences.”

Lins, in the release, said: “I’m excited by the prospect of returning to the industry in this dynamic and fast-paced business environment, and to build on CTAM’s highly-regarded successes. In addition to the programs and products CTAM develops, I believe the organization is well-positioned to elevate and amplify the innovative consumer experiences that CTAM members provide today and are developing for the future."

CTAM's mission lately has been to trumpet the value of TV everywhere, or online viewing tied in with pay-TV subscriptions. 

WASHINGTON -- Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing president and CEO John Lansing has been named the new CEO of the Broadcasting Board of Governors.

Lansing has headed CTAM since taking over for the retiring Char Beales in 2013. Before that he was the president of Scripps Networks.

He will assume the post at the BBG, the U.S. government’s broadcasting service, in September.

Lansing has plenty of experience overseeing networks. At Scripps Networks, he was responsible for overseeing the company's six cable channels — Food Network, HGTV, Travel Channel, DIY, Cooking Channel and Great American Country — as well as the Scripps Networks Digital division.

BBG is the independent federal agency that oversees U.S. international media in 61 languages reaching 215 million. Those include Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (Alhurra TV and Radio Sawa), Radio Free Asia, and Radio and TV Marti.

“The combination of John’s cable programming experience and business savvy was an excellent fit for CTAM.  He learned the MSO part of the cable industry value chain and balanced the needs of all parties,” CTAM board chairman Mark Greatrex, chief marketing and sales officer at Cox Communications, said in announcing Lansing’s departure. “The CTAM leadership is grateful for his deep commitment to keeping the organization focused and relevant in the midst of ongoing industry change and disruption.”

As CTAM president, Lansing was tasked with moving the trade group toward a more business-focused approach in the wake of a restructuring that led to the end of the annual CTAM Summit after some 37 years. He also led CTAM in a major push to increase awareness for the industry’s “TV everywhere” authenticated video efforts.  

CTAM said Howard Fischer Associates will begin an immediate search for Lansing’s successor.

"John is a proven executive and a remarkable, transformative leader in multiplatform content strategies, development and distribution," BBG chairman Jeff Shell said in announcing Lansing's impending arrival. "With his journalistic sensibilities and success in leading media companies through periods of challenges and growth, John is the ideal person to lead the BBG as we accelerate efforts to shape a global, world-leading media organization that is up to the challenges of the 21st century."

Lansing replaces Andy Lack, former the NBC News chief and first BBG CEO, who joined the agency at the end of January, but exited in March to return to NBC News as chairman.

As  video on demand and TV Everywhere services continue to make gains with consumers, their development -- and ongoing battle with OTT services -- is still in the first game of a doubleheader, with many technological and content advances still to come, industry executives speaking at the On Demand Summit Tuesday (June 9) said.

TV Everywhere continues to make strides, with more than 55% of consumers recognizing and using TV Everywhere services from cable networks, according to CTAM president and CEO John Lansing. While more than 90 networks are offering TV Everywhere services on a subscriber-authenticated basis, Lansing said creating a cohesive, TV Everywhere message remains a challenge.

“The biggest limitation is that TV Everywhere is not a consumer-facing brand,” Lansing said. “To communicate the value of the product without a single handle to the consumer is the biggest challenge.”

On the VOD front, In Demand president and CEO Bob Benya said consumers have access to more than 360,000 hours of movies and specialty content a year through on demand platforms. He added that In Demand's VOD movie offerings are the top choice for consumers in viewing on demand movies, with its cable affiliates generating a 37% share of paid movie orders compared with 20% for satellite services and 14% for telcos.

“With all of the diversity and depth of [on demand] content … it’s been really exciting to see how much growth there’s been on the content side,” Benya said.

Both Benya and Lansing acknowledged the consumer appeal of OTT services – particularly to young millennials – but added that as more content providers offer stand-alone, over-the-top services, the value proposition of the traditional cable bundle will grow.

“OTT services don’t have big events, live sports, ... last night’s episode [of a series],” Lansing said.  

Benya added, "While there is a lot of noise about over the top services … cable and the other MVPD’s are doing very well.”

As for the future, the executives said the industry needs a better way to measure how viewers are watching content on multiple platforms, and the on-screen interface for on-demand content needs to become easier for consumers to navigate.

