The Show is Half-Way Over

Good Morning All,

I will be walking the exhibit floor today at the NCTA’s “The Cable Show” to see what is being presented by the major corporations and from new start-up channels and promise to report back later with my findings.

Right now, there is a general session going on discussing Media Everywhere and it is being moderated by Michael Powell, Former FCC Chair.  I am listening in to this session from sitting in the press room and I’m lovin’ what I’m hearing from top media executives, like Comcast Chairman and CEO Brian Roberts. He just showed us how they are going to use the ipad as an enabler to watch conventional TV in real-time.  The ipad becomes a large TV remote that is actually a TV.

The panel also featured thought-leader Marc Andreessen, General Partner of Andreesen Horowitz. Andreessen knows what he is talking about for he was the founder of Netscape and co-founder of Ning, among other companies.  He said we shouldn’t just think of the ipad as TV, but think of it as a tool that will bring more to the viewing experience like sharing.  He said that we will be able to integrate Facebook into our process. For example,  while we are watching TV, we will soon be able to tell our friends on Facebook that we’re watching that show and they should join us.  So it’s all converging.

Coming soon to TV

But really, my thoughts from the opening day lie mostly with this thought  — Cable is a charitable industry.  Here’s why…

A Lasting Tribute -Monday night a few great executives like Mike Hopkins (Fox Cable) and Eric Shanks (DirecTV) organized a fund-raiser casino night that was off the official grid of the NCTA formal program…but, still being tied in. The event was organized to raise money for the family of Will Flannery who passed away suddenly at the age of 38.  He was beloved by cable execs and well known and the attendance at the event was off the charts. It was a beautiful, thoughtful event that helped raise nearly $200k for the family. Will’s wife was there to let us all know that Will believed in education and that this money would go toward the college fund for both daughters.  Well done!

Battle for a Good Cause - Then last night I attended “Battle of the Bands.” The “Battle of the Bands” event is annual brought to the NCTA by Cable Cares and this year it was organized to benefit a local Los Angeles youth services organization called “A Place Called Home.” Eight industry bands performed in front of celebrity judges and played their hearts out. It was great entertainment – man those bands played like professionals and you could tell that they enjoyed every moment. This event is unique and on brand as all the musicians represented a company involved with the show.  And needless to say, there are some very skilled communications executives out there who could work full time in music instead of their cable jobs.  Rock on.

Putting Food on the Table – On Monday, a bus full of cable volunteers lent their time to feed over 800 homeless people at Los Angeles’ Union Rescue Mission.  The event, sponsored by The Sportsmen Channel, fed individuals and families as part of its public affairs effort to fight hunger, called Hunt. Fish. Feed.  Kudos to the folks there and to all the 60 or so volunteers. A great effort that helped so many.

Corps to the Rescue – Outdoor Channel today announced Outdoor Channel Corps, its latest effort to mobilize outdoor enthusiasts to the largest conservation volunteer program of its kind, “Serve and Conserve.” This new initiative will leverage the Channel’s brand to engage its loyal base of viewers to volunteer for a variety of outdoor-related projects. Outdoor Channel Corps aims to recruit one million volunteers in the next five years.  Great work in organizing the troops and calling them to action.

These are just a few of the great things that cable companies and executives are investing in-there really are numerous more.   But, the bottom line is that cable does care.

More From The Floor

Wired Up – I toured the special “My World” exhibit yesterday on the exhibit floor.  Man, its incredible-it’s a city. Actually it is a  27,000 square-foot exhibit built to resemble a movie studio lot, and it includes  homes, schools, parks, and businesses like a bar, hotel and gym.  The special exhibit is being produced by NCTA in cooperation with Time Warner Cable – the cable system operator in Los Angeles – cable programming networks, technology solutions providers, and other select partners.  I’ll try and add more later.

And then the highlight for me was getting MSNBC’s “Hardball” host Chris Matthews autograph. I usually do not do those type of things, but the line was short.  He is one happy guy who is serious about the world and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting him.  He gave me a compliment and I told him to “fight on.”

Today, I hope to stop by Karmaloop TV and learn more about that channel geared to the young entrepreneurs and tech saavy generation and after that, say hi to old pal Fox Sports’ Joe Buck.

Be back in a few.

Cindy