Wow.

Like a yo-yo.

Forty miles of bad road.

While the subprime mortgage mess has caused stock market gyrations, the whole uncertain climate has now resulted in a unique privatization of the upside coupled with socialism for a downside for J. P. Morgan Chase, you gotta wonder: what the heck does this mean for cable?

For example, is further consolidation likely? Or not?

A few bloggers have made a few suggestions… some good, some bad. Some pretty far fetched… who on earth would want to buy Qwest?

Other ideas make some sense… could we see another "summer of love"? Will there be more swapping and consolidating in the name of market dominance? And, would be cool—in my not quite humble judgment—for Cablevision to get Newsday and really dominate the information base for Long Island. (Note: Long ago, I tried to get TCI to buy the local radio station and newspaper in Livingston, Montana to combine with the cable system. Didn’t happen).

* Don’t Miss the Forum ’08: The 15th Anniversary of the founding of the American Cable Association… Monday night kicks it off at the Mellon Auditorium. It’ll be a great dinner (I guarantee it… I’m the emcee).

* DTV Waivers? Still waiting. Maybe the Federal Confusion Commission is simply waiting until the day of the Forum to grant the ACA’s waivers?

* The 42nd Annual Cable TV Pioneers’ Dinner: Will be Sun evening, May 18 at 5:30pm at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. It is one of the best ways to kick off the NCTA‘s annual extravaganza. A limited number of guest tickets are available for $350 (contact [email protected] for details). This is one of the last "black tie recommended" dinners, so it is a chance for you and yours to dress up! (Although I’m really tired of being given drink orders by half the attendees. I always get the drinks, though). There are also a very limited number of sponsor opportunities (same email for details or call 516-944-0444 and ask for the mellifluous Les Read). This is a great way to get back to New Orleans… but no jokes, please, about the attendees and the venue.

* One, Two, Three, Four… Hit It! Speaking of the cable show… be sure to stick around for the Battle of the Bands Tuesday evening… I’ll be cheering loudly for the TV Rejects… unless one of the other bands does one of my songs.

* Foxy Move? So Fox won’t pay FCC fines for indecency… even though the Federal Nanny cut the proposed fines from $1.2mln on every affiliate to "just" $91k… well, good for Fox.

* Just 2 of 3.65 Million! In this anything, anywhere, anytime world we now live in, it’s cool to see just how cool that can be as cable brands truly move everywhere. ESPN.com‘s Final Four basketball bracket contest got a whopping 3.65mln entries… and only 2 made it to the correct round of 16 as March madness unfolded.

* R U Sirius? So the Department of Justice has ruled "OK." What will the FCC do? When will it do it? Does it know what it will do and when? Is anybody really in charge over there? What a way to run a commission.

* Techno-Failure: Outages happen. But to a mail order service? Poor Netflix.

* Moto Splits! Ah, the thrill of I-told-you-so! So, next questions: (1) Will Tyco be interested in you-know-which-part? (2) Will they call it General Instruments?

The Daily

Subscribe

Xfinity Mobile Embraces Unlimited Plans

Xfinity Mobile unveiled new unlimited plans that it hopes will simplify its data options and save consumers money. Unlimited and Unlimited Plus plans start at

Read the Full Issue
The Skinny is delivered on Tuesday and focuses on the cable profession. You'll stay in the know on the headlines, topics and special issues you value most. Sign Up

Calendar

Apr 25
2024 Cablefax 100 Awards Magazine Release: April 25, 2024
Jun 13
2024 American Broadband Congress Conference Registration is Open!
Jun 26
2024 FAXIES Awards Nominations Are Open!
Full Calendar

Jobs

Seeking an INDUSTRY JOB?
VIEW JOBS

Hiring? In conjunction with our sister brand, Cynopsis, we are offering hiring managers a deep pool of media-savvy, skilled candidates at a range of experience levels and sectors, The result will be an even more robust industry job board, to help both employers and job seekers.

Contact Rob Hudgins, [email protected], for more information.