Lansing added that the industry should find ways of including independently produced short-form content, which is often favored by millennial viewers.

“I think that’s a category of content that as an industry we need to understand how to get involved in that as well,” he said. “I think we’re reaching the ninth inning of this game pretty quickly, but it's understanding the second game that will be really important.”

The horse race known as over-the-top video is dominated today by three entries: Netflix, Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime (with a couple of young colts in the stable).  

Each has a substantial set of customers. Each has a large library of on-demand content, albeit consisting of reruns of first-run cable shows and only a smattering of original programs. Each has a consumer-friendly price point. So was the horse race lost for pay TV providers before they ever got to the starting gate?

For a while it seemed so, but suddenly you can hear the hoof beats pounding on the inside rail, and the name of the fastest horse: TV everywhere.

What does this horse have that the others lack?  Let’s do the comparisons. TV everywhere is not a consumer-facing brand, but it is an increasingly recognized category of more than 100 robust apps from top entertainment brands, including programmers like Fox Networks and NBCUniversal and service providers like Cox Communications and Comcast. 

In fact, TV everywhere isn’t a single horse. It’s a charging herd of horses known by household names – XfinityGo, WatchESPN, and FXNow. And each, along with dozens more, is stronger on its own merits than Netflix, Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime combined. 

Consider this. Yes, Netflix has plenty of library TV content and a limited selection of on-demand original content. But it has exactly zero hours of live, linear streaming current-season content.  Netflix has no live news and no live sports. But take any one of the TV Everywhere thoroughbreds and you’ll discover live, linear streaming of thousands of hours of content, including news, sports and major TV events like the Olympics, March Madness and World Cup Soccer. Plus, you’ll find current and stacked seasons of on-demand content from a long list of cable networks, available on-the-go on any mobile device, with a consistent user experience that is competitive with OTT entrants.  

Today, industry apps, with names like “go”, “watch”, and “now,” collectively known as TV everywhere, offer the most complete set of experiences far and away.

If you’re still skeptical, ask the nearest millennial which horse he or she is following. In a study conducted for CTAM by HUB Research, the audience segment most impressed with TV everywhere was 18-to-34-year-olds. In fact, 54% of them said that the experience improved their value perceptions of both cable channels and service providers. The research also revealed that the heaviest users of Netflix are now also the heaviest users of TV Everywhere.  Eighteen months ago, TV Everywhere awareness and usage was nil. Today, the Adobe Digital Index predicts that this year TV Everywhere will “cross the chasm” into the early majority.

Which horse would you bet on?

Here’s my bet. Netflix, Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime are great platforms and have spurred our industry to wake up to the call of new viewing behaviors. We’ve now all but completed the hard work of securing programming rights. Nearly 30 companies are collaborating under the CTAM banner to establish and adopt TV everywhere marketing and UX best practices. Awareness and usage are growing rapidly, and consumers are assigning greater satisfaction to their subscriptions.  

Couple all of that with our consumer-friendly price point of exactly no additional charge, and you can see why my tip is to look for the horses with names like GO — WATCH — NOW, and put your money on the winning trifecta known as TV Everywhere.

John Lansing is president and CEO of the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing.  

About a year after the cable industry unveiled “Gigasphere” as the consumer-facing brand of the emerging DOCSIS 3.1 platform, it has followed up this week the launch of a microsite dedicated to the initiative.

The Gigasphere moniker was announced in tandem with the 2014 Cable Show in Los Angeles last April by the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, in collaboration with the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing, CableLabs and Cable Europe. The Gigasphere logo showed up last fall.

The new microsite -- launched a few weeks before INTX: The Internet & Television Expo  (formerly known as The Cable Show) gets underway in Chicago -- offers high-level details about DOCSIS 3.1, a CableLabs-specified platform that will be capable of capacities of up to 10 Gbps downstream and as much as 2 Gbps upstream, focusing on how it will support new bandwidth-intensive apps and service such as 4K/Ultra HD and the smart home.

“Streaming video, online gaming, telemedicine, and the Internet of Things have transformed how we see the Internet and have challenged how we deliver it,” NCTA explained in this blog post about the Gigasphere site launch. “With Gigasphere technology, the same cable that we now use for broadband can be re-engineered to deliver multi-gig speeds and expansive capacities capable of catapulting us well into the future. Though Gigasphere is still in development, ISPs are already adopting the technology and plan on deploying soon.”

