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Steve Donohue

Violent Start to Cable Show

Las Vegas – I could hear helicopters flying nearby early this morning, but I didn’t even bother to look out the window of my room at the Luxor Resort Hotel & Casino. Having split the last 10 years between New York and Washington, D.C, the sound or sight of helicopters isn’t usual. Had I bothered to turn on the TV in my room on the 19^th floor of the Luxor, I would have learned that an employee at the hotel was killed by a small bomb in the parking garage of the hotel.

Following the arrest of HBO CEO Chris Albrecht early Sunday morning, it’s a bizarre start to the cable industry’s annual convention.

Exhibits Open Late

We were hoping to deliver an update about the buzz on the convention floor, but two security guards blocked our path at 11 a.m. this morning, when we tried to stroll into the exhibits. In years past, the industry’s largest technology and TV programming exhibit would open in the morning. This year, security informed us, attendees aren’t allowed to walk onto the show floor until 2:30 p.m. PST.

Why the delay? While there were some breakout panel sessions held this morning, NCTA opted to push back the start of its opening general session featuring Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt, Cablevision president Tom Rutledge and Comcast president Steve Burke back to 1 p.m.

If NCTA had opened the show floor earlier, it would’ve risked taking a hit on attendance at its opening session. It’s the closest thing NCTA can do to making a session with the cable chiefs mandatory for all convention attendees.

So we’ll have to wait a few more hours to track down the buzz on the floor …