Cable operators might not be thrilled with the current state of programming distribution. TV isn’t just on the TV anymore. It’s on the laptop screen, the iPod screen, the game console screen and, yes, the standard, non-computer TV screen. Programming is everywhere, all the time.

Cable operators are sort of in the same spot the Big Three networks were in when coaxial cable really began stretching across the nation; their claim on the viewing audience is being challenged by new technology and new generations of viewers with entirely new expectations and needs. And while these new channels of distribution would seem to be a boon to content creation companies, formerly known as cable programmers, their sense of entitlement is also in danger of being a target of mockery for young consumers who may simply decide cable content brands have zero relevance in their lives. Consumers have so many choices of delivery and content, and also have the expectation that everything should be free, or nearly free. Operators and programmers are learning the hard way that good products and content, reasonably priced, are not enough to get by. Enter the communications professionals.

For the second-straight year we dedicate our Cablefaxies Awards to the communications initiatives and programs that have gone the furthest toward keeping cable operators and programmers at the top of the consumer’s entertainment universe. The professionals behind the winning marketing and PR campaigns are working with tighter budgets and facing tougher challenges, perhaps, but that just means one thing to them: an opportunity to be more creative. That’s what drew them to PR and marketing in the first place. We commend the behind-the-scenes fortitude and imagination of the Cablefaxies winners and honorable mentions, which were selected by the Cablefax staff and a panel of outside judges and celebrated at a March 30 luncheon in Washington, D.C. And we salute the patriotic theme underlying all their marketing and PR efforts: The U.S. may no longer be the best at making cars, but it’s still tops in the showbiz department.

We also mark the 20 anniversary of Cablefax Daily, and doff our hats to its founder, Paul Maxwell.

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Imagine Communications CEO Tom Cotney announced he’ll retire effective March 31. He’ll stick around, however, as the non-executive chairman of the board, where he’ll support customer commitments, advise

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Cablefax 100 Awards Nominations Open November 13th, 2024.
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