For those who are looking for a more technical readout of D3.1, the microsite’s  “peek under the hood” links over to this CableLabs page, which offers some nuts and bolts about the platform and access to the DOCSIS 3.1 specs themselves.  

But will Gigsasphere be used as a brand name or a product name? According to the FAQ, Gigasphere “is a category name, used to encompass the DOCSIS 3.1 platform itself as well as the many products and services the technical specification will enable. While it may be used in combination with specific products and services sold and marketed by cable companies, it’s not expected to be used as a brand name for any specific cable product line.”

Cox Communications, which will use a mix of fiber-to-the-home and D3.1 to deliver gigabit speeds, is using the “G1GABLAST” brand where it’s initially offering 1-gig over fiber. Comcast is using the Gigabit Pro brand for a residential 2-Gbps service that will be offered to millions of homes via fiber, though the MSO also intends to offer residential gigabit speeds on an even broader basis using DOCSIS 3.1. Comcast has begun to test DOCSIS 3.1-based traffic in the field ahead of expected broad scale rollouts next year.

The new year is barely a few weeks old, and the winds of change already seem to be blowing through the television industry. You know things are different when presentations from over-the-top service Netflix and cable’s TV everywhere platform opened last week’s annual Television Critics Association Winter Press tour, where TV writers gather to see the lineup of new shows from traditional cable and broadcast networks.

Want further proof? Arguably the biggest story coming out of last week’s International CES wasn’t the latest Apple product or the biggest Samsung Ultra HDTV, but rather Dish Network’s Sling TV product, streaming 12 cable channels to consumers for $20 without a set-top box.

Clearly the television industry is reacting to the rapid shifts in consumer viewing habits. A recent Leichtman Research Group survey found that more than three-quarters of U.S. homes have a DVR, subscribe to Netflix or use video-on-demand from a cable or telco provider, up from 70% last year. Additionally, 26% of homes use two of those services, and 11% use all three.

At the same time, multichannel TV subscribers are projected to drop from 103.9 million in 2014 to 102.9 million by 2019, according to Magna Global.

Yet some industry observers are actually optimistic about the future of the subscription cable package, and Dish’s Sling TV package may actually build a case to keep the traditional cable package in play. Offering subscribers access to 12 channels including ESPN, TNT, Food Network and Disney Channel for $20, Dish’s Sling TV is a single stream that may be appealing to individual consumers but may prove to be cost-ineffective for a family of four, which would have to buy multiple Dish Sling subscriptions to satisfy all members.

Under that scenario, the average $75-per-month cable bill for more than 200 channels looks pretty good.

While Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and other over the top streaming services are producing quality original programming, arguably cable networks are producing the best original dramas and other original programming in its history. Most of it can be streamed by cable subscribers to any device through the industry’s TV Everywhere platform for free.

Subscribers are slowly getting a clue about TV Everywhere. CTAM during its CTAM panel last week said that 49% of cable subscribers have streamed content from a cable network digital app, up from 14% from the same period a year ago.

Consumer viewing habits are indeed changing, but the projected demise of the current cable business because of those changes is a bit premature.

For those of us headed to the annual International CES, which happens a scant four days after the New Year, the holiday season necessarily includes shaking the network to get a better look at what’s planned.

Here’s what we found under the tree.

Ultra HD/4K is the new 3D, which had been the new HD before the marketplace thud that hastened it out the door. The refrain this year, albeit not necessarily from the CE side: There’s more to better pictures and sound than “just” the television set.

This year, watch for UHD lingo studded with impressively nerdy terms like “high dynamic range” (see Jeff Baumgartner’s piece on page 15 for lots more on that), “color gamut” and “bit depth.”

All of those terms explain additional ways in which innovation is happening throughout the rest of the video ecosystem — think cameras, production gear and the technologies of storytelling. If you go, you’ll see it in the way colors look. Blacks look downright velvety, reds look royal, greens mossy. The picture overall is brighter. Much brighter.

(Talk to any hardcore video engineer — HDR and what’s happening with color and brightness is as “wow” as when standard definition video went high def.)

