Gary Arlen

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How Do You Say Competition?

When Cox Communications president Pat Esser referred to the “Regional Bell Operating Companies” during Cable Show 2012’s final general cession, several of us winced and wondered about his use of the hoary term. The RBOCs or Baby Bells, created three decades ago during the old AT&T divestiture, are long gone; some were reconstituted during the revistiture of the... More

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You Had to Be There: Memorable Moments from 40 Years at the Cable Show

It could have been the technology promises that “seemed like a good idea at the time.” It might have mentioned National Cable Television Association president Tom Wheeler and general counsel Brenda Fox doing “porn patrol” in the early 1980s, shutting down video displays that were too explicit for the exhibit hall. Or this list could have included myriad tales of... More

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Different Ways to Watch

Suddenly, everyone wants to be in some part of the TV business. While we await whatever Apple TV becomes, we can look forward to the Ikea “”Uppleva” TV set, already on sale in Europe. Just as the buzz about an Intel-branded set-top box and accompanying online video service calms down, Samsung pops up with a plan to insert advertisements on its mobile devices - a... More

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NewFronts: Familiar, Different Show + New Economics

The Digital Content NewFronts (DCNF), which wrap up this week [May 1 and 2] with an NBC Universal spotlight on the Comcast subsidiary’s digital lineup and a Google/YouTube “brandcast,” have been even more exhilarating than I expected . They’re also reminiscent of cable networks’ younger days, when program announcements and celebrity appearances triggered... More

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What's Rockefeller's Next Step for Internet Video Exam?

After the Senate Commerce Committee’s curious April 24 hearings about “The Emergence of Online Video” , lingering - and unanswered - questions remain: Why did Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) call the hearings, and what does he plan to do next to determine (as the session’s subtitle asks) “Is It the Future?” Although the idea of updating the 1996... More