Cable

Your choices in San Francisco hotels are overwhelming. The prices can be too. So during our staff visit to the City by the Bay, we looked for reasonably priced hotels that had charm, location or both. We came back with 14 ideas on places to bed down. It's not a complete list, but it is eclectic, like the city itself. Mystic Hotel. This property, which opened in April, stands on a tunnel-adjacent block of Stockton Street that you'll never see on a picture postcard, yet it has style, as do the Burritt Tavern bar and restaurant downstairs.

Re "Give TV subscribers more choices," Column, May 7 For satellite and cable TV viewers, I would propose something like the Disneyland ticket book the park had until the early 1980s. In this case, customers would buy their service and get to choose a designated number of programs to watch; everyone would get a few vouchers equivalent to Disneyland's old "E" ticket, which allowed access to the newest and most popular attractions. That and some competition between the cable companies would be welcomed.

Superstorms that slammed the East Coast prompted many Southern Californians to take a hard look at their own emergency preparedness plans, including how to keep cellphones charged when the power goes out. With a flurry of battery-boosting devices landing on the market, I tested eight of the latest and most novel designs on a recent ski trip to Colorado, reasoning that besides a storm, earthquake or blackout, the last place you'd want to be stranded with...

President Obama has nominated venture capitalist Tom Wheeler, a former lobbyist for the cable and the wireless industries, to serve as head of the Federal Communications Commission. "Tom knows this stuff inside and out," Obama said. If that's true, I can only assume that high on Wheeler's to-do list will be a dismantling of the antiquated business model that forces cable and satellite subscribers to pay for dozens of channels they will never watch. It's also a system that can result in a favorite channel disappearing not because it didn't have an audience but because it didn't generate enough profit for a cable or a satellite provider.

Tired of cable? Here are five alternatives to cable TV, some of which are less costly: Antenna : Young people might not believe it, but there was a time when this was the only way to get television. A preponderance of broadcast stations in Southern California enables most residents to get a variety of TV offerings with a low-cost antenna. You can even make an HD antenna out of coat hangers . Internet : Recent televisions with built-in online connections can get a lineup of Internet-delivered programming.

FX is going to try to clone itself. The News Corp.-owned cable network -- home to such critically acclaimed shows as "Justified" and "Sons of Anarchy" -- is launching a sister channel this fall, dubbed FXX. To get the channel off to a strong start, FX will move its comedies "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" and "The League" to FXX, as well as its late-night show "Totally Biased With W. Kamau Bell," which will expand from a weekly to a...

Apple will be coming out with new cables in the next few months that will allow iPhone 5 users to connect their device to TVs and watch video, according to a report. The Verge says Apple confirmed it will sell Lightning-to-HDMI and Lightning-to-VGA cables for the iPhone 5 that will be available in the "coming months. " People were concerned that Lightning, Apple's new iPhone dock connector, would be incapable of handling video when the company didn't list that as one of its feature at its media event Wednesday or online following the event.

There's one sector of the entertainment industry that has not been roiled by the Internet, the economy or ever-changing consumer tastes. Say hello to Hollywood's most stable business: Soft-core pornography. The oft-mocked genre, which has given the world such memorable fare as "Witches of Breastwick" and "Tarzeena: Jiggle in the Jungle," is more visible — and valuable — than ever, even at a time when hard-core adult entertainment is easily accessible on every media device.

Chrysler Group will recall more than 200,000 of its vehicles, including its Ram pickup truck,  Dodge Challengers and Chargers and Jeep Liberty and Patriots for a variety of problems. In the biggest recall, the automaker will inspect and fix about 120,000 Chrysler 300s, and Dodge Challenger and Chargers sedans from the 2011 and 2012 model years because of an airbag problem. The wrong-sized crimps were used in building the airbag wiring harness, and that can can cause the airbag warning light to illuminate.

Re "Give us a la carte channel pricing," Column, July 13 David Lazarus writes ruefully about the absurd charges foisted on cable-TV subscribers that force them to buy a metaphorical whole sack of groceries when all they want is bread and milk. He never mentioned the obvious choice: Get cable out of your hair and go back to your antenna. You can get all the movies you want from the likes of Netflix, and most sports by a computer tie-in. I did not need or want the hundreds of confusing choices, and I relish saving the thousands of dollars over the years.