Wearables, coupled with a new-ish term — “cognitive computing” — described as “mobile devices that anticipate your actions based on who you are, who you’re with, and make decisions for you.” (Great.)

While it’s rare that the dazzle and pop of CES fare is directly relevant to this industry, wearables and cognitive computing do open a plausible stream of thought: What decisions could be made for us, that improve our media-centric life?

Note that it’s likely we’ll see more “smart clothing” this year. Already we’ve seen a blazer, designed for tourists in New York and Paris, and equipped with LED lights on the sleeves, and buzzers in the shoulder pads. The thinking: Stop looking at the blue dot on the screen! Your right arm will blink and buzz when you need to turn right.

Again. CES is CES.

Smart homes, smart cars, driverless cars, smart things — sensors will sustain in show floor glitz. Entire pavilions will be cordoned off to showcase the Internet of Things, always a source of weird and interesting gadgetry, but rarely directly relevant to whatever it is we’re calling the cable industry these days.

Regardless, there’s nothing quite like the International CES. This will be my 15th consecutive year as (trés dorky) guide for the Cable & Telecommuncations Association for Marketing’s tours, and while I generally dread it beforehand, I’m always glad about how it went at the end.

We’ll keep the highlights coming.

Stumped by gibberish? Visit Leslie Ellis attranslation-please.comormultichannel.com/blog.

Buoyed by more content and greater consumer awareness, the Cable & Telecommunications Association said eight months into its educational efforts, it is charting significant progress toward its goals of boosting TV everywhere sign-in and usage across the cable industry.

CTAM has launched a consumer awareness communications tentpole initiative, outlining the significant benefits and value proposition of TVE -- an ever-growing collection of programming, across all genres and including live news and sports, at no additional costs to verified viewers -- to a broad audience, using social and earned media channels.

The move comes as Netflix and Amazon continue to add subscribers and other over-the-top providers are joining the fray.

For cable operators, it’s a simple problem with a maddeningly complicated answer: How to let paying subscribers know they already have access to favorite shows on favorite devices?

To fortify a collection of current, approved promotional assets for media placement, CTAM has built a secure e-form that makes it easy for content providers and MSOs to participate.  

The core messaging emphasizes the ease of the sign-in process to verify customer status and clarifies how the content can be accessed earlier than other online and mobile platforms. The communications promote current TVE programs to encourage non- or infrequent users of Apps and websites to learn about how it works and what’s available. The approach brings the platform to life by illustrating the viewing possibilities, which are illustrated with a “You Could Be Watching TV” theme (youcouldbewatching.tv) and #youcouldbewatchingTV hashtag.

“Netflix didn’t invent this. Cable providers are offering a better product, with more diversified programming offering that includes live sports and news, all at no additional costs,” said CTAM president and CEO John Lansing.

Underscoring the drive was  Fox Networks’ “Stream It and Dream It Sweepstakes” promotion that ran last month, touting authenticated streaming apps as FOX NOW, FXNOW, Nat Geo TV, BTN2Go, and FOX Sports GO. The two-week initiative, which also granted non-subscribers a two-hour temporary pass to access the content on Fox Broadcasting,  FX Networks, Fox Sports 1, BTN, regional sports, National Geographic Channel and Nat Geo Wild, sought to drive TVE awareness and usage that also offering participating users/viewers a chance to win $25,000.

The endeavor, aligning with CTAM-led tactics, paid dividends resulting in a unique reach of 3 million and 56 million total impressions, boosting promotional value for Fox Networks and distributors, whose combined bases exceeded 100 million homes, according to the marketing group. 

The outreach is being managed by CTAM and The Lippin Group, which are working toward educating consumers and promoting available TVE content. The results thus far have yielded the placement of TVE streaming highlights in mainstream TV and lifestyle sections in newspapers, including The New York Times and U.S.A. Today..

“We have also gained with influencers and bloggers reaching 25-to-39-year-olds,” said CTAM senior vice president of communications and marketing Anne Cowan. “This is a group that loves to watch online.”

When CTAM initiated its education campaign last April its stated goals were to drive aided awareness of TVE, which was only at a 20% level, to 65% in January, as well as push usage of cable subscribers familiar with the platform to 55%. Through mid-October, a study conducted by Hub Entertainment Research, indicated that aided awareness had climbed to 54% of the survey group, while 49% said they had used TVE to view TV content at least once over the past six months.

