A Look Back at The Cable Show

The cable industry was in the spotlight at the National Cable & Telecommunications Association’s annual convention, May 7-9 in Las Vegas. NCTA President and CEO Kyle McSlarrow outlines the key issues facing cable in the year ahead. The 2007 Cable Show co-chairs: George Bodenheimer, co-chairman, Disney Media Networks and president, ESPN & ABC Sports (left) with Pat Esser, president, Cox Communications. Panelists (that’s Bright House Networks’ Arthur Orduna on the far left) discuss OCAP technology during Sunday’s “O is for Outlook” session at the inaugural OCAP Developers Conference. Clint Stichcomb, EVP and GM of Emerging Networks, Discovery Communications caught the red-eye (seated next to Wayne Newton) from D.C. to open Sunday’s iHollywood Mobile Bootcamp. Monday’s 2007 NCTA Technical Papers kicks off with “Glass Half Full” session. Monday’s CableNET Tour (from left to right): Jerry Kent, President & CEO of Suddenlink Communications; Decker Anstrom, President & COO of Landmark Communications; and Glenn Britt, President & CEO of Time Warner Cable. Monday’s “Town Hall: Local and State Officials Talk” policy session. A somewhat nervous Kevin Martin, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, faces the industry during his keynote address on Monday. Monday’s “Cable 2.0: Growing Cable’s Next Business Opportunities” general session. From left to right: Char Beales, President & CEO of CTAM (moderator); Aryeh Bourkoff, Managing Director and Vice Chairman, UBS; Glenn Britt, President & CEO of Time Warner Cable; Comcast COO Steve Burke; and Cablevision COO Tom Rutledge. Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman (left) and Cable Show co-chairman Pat Esser declare the exhibition floor officially open. Crowds hit the floor Monday. Motorola’s booth demos one of the hot technologies at the show: switched digital video. Monday’s Retirement Living TV town hall on the digital TV transition. Chris Lammers, EVP & COO of CableLabs, meets a Japanese delegate at Monday’s International Welcome Reception. Tuesday’s Public Policy Lunch. From left to right: John Kneuer, Assistant Secretary for Communications & Information, Department of Commerce; Jon Leibowitz, FTC Commissioner Jon Leibowitz; FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell; FCC Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate; and NCTA’s Dan Brenner. Home Depot’s Michelle Johnson at Tuesday’s “Developing and Growing a Supplier Diversity Program for Your Company” session. Tuesday’s State of the Industry general session panel. From left to right: former FCC chairman William Kennard, now Managing Director of The Carlyle Group; Brian Roberts, Chairman & CEO of Comcast; Peter Chernin, President & COO of News Corp.; Philippe Dauman, President & COO of Viacom; and Richard Parsons, Chairman & CEO of Time Warner. Tuesday’s “State of the Sales Union: Ad Sales Leaders on the Industry Today” session. From left to right: Charlie Thurston, President of Comcast Spotlight; Hank Close, President, Ad Sales for MTV Networks; Joan Gillman, President of Time Warner Cable Media Sales; Sean Bratches, EVP, Sales & Marketing for ESPN; and moderator Stuart Varney of Fox News Channel. Tuesday’s 2007 Vanguard Awards — two winners and the proud fathers who founded the cable companies they now run. From left to right: Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts, recipient of the 2007 Distinguished Vanguard Award for Leadership; his father Ralph Roberts; BendBroadband’s Don Tykeson; and Amy Tykeson, CEO of BendBroadband and co-recipient of the 2007 Distinguished Vanguard Award for Leadership. The 2007 Vanguard Award Winners. From left to right: Philip Kent, Chairman & CEO of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., John Bickham, President-Cable & Communications for Cablevision Systems Corp., Cathy Wilson, Founder, President & Publisher of Broadband Library, Debra L. Lee, Chairman & CEO of BET Networks (presenter), Libby O’Connell, Senior Vice President, Corporate Outreach & Chief Historian for A&E Television Networks, Alicin Reidy-Williamson, Senior VP, Corporate Responsbility & Public Affairs for MTV Networks & Viacom, Patricia Gottesman, Executive Vice President, Digital Marketing & Commerce for Cablevision Systems Corp., Amy Tykeson, Chief Executive Officer of BendBroadband, Chris Bowick, Senior VP & Chief Technology Officer for Cox Communications, Inc. and Brian Roberts, Chairman & CEO of Comcast Corporation. Comcast’s Brian Roberts put DOCSIS 3.0 on the map when he demonstrated the cable industry’s huge advances in broadband speeds with a wideband demo during Tuesday’s "State of the Industry" general session. Tuesday’s “Game for Growth: New Markets, New Contacts…No Limits” session. From left to right: Joseph Olin, President of Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, Stuart Snyder, EVP and COO of Animation, Young Adults and Kids Media for TBS, Inc., Peter von Schlossberg, EVP/GM of On Broadband In, Jennifer MacLean, VP and General Manger, Games for Comcast Interactive Media, Jonathan Epstein, President & CEO of Double Fusion and Alfa O’Neill, EVP, Entertainment for IAG Research. Tuesday’s “Sponsoring the Future” general session panelists. From left to right: Alexis Glick, Director of Business News for Fox Channel, Tony Ponturo, Vice President of Global Media and Sports Marketing for Anheuser-Busch, Inc. and President and CEO of Busch Media Group, Inc., Lisa Gersh, President & COO of Oxygen Media, Inc., Landel Hobbs, Chief Operating Officer of Time Warner Cable, John Lansing, President of Scripps Networks and David Zaslav, President & CEO of Discovery Communications, Inc. Wednesday’s “All In for 2010: Fast-Forward Forecast” closing general session panel. From left to right: Ali Velshi, Senior Business Correspondent for CNN, Jeffrey Bewkes, President and Chief Operating Officer of Time Warner, Inc., George Bodenheimer, Co-Chairman of Disney Media Networks & President, ESPN, Inc. & ABC Sports and Co-Chairman of The Cable Show ’07 Convention Committee, Pat Esser, President of Cox Communications, Inc. and Co-Chairman of The Cable Show ’07 Convention Committee, Michael Fries, President & CEO of Liberty Global, Inc. and Jennifer Nason, Managing Director and Global Head of Technology, Media & Telecom, (TMT) Investment Banking for JP Morgan Securities, Inc. Last call on the exhibit floor. Click here for the highlight of the closing night party.

(Photos: Oscar Einzig for NCTA)