Viewpoint
Views on Industry developments from the editor in chief of Multichannel News
Gone Fishin' (for Subs)
Norwalk Islands, Conn. - In a driving rain, my kidneys are getting pounded with each slam of the 24-foot Skeeter boat on the waves as we make our way across the Long Island Sound, one of the richest saltwater fishing grounds in the United States. Bouncing alongside me is Gavin Harvey, the CEO of Sportsman Channel, who decided the salt water and fresh air would be more conducive to discussing the c ...... Read More
Comments (1)Never Forget
I remember the sheets of paper the most. From the roof of my Brooklyn Heights apartment building, the scene was certainly surreal: Entire vertical columns made up of millions of sheets of paper rising a half-mile high from lower Manhattan and raining down across the East River into my neighborhood streets. The heat - which, I was told later, was generated by the collapse of the World Trade Center ...... Read More
Comments (0)No Home Left Behind
As a former Navy Seal, Comcast Cable president Neil Smit could likely snap a man’s arm like a bread stick. So I listened intently when I sat down with Smit several weeks ago during a visit to Comcast, and he mentioned one word over and over like a mantra: innovate. He was trying to explain to a few editors and reporters how the pace of innovation is his singular focus at the company these d ...... Read More
Comments (0)Who's Right(s)?
As Time Warner Cable draws a line in the digital sand to give its subscribers unfettered access to TV content, some programmers are peeved that the big cable operator didn’t ask for “rights” to deliver their programming to an iPad. In our cover story this week, Todd Spangler takes an in-depth look at both sides of the argument. The iPad app lets TWC customers stream live TV to ...... Read More
Comments (0)Change Is Good
Readers may have noticed a few changes in the design of our magazine over the past few weeks. We didn’t want to make a big fuss about it, but as we prepared to celebrate our 30th year, we wanted to bring our look into the future as well. By changing a few things here and there, we hope to make the news more relevant to you and more helpful in your job. Nothing has changed about the way we r ...... Read More
Comments (0)Wired
Welcome to the 30th Anniversary edition of Multichannel News, the first of three special editions this year commemorating three decades of our coverage of your cable-TV industry. In this special issue, we’ll highlight the most innovative people, products and moments that have come together to give the U.S. one of the most sophisticated wired networks in the world. Looking through our first ...... Read More
Comments (0)Take the Gloves Off
Take the gloves off. Let the fur fly. Go crazy on each other. That’s the best advice for Fox Networks and Cablevision Systems as they ramp up the venom and vitriol in their battle over retransmission of Rupert Murdoch’s beloved Fox broadcast network on the Dolan family’s Cablevision cable system. Cablevision has taken its message of self-righteous indignation to the dark chann ...... Read More
Comments (1)Over The Top
The average consumers must be completely befuddled - if they care at all - about all the media giants muscling their way into TV these days. Last week, Apple took the wraps off a sleek, tiny set-top, priced at $99, that allows streaming rentals of shows from News Corp.’s Fox; The Walt Disney Co.’s ABC, ABC Family and Disney Channel; and BBC America. The new Apple TV, set to ship this ...... Read More
Comments (0)A Matter of Trust
When I saw Sanford Bernstein’s Craig Moffett at an FCC panel at The Cable Show, he was scrunched down in his seat, and joked he could use a baseball cap and big sunglasses - inside the room. FCC general counsel Austin Schlick was onstage deciphering the chairman’s recent decision to reclassify broadband under more stringent Title II common-carrier restrictions. The change came as a r ...... Read More
Comments (0)Police Force
The Internet needs a good beat cop. And most good beat cops rarely pull their weapon. This month, in a major ruling affecting who governs the Internet, the U.S. Court of Appeals said that the FCC lacked authority to stop Comcast from blocking traffic to a customer. In doing so, the court took away the FCC’s gun and gave it flashlight. Comcast had argued that the FCC had not established the ...... Read More
Comments (0)