@ Cable Show: All In for 2010: Fast-Forward Forecast

The last session of the day at Cable show inlcuded some big names: Jeff Bewkes (Time Warner), Patrick Esser (Cox), Michael Fries (Liberty Global), George Bodenheimer (ESPN), Jennifer Nason (JP Morgan Securities), and moderated by Ali Velshi (CNN) (Bob Iger backed out and replaced by George)

Patrick: There is a customer segment out there for every product…we need to figure out the products for all of those customers. We will be the only ones able to put 100 mbps and up into customers home.
George: We’re testing all business models…the Cox-ABC/Disney VOD deal is a step in that direction. This is one attempt out of many business models.
Jeff: You have to call the whole cable company as digital. Brands matter a lot in this new era. Cable has what Google has: customer data. And you use that for interactive advertising.
Michael: I don’t believe long tail in video…not that it is interesting and exciting…but it is not impacting or cannibalizing with our core products.
Patrick: Will cable keep getting the best content. Who will take care of piracy, billing and quality? Cable will sustain the business model for content players for a long time.

Was a lackluster panel full of generalities.

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