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St. Louis (!) as the wired world's testbed In another century, St. Louis was the gateway to the West. If you wanted to make your fortune, explore untouched lands or […]

CHICAGO -- Has any cable-industry executive ever been fired for failing to produce a diversified work force? None of the attendees at the National Show's human-resources roundtable here last month [...]

In August 1994, Pat Mitchell was at breakfast in St. Petersburg, Russia, when her boss, Ted Turner, uttered the words that would send her on the kind of odyssey that [...]

ST. Louis -- Regulators close to Charter Communications Inc. expressed surprise and relief, but also a touch of consternation, upon hearing of the MSO's merger with Marcus Cable Co. L.P. [...]

Discusses the effects of consolidation moves taken by telecommunications companies on the Internet landscape for United States cable operators. Changes in the content updates and touch ups of sites; Added services offered so consumers will feel comfortable with the sites; Decision of some sites to remain untouched despite the change in ownership.

Focuses on the cable system planned by Comcast to establish in Atlanta, Georgia. Condition of the cable television market in Atlanta; Information on the broadband merger of Comcast and AT&T; Details of the three systems created by Comcast for their operation in the city. INSETS: MEET THE OPERATOR;COMCAST;Comcast Atlanta Scarborough Research Profile.

Reports on the discovery of the value of one-team networks by team owners and multiple system operators that supplement their schedules with college and high school sports. Goals of multiple systems operators and large cable operators; Plan of multiple systems operators to launch networks even though they do not own any teams; Likelihood of launching a successful regional sports network.

Offers a look at the business operations of Comcast Cable in Indianapolis, Indiana. Competitors of Comcast; Accomplishments of Rusty Robertson as area vice president; Details of upgrades undertaken by the company. INSETS: MEET THE OPERATOR;COMCAST;Comcast Indianapolis Scarborough Research Profile.

Discusses issues related to cable television's (TV) broadcasting of sports as of October 2002. Increase in household ratings of sports TV; Plans for National Broadcasting Association's own channel, NBA TV; Details of deal between ESPN and the National Hockey League. INSETS: IF AT FIRST YOU DON'T SUCCEED...;WHERE'S THE PUCK?;TOP 25 DMAs FOR AVID FANS OF PRO SPORTS;SCARBOROUGH RESEARCH PROFILE OF AVID FANS

Reports on the impact of 2002 National Cable & Telecommunications Association convention in New Orleans, Louisiana on cable executives and vendors. Issues that affected optimism about the industry's future; Decrease in attendance record; Participants of the convention.

Features cable television networks in the U.S. vying for more cable-subscribing sports fans. Percentage of Action Sports Cable Network's production that is high definition; Two branded sports networks of Comcast SportsNet; Amount that Empire Sports Network pays per year to air the hockey games.

Examines whether cable operators in the U.S. can keep charging consumers for ball games. Issue on the limited ability for cable distributors to pay sports programming rights; Background on the deal AOL Time Warner and Walt Disney Co. signed with the National Basketball Association; Issue on bargaining for sports rights.

Reports on forecasts that local Internet sales maybe the next big growth area for United States cable operators. E-commerce; Handling of ad sales; Web opportunities for cable clients; Majority of e-commerce revenue generated locally; Infancy of web sales.

Reports on an agreement between the Fox Cable Networks Group and Charter Communications Inc. involving the National Geographic Channel. Charter's launch of the channel to the majority of its customers; How Charter's decentralized approach affords local managers wide discretion over the channels their systems can offer.

Focuses on the Fox Sports Net's television program 'Regional Sports Reports'. Positive aspects of the program; Flaws of the program; Comments of several journalists on the show.

Reports on the participation of fewer cable television operators in the 2000 National Show in New Orleans, Louisiana. Impact of consolidation; Technologies introduced at the show; Interest shown by people from other industries towards cable business.

Focuses on the anxieties spawned by the book `ESPN: The Uncensored History' by Mike Freeman, within the cable television network. Freeman's unsparing analysis of the network's flaws; Attribution of problems to the speed of the network's growth.

Focuses on the launch of ESPN HD, a high definition television broadcasting which hopes to be a catalyst to help grow the high definition (HD) television business in the U.S. Stance of Steve Burke, president of Comcast Cable, on extra charge for distributing HD network; Information on HD plan of Cox Communications; Reason for the decision of Cox Communications to get in on the ESPN show.

Deals with speech given by John Billock, vice chairman of Time Warner Cable (TWC), during the 2002 Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing Summit wherein he urged his fellow multiple service operators to shift from being cable providers to service providers. His recommendations for the shift; Products that can be added in pursuing the shift; Plans of the TWC in pursuing the shift.

Deals with the Web sites of multiple systems operators in the cable industry of the U.S. Characteristics of a good Web site; Information on the customer service component of Comcast Cable's Web site; Redesign of the Web site of Cox Communication. INSET: THe top ten MSO sites: How they rate.