Moreover, CTAM wanted 75% of its 23 member companies participating in the TVE space to adopt the sign-in recommendations developed by a steering committee in conjunction with OATC, NCTA, CableLabs, Adobe and member partners. Through mid-October, all CTAM TVE companies are using some to all of the best practices, at an average of 52% overall.

“We set out at the beginning of the year to have a measureable impact on awareness and usage of TV everywhere – and given this unprecedented industry participation and support, we have done just that,” said Gemma Toner, senior vice president of business insights and strategy, Cablevision Systems and CTAM chairwoman.  “This initiative from CTAM, designed to drive usage and awareness among consumers, will help to elevate this product category now and into the future.”

Recent HUB Research showed that 61% of millennials reported that access to TVE services made them feel more positive about the TV provider and 56% said the same about the network they’re watching.    

“TVE users ascribe greater value to their cable packages, with millennials, the most-at-risk group, having the most positive reaction to TVE,” said Lansing.

CTAM isn’t the only group proclaiming TVE’s rising metrics.

Adobe data indicates that authenticated content starts soared 388% in the second quarter, over the corresponding year-earlier period.

Comcast-owned advanced advertising company FreeWheel reported last month that verified viewers leaped 368% year-over-year, with 46% of all video ad views on long-form content (20 minutes or more) and live content coming from behind authentication walls.

Still, CTAM recognizes much more work needs to be done as Netflix and extant players gain more traction, and others are poised to enter the marketplace.

Distributors and networks own TVE brand development aside, the industry will also be working toward improved verification for kids, families and Hispanics. There will also be a CTAM drive toward the development of extending sign-in periods, and having subs secure access across a programmers’ suite of networks. For example, after a user signs in to watch HGTV, she would then have access to the other Scripps Networks Interactive services: Food Network, Cooking Channel, DIY, Travel Channel and Great American Country.

Also on the docket: CTAM will present TVE-focused executive panels at the Television Critics Association (TCA) Winter Tour in January. It also has engaged in a partnership with the NCTA to deploy a pavilion at INTX (formerly The Cable Show), one of five pillars at the industry gathering with and toward further forging excitement about the growth of TVE throughout the entertainment industry. 

A late-summer tentpole consumer event is in the early planning stages.

CTAM’s progress comes as EchoStar is taking stabs at TVE with an ad campaign touting retail sales of its place-shifting Slingbox devices. The creative trades on a made-up coalition called “Can’t Watch Anywhere Pain” or C.W.A.P. tagline, which takes aims at the programming holes in the cable industry’s TVE lineup.

 The officials quickly engaged the challenge. “In my view, [EchoStar] views our TVE as a threat,” said Cowan. Lansing added: “That’s great. Game on.”

In an unprecedented campaign to educate cable-TV subscribers about viewing their shows on digital devices, a coalition of operators and programmers are backing an industry-wide marketing effort to promote “tv everywhere.”

The marketing group CTAM has embraced that term, written intentionally in lower case, and wants its member companies to promote it using a new logo (pictured) combining those words with images of multiple screens.

CTAM also is recommending practices that programmers and pay TV companies should use to make the signin experience easier and more consistent for consumers. The recommendations and other aspects of the campaign are on the new website ctamtve.com.

The industry group will also publicize data about consumer use of TV-everywhere services through a partnership with Adobe Primetime.

The recommendations and an action plan approved unanimously by the CTAM board of directors last week came from a committee of 20 programmers and cable operators that started working on them last August. Among the goals is to have half of all cable subscribers be aware of TV everywhere by the end of the year, up from perhaps 20% now, and to have half of those who are aware of TVE become regular users.

The point is to make customers feel they’re getting more value from their cable subscription because they can watch the shows they love on devices other than the home TV.

“It really is the trump card in terms of multiplatform video product, and it comes as no additional cost to a pay TV customer. It’s part of the pay TV experience,” Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing CEO John Lansing said about the initiative being announced this week.

Compared to an $8-per-month over-the-top service, offering past seasons of shows plus some new original series, TVE is “all original, it’s all last night, it’s live streaming and it doesn’t cost you another nickel,” Lansing said.