MovieLabs, a studio-backed research and development venture, has appointed a cable-industry veteran with Silicon Valley ties as its new president and chief executive. John Carney, senior vice president of engineering at Comcast Corp., will run the nonprofit organization, which was created in 2005 by the six major studios to research new forms of movie distribution and protection. Although MovieLabs' initial emphasis was on thwarting movie piracy, its focus has expanded to include the digital distribution of movies and television shows.

Time Warner Cable subscribers can now take a lot of their television lineup with them on the road. The cable company, which has more than 2 million subscribers in Southern California, is now offering its customers the ability to access content from popular cable channels such as MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon via Apple's tablet devices and mobile phones. The agreement is unique because it will allow Time Warner Cable subscribers to view content even if they are not in an area serviced by the cable company.

“The revolution will be televised.” That's what Sean “Diddy” Combs promises for his lifestyle cable network, Revolt, set to launch in July. Ahead of the launch, the hip-hop mogul has rolled out a social media campaign to tease the network, including video vignettes that feature Mac Miller and the Game and a handful of cryptic trailers promising Revolt's aim to be a game changer. The channel will focus on art, music, fashion, culture and film -- all things Combs knows quite well.

After the coffee. Before seeing if a palm tree hit my car last night. The Skinny: Driving during that windstorm Monday night was pretty scary. While the palm trees looked cool swaying in the wind, I didn't need any hitting me. Also, traffic lights were out all over my neighborhood. Tuesday's stories include Fox's threat to take its broadcast signal to cable, and the latest luxury for the rich film buff. Also a look at the effects Annette Funicello and Margaret Thatcher had on redefining women.

News Corp. Chief Operating Officer Chase Carey made big headlines Monday for suggesting that Fox could go from a broadcast network to cable channel to make ends meet.  The implication is that consumers would have to pay to watch Bart Simpson or catch some NFL football on Sunday afternoons. But for all intents and purpose, Fox is already a cable channel and has been for a long time. Yes, about 10% to 15% of the country's TV consumers still get Fox via antennas, but everyone else receives its signals from a pay-TV provider such as Time Warner Cable or DirecTV.

Is Bart Simpson heading to cable? It could happen, warned Chase Carey, the president of News Corp., which owns Fox Broadcasting, home to such popular shows as "The Simpsons," "Glee" and "The Following" as well as National Football League games. Most consumers already pay to get Fox through their pay-TV provider. A cable or satellite company typically pays Fox a fee to carry its signals, and those costs get passed on to their customers. This so-called retransmission consent fee has become a key revenue stream for broadcast networks, which previously made most of their money from selling advertising.

In a dramatic reorganization at NBCUniversal, respected programmer Bonnie Hammer has been promoted to lead the company's entire cable entertainment portfolio -- the most lucrative division, which generates approximately 50% of the media giant's operating cash flow. Hammer will be in charge of all entertainment cable television channels, including USA, Syfy, Bravo, E!, Style,Oxygen and the children's channel Sprout. The management change becomes the third major organizational overhaul in two years in which NBCUniversal Chief Executive Steve Burke has sought to establish a more streamlined structure in a once-Balkanized company.

Re "Audit Slams Status of Cable Pacts," May 20: According to my bill from Comcast, I, as a subscriber, pay the franchise fee that the city collects. An increase in the franchise fee would more or less be an increased tax on cable subscribers. Dave DeKlotz Tujunga

CBS and News Corp. apparently aren't worried about cord cutters. Both companies are making investments in pay-television channels at a time when the very business model on which the industry is built faces challenges from changing consumer habits and legal battles. This week, CBS agreed to plunk down $100 million for half of the TV Guide Network and News Corp. announced it was creating FXX, a sister channel to its FX network. FXX is the second major cable initiative News Corp. has in the works: The company also is building a national sports network called Fox Sports 1 that will debut later this year.

FX is going to try to clone itself. The News Corp.-owned cable network -- home to such critically acclaimed shows as "Justified" and "Sons of Anarchy" -- is launching a sister channel this fall, dubbed FXX. To get the channel off to a strong start, FX will move its comedies "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" and "The League" to FXX, as well as its late-night show "Totally Biased With W. Kamau Bell," which will expand from a weekly to a...