Focuses on the television programming performance of the Golf Channel, as of May 2002. Growth of the network's television viewership; Factors that contributed to the success of the network, according to its network president Dave Manougian; Forecast on its advertising gains; Extension of the network's rights deal with the European Tour; Influence of Comcast on the programming of the network.

Discusses the demand by AT&T Broadband, Comcast Cable and Time Warner Cable from cable customers that they should either switch to binding arbitration for solving disputes or cancel their cable service. Reason some local franchise authorities are dismayed by change; Cable executives' argument about arbitration; View of Attorney Matt Leibowitz on cable operators' decision to switch to arbitration.

Reports on the services launched by Cox Communications Incorporated. Increase in the video-on-demand (VOD) markets of Cox; High definition options offered by the company; Number of VOD markets to add by Cox in 2003. INSET: COX COMMUNICATIONS.

Reports on the business strategy of Charter Communications Incorporated. Comparison between finding the right advanced video strategies with running a store according to Richard Yelen, vice president of marketing at Charter; Deployment of video-on-demand services by the firm. INSET: CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS.

Reports on the disconnection of cable television services of Comcast across the Denver area in Colorado. Reason behind the disconnection; Emergency plan by Comcast to alleviate the problem; Efforts of several volunteers to maintain cable operation at the Comcast Media Center in Denver.

Reports the impact of a contract acquired by TNT to air the NBA All-Star Game on cable television. Advantage of the contract to both parties; Season average achieved by the network compared to the average it achieved in 2002; Rating achieved by ESPN after airing a number of NBA games.

Discusses the resignation of Ted Turner as vice chairman of America Online Time Warner. Implications of the move; Contributions of Turner to the cable television industry; Speculations on the reason behind his resignation.

Comments on the attendance of cable operators at the 2003 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada. Lesson learned by the operators from the show; Ways for the providers to deal with their customers; Information on the Go2Broadband initiative of CableLabs.

Reports on the high definition television (HDTV) commitment of cable television network DirecTV. Announcement of a high definition digital video recorder with TiVo service and a fourth HDTV channel; Incentives being given to subscribers; Plan to double its local-channel markets at the end of 2003.

Focuses on the public dispute between Time Warner Cable and Fox Cable Networks over high double-digit rate increases in 2003. Impact of the rate increases on subscribers in Minnesota and Florida; Statements issued by executives from both cable operators.

Reports on the rise in cable television rates and decline in subscribers, according to a report by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission Ninth Annual Report on Video Competition released in January 2003. Reason behind the rate increase; Impact of cable consolidation on the industry; Statement issued by American Cable Association president Robert Sachs.

Presents information on the plan of cable operators to increase its cable television rates of in the U.S. as of December 2, 2002. Comcast; Cablevision Systems; Time Warner Cable.

Reports on the deployment of a video-on-demand service by Comcast Cable in the U.S. as of October 2002. Description of the VOD deployment initiated by Comcast in its Philadelphia, Pennsylvania market; Information on Comcast's pre-Philadelphia strategy according to chief executive Dave Watson; Marketing strategies adopted for VOD deployment.

Reports on the speech given by Brian Roberts, chief executive officer of Comcast, after receiving the Walter Kaitz award in the cable television industry in September 2002. His claim on the position of Comcast in the industry; His recommendations regarding the problems faced by the industry.

Deals with the plan of ESPN to add cable television networks in its lineup in 2003. Objective of the company for launching ESPN HD; Information on ESPN Deportes.

Focuses on the benefit of the National Football League broadcast to the ratings of ESPN cable television network as of September 16, 2002. Increase in the ratings of the network; Remarks from Mark Shapiro, ESN senior vice president and general manager for programming; Key factor in the rating increase.

Focuses on issues concerning the potential airing of the National Football League (NFL) games in cable television, following the end of the league's out-of-market deal with DirecTV in 2002. Information on several cable networks that are in negotiation with NFL; Ways of addressing the cable networks' concerns over the no-cable clauses in their contracts; Problems associated with the proposed merger between EchoStar and DirecTV.

Reports on the plan of InDemand and NASCAR to make changes on the 'Nascar in Car' multi-channel pay-per-view package. Information on the changes that will be made; Basis of the planned changes.

Focuses on save team, a trend in cable customer retention which consists of trained service representative dedicated to saving customers. Cable operators who are committed to the concept; Details of how a save team works; Information on Cox Communications' auto save program.

Reports on the implementation of tighter regulations about public appearances by financial analysts in the U.S. Information on the required disclosures from financial analyst; Actions taken by cable television operators, CNBC and CNNfn; Responsibilities of producers and networks in regarding disclosures.

Reports on the launching of action sports video-on-demand (VOD) offering EXPN from ESPN. Remarks from Matt Murphy, ESPN vice president for VOD; Information on the use of the popularity of 'X-Games' by ESPN for its subscription VOD effort; Information on the 'Season,' the first original movie of ESPN.

Reports that the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is pushing U.S. cable television networks toward high definition television (HDTV). Factor that influences the cable industry attitude to HDTV; Concern of the FCC and the U.S. Congress about the issue; Companies with HDTV plans.