Cable Television Industry

CABLE TELEVISION, THE CREEPING GIANT of American communications, probably got its start in the 1940s in the mountainous backwoods of northeastern Pennsylvania. Legend says a local merchant, desperate to sell more television sets in terrain that blocked the signal, came up with the idea of planting a large antenna on New Boston Mountain and connecting it through a web of underground wires to nearby homes.

A sense of urgency surrounds the annual National Cable & Telecommunications Assn. convention in Chicago this week as big media firms grapple with a host of business challenges that threaten their livelihood. An onslaught of new technologies, devices and digital-content-delivering platforms and the nation's growing wealth divide are challenging the cable television industry to no longer take for granted customers who shell out $70 to $100 a month for service. Young consumers, in particular, do not seem to share their parents' affinity for their pricey cable and satellite TV packages, and are increasingly drawn to the Internet and to services such as Netflix and Hulu for entertainment.

With the controversial cable TV bill soon to become law now that Congress has overturned President Bush's veto, the battleground has shifted to the Federal Communications Commission and the courts. Within hours of the final vote in the House, lawyers for Turner Broadcasting filed a federal lawsuit in Washington, challenging key provisions of the bill. In addition, lobbyists on both sides of the issue are expected to flood the FCC with suggestions on implementing the regulatory guidelines.

Democratic state senators will gather in La Jolla this weekend to enjoy rounds of golf, lavish hotel accommodations and gourmet meals at a fundraiser bankrolled largely by a group that wants a favor from them. The 2010 Pro Tem Cup is being sponsored by an association of cable TV companies that routinely lobbies the Legislature. The group includes Internet providers seeking to derail legislation that would toughen Web-related laws on sex offenders and child pornography. The fundraiser, hosted by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento)

Home Box Office collected the most honors at Saturday's nighttime Emmy Awards presentation in Pasadena, including multiple statuettes for dramatic series "The Sopranos" and its movies "The Rat Pack" and "Winchell." Saturday's nontelevised event encompassed more than 50 categories, primarily in technical areas such as cinematography, editing and sound. An additional 27 awards, recognizing programs and performers, will be presented Sept. 12 and televised on Fox.

Trudy and Nick Marotta have a set of TV viewing choices at home that few Americans can match now but that may be available to most families within a decade. "With a push of a button, we can choose from thousands of things to watch on TV," Trudy Marotta said, from movies and sports to cartoons and public broadcasting specials. "I like it because we can determine what we want to watch and when. And we haven't been to the video store in months."

As Kitty Bartholomew leads a tour of her backyard, she makes one thing very clear: All plants that inhabit her soil must produce something--a flower, a food, a fragrance. There is no room for slacker flora in this woman's garden. The edict may seem strict, but it's nothing Bartholomew wouldn't ask of herself. She's on the set of her television show while she knits a sweater while she's on her cell phone while she's thinking about what to make for dinner.

Taiwan Passes Cable Regulation: Taiwan's passage Friday of a bill legalizing and regulating its cable television industry is likely to avoid threatened U.S. trade sanctions in a dispute over protection of foreign copyrights, according to Taiwan Economics Minister Chiang Pin-kung. Parliament, however, rejected another U.S. request--that the cable television industry be opened to foreign investment--and failed to pass trademark and patent legislation.

First the unhooking, now the unzipping. There's good reason to resist censorship from government and other blue noses who wish to shape pop culture in their own images. Just as there's reason to cringe at the arrival of something gross that nourishes their crusade to apply the clamps. As evidence of just how lewd television can get under the panoramic umbrellas of art and information, HBO is airing a special tonight titled "Private Dicks: Men Exposed" that isn't about private detectives.

After charging that the cable television industry has too much control over what TV stations a viewer can watch, Federal Communications Commissioner James H. Quello said he will urge his fellow commissioners to reinstate a rule requiring cable TV firms to carry all local stations. The issue is to be voted on by the FCC on Aug. 7. A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C.

The quality of programming being what it is, I was listening to my TV with half an ear a few nights ago, most of my attention being devoted to a self-improvement book, when I thought I heard a voice from the screen say that Time Warner Cable needed my help. In my shock, the book -- "Donald Trump's Management Tips for Dummies," if recollection serves -- fell from my grasp. Yet it was true: Time Warner Cable, the nation's second-biggest cable system, desired my support in its long-running fight with content providers such as Fox, NBC, CBS and ABC. The programmers, it seems, want to jack up the fees they charge Time Warner and its fellows to beam their content through my cable box. "Price increases," Time Warner lamented on its website.

In the long-running battle between cable television and satellite, the cable TV industry is quietly trying to persuade the Legislature to levy a tax on its competitors. With just six days left in the legislative session, cable advocates in Sacramento want lawmakers to slap a new 5% tax on satellite service to match the 5% franchise fee that cable companies pay to string or bury their wires across public property and into homes. Cable companies argue that it's matter of fairness.

A plan by Time Warner Inc. and Comcast Corp. to ensure that people who watch TV on the Web are already cable-TV subscribers faces several hurdles, including the technical -- a workable encryption system -- and the political -- whether consumers will view it as an attempt to wall off free content.

Congress put cable TV operators on notice that it would scrutinize their plans to roll out targeted advertising to viewers, questioning whether they would use set-top boxes to monitor what people watch. As part of a broader discussion Thursday of Internet privacy issues, lawmakers at the House subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet brought up cable's newest advertising endeavor, called Canoe Ventures.

The cable TV industry, confronted with the rapidly rising popularity of watching TV shows online, is grappling with how to prevent the Internet from undermining its business. Hot Internet sites Hulu, YouTube and CBS-owned TV.com have become favorite ways for viewers to watch episodes of television shows.

Charter Communications Inc., billionaire Paul Allen's money-losing cable TV company, hired law firm Kirkland & Ellis and investment bank Lazard Ltd. to advise on a possible bankruptcy, people familiar with the matter said Friday. Kirkland's Rick Cieri is providing counsel, according to two people involved in talks on Charter's strategy. Allen has also hired lawyers and financial advisors, the people said. If the St.

Cable TV Trade Show Set: The cable television industry, which hopes to be riding on the information superhighway with others in the entertainment field, will show off its latest technologies Wednesday to Friday at the Western Cable Show at the Anaheim Convention Center. The California Cable Television Assn.'s trade show, which is open to non-members at a daily rate of $230, will feature demonstrations of links between cable television equipment and programming, telephones and personal computers.

Cable Growing Fast: Southern California's cable television industry posted double-digit growth from 1988 to 1991 and is now a $2.4-billion-a-year industry, according to a recent study sponsored by the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. The chamber said the figure may have been underestimated by as much as 40% because ancillary companies, such as equipment manufacturers, television production firms and a portion of programming companies, were not included in past calculations.

The cable television industry is ready to introduce an advanced video-on-demand service that would provide rebroadcasts of programs without commercials and without a fee paid to the producers. But the prospect has sent a shudder through the television and film industries, which could lose the right to profit from their work in the era of video on demand. All that stands in the way is a final clearance from the Supreme Court.

Cable TV rates keep rising, and federal regulators said last week they're investigating -- again -- whether cable companies are gouging consumers. Why bother? We're squandering limited regulatory resources policing an industry that's stubbornly clinging to an outdated business model (which, as a newspaperman, I know a little something about). It's time for the $79-billion cable industry to switch to a la carte pricing that would allow customers to pay only for the channels they want to watch.