Cable Tech Talk

Last week cable technology and TV had its biggest week of the year – The Cable Show. We heard from amazing speakers like Comcast Chairman and CEO Brian Roberts, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, and No-Title-Necessary Jennifer Lopez. There were tech presentations, conversations about the future of broadband, and once-in-a-lifetime musical performances.

With the show now over, almost everything that happened can be found on the NCTA Cable Show 2013 YouTube Playlist and The Cable Show YouTube Channel. So whether you missed the show or you just want to re-visit key moments, everything from NCTA President & CEO Michael Powell’s keynote address to the Imagine Park sessions is available and ready to be shared.

Today the White House released the Four Years of Broadband Growth report and it has a lot of good things to say about broadband in America. In fact, President Obama noted in the report the great progress cable has made in expanding the capability of broadband networks, saying that more than 80 percent of U.S. homes now have access to next-generation, high-speed broadband.

Cable has built a robust broadband network – let’s even call it a platform of possibility – that is in nearly every American community creating limitless opportunities for all. As the nation’s leading broadband provider, cable has injected massive amounts of capital – over $200 billion since 1996 – to build a powerful network that is available to 93 percent of U.S. homes.

The Cable Show 2013 was a huge hit! Thank you to all of the attendees, exhibitors, and media who made cable’s biggest week a success.

This week’s #BroadData is a look at the impressive numbers that added up to make this year’s The Cable Show a convention unlike any other.

In a Cable Show first, and in a clear nod to the incredible content being created on cable today, the third General Session played host to a panel of notable cable TV show producers. Mark Johnson, Executive Producer of “Breaking Bad” and “Rectify”, Marc Cherry, Creator and Executive Producer of “Desperate Housewives” and the new “Devious Maids”, and Joe Weisberg, Creator, Executive Producer, and Writer of “The Americans” all spoke on creating TV and how different the content landscape has become thanks to cable.

“In the past”, Johnson said, he “had no idea about the possibilities of cable. Now everyone desperately wants to get into TV – especially cable.” Cherry and Weisberg seemed to agree and set off discussing how the risks cable takes on content have reinvented the medium of TV. They also noted how the content schedule compared to broadcast TV plays a big role in how producing for cable allows for better content.