Happy Thanksgiving?
Let us count the ways!
1) A Martian at the Federal Confusion Commission.
2) A Socialist Senator from Vermont wants to mandate cheap analog services with your spectrum.
3) Uncertainty in the markets—any and all markets, it seems.
4) Uncertainty in the very air we breathe.
5) Democrats everywhere.
6) Charities everywhere struggling.
OMG! Still… let’s take a look behind the fear levels…
1) Not for long. He’ll "beam up" to AT&T.
2) Now, this might be a chance to revisit retransmission consent in the Congress… seems like that might be a good trade? Cheap analog for no more retrans?
3) We’re stuck with this one—for now. It is clear that the United States and the whole rest of the world have managed to manage ourselves into a real recession. Will it be a depression? I really don’t think so. Commerce hasn’t stopped altogether—and it never will. But things are not going to be giddy for a long, long time.
4) So, take charge of your own world. Manage smart. Keep—or rebuild—that all-important critical trusting relationship with your customers. And don’t forget to keep breathing.
5) Yep. But before you jump off a cliff while knee-jerkingly (that’s quite a word, huh?) spouting dogma, just look around at who’s been in charge the past eight years. Can’t get much worse. So let’s give ’em a chance.
6) As usual, not around cable. This industry keeps doing more… a case in point: a large group of system operators ( Bresnan, Bright House, Cablevision, Charter, Comcast, Insight, Mediacom, Suddenlink and Time Warner Cable) are donating advertising time to a cool initiative from Ann Bresnan (yep, spouse of Bill) and renowned artist Pat Farrell, who will tout special people succeeding in charitable enterprises by producing short films to help inspire others to pitch in… so look for stuff from ThankYouFilms on your local cable systems soon. (And, if your company is on this list… send a note to [email protected] right now and get your act together!)
* The Fairness Doctrine: Isn’t. End of discussion. No reason to bring it back. It didn’t work then, isn’t necessary now.
* College Football Playoffs? Why not? As soon as President-elect Barack Obama fixes the economy, strategically exits one war and wins another one, he’ll ask for an audience with the most powerful guy in sports to fix the collegiate bowl mess… word is he’s already reaching out to George Bodenheimer and planning a pre-next season meeting. (NOTE: nice to hear Sports Business Journal reporter, ex- CableFAXeditor and friend John Ourand talking about the issue on NPR last week).
* I’m Dreaming of… a white Christmas. At least on DirecTV (at my mountain house) and via FiOS (maybe soon to a neighborhood near my daughter’s apartment in NYC?). My friend at The Ski Channel, the near-vegan, tennis-playing skier, Steve Bellamy, has promised to run my favorite Warren Miller movie as his VOD channel debuts on the 25th of December. So, where’s cable on this? Yo, Comcast! At my city house via VOD soon?
* Clear the Deckers? Bummer. As the ex-policy wonk and business maven, Decker Anstrom, exits Landmark at year-end having weathered his cable experiences, his only cable involvement will be on the Comcast board (Yo, Decker! See story above!). But I bet he keeps reading CableFAX—at least thru April of next year, anyway.
