The cable industry has had an inconsistent relationship with CES, the annual gadget-fest that’s set to take place next week in Las Vegas.

In most years, the cable industry has ceded the CES spotlight to pay TV rivals such as DirecTV and Dish Network/EchoStar, relegating itself to spots on panels alongside an assortment of CE-related announcements that faced the challenge of rising above the noise.

The big difference was in 2008, when the industry unveiled tru2way, the ill-fated brand for the OpenCable Application Platform (OCAP), envisioned to become the core for a wide range of interactive, cable-ready TVs, set-tops and other consumer devices. Comcast also took center stage that year as a CES keynoter as it touted the promise of tru2way and unveiled several new products and initiatives.

At the 2017 CES, cable’s expected to have something to say, though the industry, again, won’t playing a starring role. Interestingly enough, Dish is apparently taking a pass on its annual CES presser at next week's show. 

Multichannel News will be tracking the announcements that matter while also reporting from the ground in Las Vegas.

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In the meantime, here’s a look back at some of cable’s moments at past CES gatherings. It’s a representative, rather than exhaustive list, so if you have something to add to it, please chime in on the message board.

2002

With an eye on the retail potential for cable-ready devices, Motorola introduced the DCP501, a home theater system with an integrated cable receiver, DVD/CD/MP3 player and stereo receiver that carried an MSRP of $899. Motorola never said how many of those monstrosities it sold, but at least two cable operators – Charter and Cox Communications – did make them available for purchase in select markets. Interestingly enough, the DCP501 is still offered from third-party sellers on Amazon starting at $129.99, though good luck getting a cable operator to support it. 

2005

Back when the cable and CE industries were still trying to find common ground on what was referred to as a two-way “Plug & Play” agreement, Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks, Charter Communications and Samsung announced a couple of agreements -- memorandums of understanding, in this case -- to support OCAP in digital TVs.Execs from those companies held court at the Four Seasons to tout the deals, with TWC and BHN and Samsung agreeing to write specs for OCAP-complaint TVs, with Charter and Samsung teeing up a deal to deploy “low-cost network interface units” and Samsung two-way HD TVs that use  XHT (eXpandable Home Theater), a home networking technology that supports the IEEE1394 "Firewire" cable.

RELATED: FCC Douses FireWire Requirement For Set-Tops With IP

LG Electronics also announced it would integrate OCAP into a line of digital TVs and set-tops.

2008

Marking cable’s most significant presence at CES, the industry pursued a bigger retail play with the introduction of the tru2way brand for interactive set-tops and TVs, with Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts using a keynote to promote the effort and cable’s new commitment to “openness” with the CE industry.

"The era of an open, two-way cable platform is here," Roberts declared. Panasonic rolled out a line of HDTVs powered by tru2way, but stopped selling them in 2010.

Comcast also used the show to announce a deal with TiVo, and to trot out a portable DVR/set-top device with Panasonic outfitted with tru2way. The standard-def product, called the AnyPlay P-DVR (pictured above, and not to be confused with the George Foreman Grill), was not rolled out, though Comcast later reused the AnyPlay brand for an in-home video streaming device that was also discontinued.

Comcast also unveiled “Project Infinity,” an initiative that set the stage for the operator's ever-expanding VOD library, and introduced Fancast, the brand of a short-lived online video hub, while also demonstrating how DOCSIS 3.0, which was on the cusp of its first deployments back then, could enable consumers to download entire movies in about four minutes.

That was also the year that Digeo displayed big retail ambitions that quickly fizzled out. At CES, Digeo was touting a high-end multi-room DVR that would start at about $1,000, work in tandem with less expensive “Moxi Mate” boxes, used a CableCARD to deliver secure linear, digital cable TV service, but did not support tru2way. But just days later, Digeo, which would be sold to Arris the following year for $20 million, confirmed it was laying off half its staff and killing two new products that were headed to retail, including the flagship box it was trumpeting at CES.

2011

Authenticated apps from pay TV providers built into retail TVs started to show their face. Comcast and  Time Warner Cable kicked things off by announcing partnerships with Samsung that would provide access to programming on connected TVs, tablets and smartphones. That year, TWC struck a similar accord with Sony that was focused on Bravia sets.

With an eye fixed on the multiscreen future of its service provider partners and their eventual integration of over-the-top and social networking elements, Cisco Systems introduced Videoscape. While Videoscape was not a complete system at launch, Cisco would later fill in the gaps with several acquisitions, including 1 Mainstream, Inlet and BNI Video. Cisco has since  backed away from the Videoscape brand, opting instead for a suite of a suite of multiscreen video products, including those focused on cloud DVRs, under the “Infinite” moniker.

2012

The Reference Design Kit (RDK) is now a well-known preintegrated software stack for video and broadband set-tops and gateways that’s being managed by Comcast, Liberty Global and Charter Communications (via its acquisition of TWC). But back in January of 2012, details of the project, initially helmed by Comcast, began to emerge. First out of the chute was Broadcom, which announced that it was integrating the RDK into a gateway platform. These days, more than 275 companies, including CE device makers, chipmakers, software developers, system integrators and service providers, are tied into the RDK community.