CTAM defines TV everywhere as any app or website that lets consumers watch programs they can see on pay TV on multiple devices, after verifying their pay-TV subscriptions. (CTAM recommends using “verified” rather than the vague term “authenticated.”)

Programmer apps such as HBO Go, Watch ESPN or FX Now are included. So are cable-company products, such as Comcast’s Xfinity to Go, Time Warner Cable’s TWCTV or Cablevision’s Optimum app.

The term “TV everywhere” has been an industry buzzword since at least 2009, when Time Warner Inc. CEO Jeff Bewkes touted it at the Cable Show convention as a vital extension of the existing business model. But it’s not a concept consumers know well, at least not yet.

Lansing said research done among cable customers in fourth-quarter 2013 found about 20% were aware of the TVeverywhere concept. Awareness might now be higher after online viewing of the Sochi Winter Olympics and NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, he said, and CTAM will have some newer research to share in May.

CTAM said the TV-everywhere term tested well among cable subscribers. “Consumers got it, they liked it, there was an affinity for the clarity of what the experience was if they thought about TV everywhere,” Anne Cowan, senior vice president of communications and marketing, said. CTAM had worried that consumers might react negatively to the term, because it sounded like an “overpromise” or because they felt TV wasn’t everywhere, she said.

But those reactions “never came up,” she said. “It won on so many counts that we were thrilled to be able to use it” after Dish Network, in February, dropped a trademark claim on the term. Cable companies had opposed Dish’s trademark effort.

It’s not hard to find skeptics of the term within the TV industry, though.

Evan Shapiro, the president of the Pivot network, got a conversation going on Twitter last week after remarking: “Shouldn’t the TV Biz agree ‘TV Everywhere’ isn’t sinking in? Viewers now assume TV IS everywhere. Let TVE Apps just be ‘TV Apps.’ ”

Rich Greenfield, the BTIG Research analyst, weighed in with Shapiro on Twitter, saying, “Sadly, the more appropriate term is #TVNotEverywhere given the randomness of what/where content can be consumed.”

Shapiro told Multichannel News he supports efforts to educate consumers about pay TV services but, echoing Greenfield, said “the problem is, it’s not really everywhere.” That’s mostly because many programmers (other than Pivot) have held back rights to viewing outside the home, he said.

Consumers look for brands or, more often, shows or events like March Madness online, so the industry should be trying to improve the product — making all pay-TV content available anywhere to verified viewers — rather than promoting a generic term, Shapiro said.

Cowan said the initiative is as much about improving the user experience as it is about the TV-everywhere name. CTAM expects 75% of members — which include 16 cable companies and 25 content providers — to adopt the sign-in recommendations and to support consumer marketing of “tv everywhere” by year’s end.

Mark Garner, the A+E Networks senior vice president who co-chaired (with Comcast’s Matt Strauss) the TVE effort, said he has long encouraged CTAM to start promoting TV everywhere, calling it “the biggest thing that is happening in this industry.”

“The success of TV everywhere is predicated on consumers understanding what it is and using it,” he said. “From my perspective, from this company’s perspective, it is a top priority for the industry.”

Garner also said programmers shouldn’t be blamed for holding back out-of-home rights when, often, those rights are still being negotiated with content owners. “Going forward, you will see networks like ourselves and others resolve those issues,” he said.

For antitrust reasons, other pay-TV providers, such as satellite-TV or telco-TV companies, can join the effort if they would like to, by paying a fee, CTAM said. Satellite-TV and telco-TV companies are not eligible for CTAM membership, but "CTAM has been, and remains, open to cooperating with any MVPD on projects with mutual benefits," the organization said. "To date, that hasn't happened with tv everywhere." CTAM's TV-everywhere working groups were first reported last fall, when Lansing came on board to replace the retiring CTAM CEO Char Beales.

Cowan said consumer messaging this year would mostly be from “earned media” coverage and social platforms, but there could be local or national spots on paid media in the future.

CTAM’s tve GOALS

The TV-everywhere initiative’s year-end targets are:

50% awareness of TV everywhere by cable customers.

50% usage of TV everywhere by cable customers aware of TVE.

75% adoption by CTAM member companies of the first TVE sign-in recommendations.

75% participation by CTAM members in consumer marketing.

SOURCE: Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing