Through the Wire

Tumblin' Mike

Federal Communications Commission chairman Michael Powell rolled into Chicago with a theatrical somersault as he approached the podium to address the National Cable & Telecommunications Association convention.

That's remarkable, considering Powell's medical history. In June 1987, while serving as a U.S. Army officer in Germany, he was badly injured in a Jeep accident. His pelvis crushed, he required multiple surgeries to implant a metal plate and was confined to a hospital for a year.

Clearly, Powell, a high-school gymnast, inspired others.

"I was a cheerleader in high school and I'm doing the splits at the end of the panel. I'll probably kill myself," quipped Susan Eid, Powell's top TV and cable adviser, at a show policy seminar.

I'll Drive It Home

There may have been few operators at the National Show, but it seemed like they were all at Speedvision's booth to participate in arguably the biggest PR stunt of the show: The network auctioned off a 1972 Porsche 911 Targa last Tuesday.

Operators earned "speed dollars" before the auction by taking turns driving a virtual Formula One racecar at the booth, answering trivia questions about the network or by wooing Speedvision sales reps.

Tension mounted as bidding alliances surfaced. One, formed by AT&T vice president of strategic development Fred DiBlasio and including some execs from Charter Communications, U.S. Cable and innMedia, pooled their money. DiBlasio said the block intended to donate the car to the Walter Kaitz Foundation.

But outbidding them was Charter Communications Inc. senior vice president, Western division Tom Schaeffer. The exec spent two days accumulating the ducats, and was aided at the auction by fellow Charterites after they were outbid. Schaeffer ponied up $1.9 million "speed dollars" to take home the sports car.

"I'm gonna keep it. It will be a fun weekend car," he said, adding that in the past, he's bought and fixed up a 1966 GTO and a Corvette from that same year.

He'll have to wait until Speedvision can find room in a westbound car carrier to get his prize, then he'll begin repaying the execs who helped him accumulate his winning bid — in rides.

No Steinbrenner, She

When you think of cable executives who own a piece of professional sports teams, Brian Roberts, Charles Dolan, Paul Allen, John Rigas and the late Bill Daniels might come to mind. But not many people would consider National Geographic Network president Laureen Ong to be among the group.

But she owns a small stake in baseball's Chicago White Sox. Ong said she acquired the stake several years ago while she was an executive at SportsVision, now Fox Sports Net Chicago.

Unfortunately, her busy schedule as president of an emerging basic cable network hasn't allowed her to attend many games. But she did say that there's an executive parking space waiting for her when she can.

Cautionary Tale

Chicago can be a tough town. Beyond reports of stolen laptops and at least one lifted wallet at the convention center last week came a scarier story: One convention-going woman got robbed in a car traveling between official hotels.

She left the company of friends in the early hours Tuesday and went outside the Chicago Hilton & Towers to look for a cab. There were none, but a car-service driver was parked there and offered transportation. Before they could leave, the driver also took on another fare, a professional man who was apparently drunk.

En route, the second passenger paid unwanted attention to the woman, who then asked the driver to let her out. The driver responded by locking the doors while the "drunk" went into her bag. The woman managed to unlock the door and get away — with a ripped blouse and without about $80.

More on Starz 'Donation'

When Starz Encore Media Group executives told The Wire early last month that they wouldn't buy an exhibit at this year's National Show, they said the company would donate $50,000 to the National Cable & Telecommunications Association to lessen the blow.

Turns out, some of that $50,000 included a non-refundable deposit that Starz Encore gave the NCTA to reserve a booth, Starz Encore CEO John Sie told a Wire reporter recently.

"We said the wrong thing about the word donation," he said.

Sie wouldn't say how much of the $50,000 went toward the non-refundable deposit, but did point out that some of the cash went to sponsor a supplier diversity reception for minority vendors at last week's convention.

And technically, Sie insists, Starz Encore didn't pull out of the show. Although the company didn't buy its own booth this year, it did display its subscription video-on-demand product at the booths of four tech companies.

Sorry, Gotta Daschle

Washington's newest power broker left at least one exhibitor puzzled after he swept through the National Show floor in Chicago on Monday after speaking at the confab.

Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) visited booths for five companies: Liberate Technologies, Galavision, the Hallmark Channel, Oxygen and Antec Corp., where he quizzed execs on various aspects of the industry.

At the Liberate booth, Daschle talked to vice president of product marketing Herve Letheza about the telcos and the "whole last-mile issue," said a head-scratching senior director Lonn Johnston. Executives wondered if Daschle was clued in that Liberate was not a telco supplier. Johnston said the senator appeared to be interested in competitive issues involving the Baby Bells.