2013

It was Cox’s turn to push the multiscreen video needle by announcing a new mobile app developed with Cisco Systems (along with NDS, which Cisco had acquired in 2012) that support live and VOD fare, and plans to roll out a high-octane hybrid gateway with multi-room DVR capabilities from Cisco that would create the foundation for the MSO’s next-gen and personalized Contour platform. Cox still has subs on its legacy Contour product, but has since cast its lot on a set-top and mobile video offering that is hosted by Comcast’s X1 platform.

2014

4K was front and center at this show, as Comcast announced that it was working on an OTT-delivered VOD app for Samsung televisions. Comcast launched the app, called Xfinity in UHD, in December of 2014, initial offering small, free sample of TV shows from programmers such as NBC and USA Network.

2015

At a Cisco Systems presser, Charter Communications unveiled the Worldbox, a new hybrid IP/QAM box outfitted with a downloadable security, a cloud-powered interface and the foundation for a wide range of apps and services. Cisco was also announced as a “key” supplier of the box, but the irony, according to industry rumor, is that the box on display at the event was actually made by Humax, which was later confirmed a Worldbox supplier. Cisco, of course, exited the set-top business when it sold its CPE unit to Technicolor later that year. Arris, meanwhile, was recently tapped as a key development partner for the 2.0 version of Charter’s Worldbox, which still hasn’t been rolled out en masse.

This was also the year that Broadcom announced a modem reference design for DOCSIS 3.1. Several cable operators, including  Comcast, WideOpenWest, RCN and Mediacom Communications, started to deploy the multi-gigabit platform for HFC networks this year.

Long before Sony tried to beat cable operators at the pay-TV game, it tried hard – very hard -- to join them.

During the 16 years leading up to the commercial debut of PlayStation Vue, the OTT-pay TV service from Sony that launched in three markets on Wednesday and will compete with cable operators and other MVPDs, the CE giant embarked on a variety of initiatives aimed at working directly with the MSOs.

Many of those occasionally successful efforts involved selling set-tops to cable operators, and developing conditional access schemes that aimed to drive a wedge into the old General Instrument/Scientific-Atlanta (now Arris/Cisco Systems) duopoly. Sony even tried its hand at helping to push the tru2way platform as part of an ambitious, but ultimately failed, attempt to establish a robust retail market for cable-ready devices equipped with the clunky CableCARD.

While all of those attempts were novel, most fell short. Here’s a look at some of Sony’s U.S. pay-TV efforts over the years.

September 1999: The Cablevision/Sony deal

Marking its entry to the U.S. cable market while also dealing a blow to GI and S-A, Sony struck a $1 billion-plus deal to supply interactive, digital set-top boxes to Cablevision Systems.

Sony’s partnership with Cablevision didn’t go well or last long. In 2002, Cablevision shifted gears, opting to hitch its digital wagon to S-A boxes and headends. Importantly, Cablevision got S-A to agree to integrate conditional access technology from NDS Group (now part of Cisco), which was already being used in Cablevision’s Sony boxes. This ensured that Cablevision was able to keep its set-top box options relatively open because it did not have to be tied to the hip to S-A’s PowerKEY conditional access system.

-December 2002: Sony Books “Passage” To Set-Top Glory

Back when we still had The Western Show, Sony used the event in Anaheim to trot out “Passage,” a technology/technique that enabled two different conditional access systems to run side-by-side at the headend without gobbling up a bunch of bandwidth.  Boiled down, Passage was another shot at the cable box/security duopoly, viewed as a way to open up the door to new entrants.

It was an intriguing idea that gained some steam in the form of licensing agreements with Charter Communications, Comcast and even some device and chipmakers, including Conexant and Zenith/LG, but Passage never got beyond some trial work.

-May 2008: The Cable/Sony Tru2way MOU

Back when tru2way was still considered a possible path to retail nirvana for two-way video devices, Sony and what were then the six largest incumbent U.S. cable operators (Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications, Charter, Cablevision and Bright House) struck a condition-laden, complicated, binding memorandum of understanding for “interactive digital cable products” – mainly set-tops – that aimed to forge a “common reliance” around the deployment and adoption of tru2way in devices and on the network.

Among the commitments outlined in the MOU, the MSOs were tasked with providing network support tru2way in all digital cable systems by July 1, 2009 (Charter had until July 1, 2010). While the MOU still didn’t result in a big set-top pay day for Sony, the MOU did help the cable industry fend off a rival interactive platform called DCR+ favored by parties such as the Consumer Electronics Association.

November 2008: Sony’s Set-Top ‘Set-Back’

When Sony was still playing the tru2way tune, it partnered up with Advanced Digital Broadcast (ADB) on an interactive “set-back” box that could be mounted behind a Sony Bravia TVs.  The ADB-made set-back box is still finding deployment opportunities, but Sony’s interest in using it in tandem with TVs sold at retail died on the vine. However, it did make a temporary appearance in 2009 at a Sony retail outlet that used to be located at the Comcast Center in Philadelphia (Sony closed the store  last year).

January 2011: Sony, TWC Do A TV Deal

Before the video app craze and authenticated TV Everywhere apps started to take hold, Time Warner Cable and Sony used the CES confab in 2011 to announce that the operator would deliver its full TV lineup to connected Sony Bravia TVs later that year without needing a separate set-top. The MSO’s TWC TV app is now offered on a several platforms, including Samsung smart TVs, but still hasn’t shown up on any Sony TVs.