Tag Archives: The Sportsman Channel

Charity Begins at Home – The Cable Show Day 2

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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

Cable Show Eve-Thoughts as Hundreds of Cable Execs Overtake LA

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Notes and a variety of thoughts from yours truly on the eve of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association’s (NCTA) “The Cable Show” Convention as it begins in Los Angeles tomorrow through Friday.

*The Cable Executives Are Coming! If you’re noticing more signage about cable TV shows this week around town – don’t fear that your rates will soon be rising…For it’s all being purposely done by those “said” networks to show off their wares before their competitors who are in town for the national convention – The Cable Show starts tomorrow. If each network was like a peacock – it’s their way of showing off their feathers to impress others.

A Public Affairs Program to Help Fight Against Hunger - The Sportsman Channel

*Year Round Attention – There are some cool things happening in conjunction with the NCTA.  For instance, The Sportsman Channel is busing a load full of cable conventioneers to the Union Rescue Mission tomorrow afternoon to feed the homeless through a special event called Hunt. Fish. Feed.  I was hoping to attend, but I had a conflict in my schedule.  Then tomorrow night a group of cable executives are organizing a fund-raising event in honor of Will Flannery, a wonderful cable executive and family man who passed away suddenly last year at the age of 38.  They are raising money to help his family – its an incredible gesture and I applaud those who are behind it – this is how cable makes a difference.

*Money Men - Well cable has “Mad Men” and it also has “Money Men.”  Kudos to LA Times Reporter Meg James for her story today based on the results of a Los Angeles Times survey that listed compensation packages doled out to C-level media and entertainment executives. The figures these heads of entertainment corporations received was eye-opening and it also was perfectly timed to make an impact as the cable convention begins this week in LA. A majority of the men making these incredible salaries will be here in town, earning their money.

I have included a chart that the LA TIMES featured with the story for you to see for yourself the obscene sums of money these men, not women, earned last year.

If I get a chance I’d like to ask Meg James, a fantastic TV business reporter, if she could follow up this story with another article on this subject for I am curious about two things – (1) How much money did these suits devote to charity last year? And (2) how many people were laid off from their respective corporations last year?

I mean, not to point fingers at Greg Maffei, the CEO of Liberty Media – but he brought home $87 million last year. What in the world can you do with $87 million!!!! My hope is that he is using it to re-invest it back into America by either – giving it back to his company so they can keep employees, handling some back to our U.S. Government so it can cancel a small portion of its national debt, donating some to those less fortunate like earthquake survivors in Haiti or Mexico or doing something other than buying more homes or cars. That is my wish for all of them and to be fair-I know most of these men are generous with their contributions.  My favorite wish would  be that would give it all back to their companies to keep employees on their jobs!!!!!!!!!!! They can make a huge difference in the world and I hope that they follow in Bill Gates’ footsteps in this area – his Foundation with is wife Melinda is amazing. What huge opportunities these “money men” have and so many worthy causes to choose from. I wish I had that dilemma, don’t you?  What would you do with $87 mill?

Chart: Compensation for media executives

So that’s it for today…I’ve got to pack up all my stuff and get ready for the convention tomorrow. I’ll be getting my credentials in the afternoon and start reporting as soon as I can.  I’ve got a lot of people to say hi to first though at the NCTA – I am so looking forward to seeing all my colleagues again and learning about the future of cable.

Stay tuned.

All My Best,

Cindy