Multichannel.com provides comprehensive special reports on the pay TV business, including reports on niche programming services, cable television operators, satellite providers, telephone companies, Internet video companies. en-us http://www.multichannel.com/community/Special+Reports/47286.html?nid=3558 2008 Reed Business Information. Subject to its http://www.multichannel.com/info/318735.html Terms of Use. Sun, 12 Oct 2008 09:57:19 MST http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6604512.html?nid=3558 If MTV Networks has its way, there will be few places around the world where it hasn't gone high definition. Besides launching simulcast HD feeds for MTV, Nickelodeon, VH1, CMT and Spike in October 2007, it recently rebranded its MHD channel as Palladia and launched its first international high-def service, MTVNHD. Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6604511.html?nid=3558 For five of Comcast's entertainment and sports networks, the big bang for HD programming will arrive on Dec. 8, 2008. That's when the Comcast Programming Group will flip the switch to launch new HD simulcast feeds for E!, Style and G4. Meanwhile, The Golf Channel and Versus, which had been sharing an HD channel, will each get simulcast channels. Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6604510.html?nid=3558 As big basic cable networks battle for rating points in an increasingly difficult ad market, most of them can now point to the fact that many of the highest profile original shows are in high-def. “All of our new big ticket items are now in high-def,” said A&E Network senior vice president of marketing Guy Slattery, echoing sentiments expressed by several major basic cable netw... Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6604509.html?nid=3558 The transition to high-definition may be one of the medium's biggest events since the advent of color television. But, as programmers and multichannel operators invest mind-boggling sums to ramp up their HD offerings, the industry has in some respects regressed to the early 1950s, when black and white sets served up fuzzy pictures and TV executives had only limited ratings data. Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6604508.html?nid=3558 Michael Willner hung around broadcast studios when he was a kid and even studied broadcast TV in college, but he knew he wanted to get into the cable business. “I knew that cable was the future and I decided early on that I wanted to get into a business moving forward, rather than one of the past,” Willner said. Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6604507.html?nid=3558 If it hadn't been for Hub Schlafly, the cable industry might not have been in the position it is today as a leading deliverer of video to millions of consumers around the country. As early as the late 1960s, Schlafly was convinced that geostationary satellite relay would revolutionize the communications business. Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6604506.html?nid=3558 When Ken Lowe wanted to start Home & Garden TV, he went to the top managers of the cable systems Scripps Howard owned at the time and asked them to name the one programming executive they respected most. Hands down and without hesitation, every one of them named Susan Packard. At the time she was working for CNBC in Detroit, and the operators told Lowe there was no way she was going to lea... Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6604505.html?nid=3558 The first thing Ray Joslin did when he was hired by Hearst Corp. in 1981 to launch a cable-network division was introduce himself to his fellow executives and get a feel for the company. The first person he met was the general counsel, who told him he and his wife never watched TV and didn't see the need for it. Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6604504.html?nid=3558 Richard Green is loath to take credit for making sure the cable industry is on the cutting edge of the technology curve. But industry executives believe his skills, curiosity and personality are why CableLabs has been so successful since it inception 20 years ago and why the cable industry possesses the technological leadership position it does today. Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6604503.html?nid=3558 George Bodenheimer wears a lot of hats — any one of which would keep most executives busy enough. But Bodenheimer seems to thrive on all the activity. He's president of ESPN and ABC Sports and he also serves as co-chairman of Disney Media Network, sharing that role with Anne Sweeney. Bodenheimer grew up professionally with ESPN and has expanded his expertise of management, the industry an... Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6604502.html?nid=3558 When the Cable Center broke ground on its shiny new headquarters on the University of Denver campus in 2001 as an independent and non-profit institution, it was determined that the Center be more than just a dusty, old monument to the past. The Cable Center, rather, has focused on the industry's storied past, as well as its colorful and smart pioneers, and it provides training and information ... Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6604496.html?nid=3558 As the cable industry matures and profit growth slows, operators and programmers are closely monitoring and trimming the cost of doing business, according to the latest study by Pricewaterhouse Coopers' Saratoga division and the Cable Television Human Resources Association. By evaluating revenue per full-time employee (FTE), operating costs per FTE and profit per FTE, PWC Saratoga found that p... Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EST FTE http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6604495.html?nid=3558 Most cable-company employees not only saw a rise in their salaries between March 2007 and March 2008, but the number of core benefits offered by companies participating in the Cable Television Human Resources Association survey also rose — from four in 2007 to nine this year. Every company that participated in CTHRA's benefits survey this year offered health care insurance, a 401(k) plan... Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6604494.html?nid=3558 Cable-industry employees generally fared well when it came to pay increases between March 2007 and March 2008, with the cable-operator workforce receiving an average 5.5% lift in total compensation. At the same time, cable- and broadcast-network employees received an average 5.2% increase in pay during that time frame, according to the annual compensation survey conducted by management and exe... Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6604492.html?nid=3558 The expansion of streaming video across multiple platforms and devices is prompting a growing emphasis on measuring online performance and quality. Users are increasing their expectations, advertising models are being crafted and performance issues such as availability, speed and reliability are top of mind for content providers. Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6599954.html?nid=3558 Professional wrestling continues to thrive and boxing, despite its organizational woes, still performs well in pay-per-view and on cable. But much of the buzz in the ring these days is around mixed martial arts, which shed its outlaw image by imposing rules and safety regulations and has become arguably the hottest sport of the first decade of the 21st century. Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6599952.html?nid=3558 1968 American Television and Communications (ATC) is founded in Denver when 16 cable companies combine into one providing service to approximately 70,000 customers in 14 states. 1969 ATC goes public with approximately 100,000 subscribers. 1973 Warner Communications enters the cable business and forms Warner Cable with systems in Ohio and Virginia. Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST ATC http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6599951.html?nid=3558 Washington— When Time Warner Cable splits off from its Time Warner Inc. corporate parent, cable industry veteran Gail MacKinnon will head the new cable company’s federal lobbying office in Washington, D.C. Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt turned to MacKinnon to anchor the Washington office just a few weeks after the news hit in late April that Time Warner Inc. Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6599950.html?nid=3558 “If you don’t like being bored, this is a great business to be in,” said Melinda Witmer, who took the reins as Time Warner Cable’s senior vice president and chief programming officer late last year. “We are constantly talking to our programming partners to make sure we have the best lineup possible,” she said. Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6599949.html?nid=3558 Time Warner Cable has prided itself as being one of the most tightly clustered MSOs in the country, with more than 85% of its customers are located in five geographic regions. In March, the company revamped some of its divisions to reflect its 2006 purchase of Adelphia Communications and the changing cable landscape. Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST