Through the Wire

Cable Execs Visit Friendly Asian Firms

You have to think there will be some bowing going on.

CableLabs has organized a trip this week — with a group scheduled to include Comcast CEO Brian Roberts and Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt — to visit select consumer-electronics companies in Asia.

It’s a “partner maintenance” tour, a type of political visit CableLabs occasionally puts together. This one is intended to give pats on the back (or the culturally equivalent gesture) to the CEOs and other top executives of TV manufacturers that are working on two-way, cable-ready sets.

On the itinerary: LG Electronics and Samsung Electronics in South Korea; and Matsushita Electric Industrial (a.k.a. Panasonic) in Japan.

The cable crowd, which apparently will include several top MSOs’ chief technologists, also hopes to meet with CE makers that have not yet officially signed on with CableLabs to develop such products.

Next week’s forecast for Seoul and Tokyo: rain, with highs in the upper 50s and low 60s. Hope they packed galoshes!

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin Shows Off His Lighter Side

At a Washington, D.C., dinner last Tuesday, Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin made light of his tense relationship with the cable industry. Since becoming chairman in March 2005, Martin has made a number of moves hostile to cable-industry interests. His ongoing advocacy for the a la carte sale of cable channels has driven a wedge between Martin and the National Cable & Telecommunications Association.

Martin’s comic touch was on display in remarks to the annual gala in his honor hosted by the Federal Communications Bar Association. The event is usually held in December, but Martin’s 40th birthday forced the fête to find a spring evening.

“Some people have been saying that I’ve been picking on the cable industry. So I want you to know that this year, I’m going to do everything I can to show that’s just not the case. For example, I just set up a private meeting of the cable industry leaders with a very senior White House official. That’s right — the hunting trip with the vice president is all arranged,” Martin said, smiling when the audience began to break up.

Near the end of his shtick, Martin joked that the FCC was updating its telephone answering service by adding a few recorded greetings, including one designed just for his strongest industry foe.

“If this is the cable industry and you are calling about a waiver, your call is very important to us. Goodbye,” Martin said.

About 1,425 people jammed the Washington Hilton ballroom, a mixture of lawyers, lobbyists, trade group employees, Capitol Hill staff and journalists.

Former National Association of Broadcasters president Eddie Fritts, drafted to introduce Martin, warmed up the crowd with several funny lines, including this gem: “It’s great to be in a roomful of attorneys who have not been fired by Alberto Gonzales.”

Hancock on Road Back, One Step at a Time

We’ve gotten a good report on John Hancock, president of the non-profit California Channel, who is working his way back from devastating injuries he suffered when a driver crossed the center line and crashed into his car last May.

The crash broke both of his legs, his arms and his pelvis. Doctors had to put him into a coma for a few days in order to help him survive his critical injuries.

Hancock is walking again, reports his friend, Dennis Mangers, president of the California Cable & Telecommunications Association. And he’s planning a cruise in May to celebrate his first year of rehabilitation.

IPTV Service Abandons Meaningless Moniker

It was almost exactly a year ago that Intelsat introduced Ampiage, a new satellite service for delivering hundreds of video and audio channels in standard and high-definition.

Intelsat paid a naming consultant to come up with the name, which meant, well, nothing.

The service now is called Intelsat IPTV, said chief executive David McGlade.

This name fix cost, well, nothing.