Welcome to KableTown
Scene from 30 Rock: Jack Donaghy, played by Alec Baldwin, bemoans the fact that GE/NBC has been bought by a Philadelphia-based cable company known as “KableTown (with a K)”.
Jack’s underling, Liz Lemon, played by the fabulous Tina Fey, notes that her parents have KableTown down in Pennsylvania. She then looks knowingly and directly into the camera and says, “It’s a fine and generous company!”
Obviously, it’s a bit of a parody of the real-life acquisition of GE/NBC by Comcast— currently being reviewed by Congress, but ultimately is expected to be approved.
To some who have been around the cable industry for a while, this turn of events is truly remarkable. When cable first began, its purpose was largely to serve as a community antenna (CATV), and to bring network television to homes where no broadcast signals were easily available due to the local terrain.
I’ve seen pictures of dancing network logo characters appearing at cable system grand openings! (I think Abel Cable was there too—does anybody remember him?) Broadcasters were delighted to have more eyeballs for advertisers.
Soon cable operators found ways to pick up broadcast signals from many miles away. They delivered these “distant signals” giving their customers even more choices. Broadcasters, especially on a local level, were less than pleased. They heavily lobbied Congress and the Federal Communications Commission, and soon restrictions were placed on the importation of out-of-town broadcast signals.
But satellite technology and original cable programming changed everything. Soon the cable industry was flourishing and expanding. The Cable Act of 1984 deregulated the industry and led to unprecedented growth and expansion. National broadcast network programming was still “king,” but viewership began to gradually erode. Local cable systems began to sell more advertising and local broadcasters felt threatened even more. Many local broadcasters refused to accept ads from cable operators trying to generate new subscriptions.
Cable soon had other competitive fronts. Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) became a major competitor. Cable operators, in turn, invested heavily into broadband technology and fostered competition with phone companies in telephony and internet services.
Major programmers such as Viacom and Disney mixed broadcast networks such as CBS and ABC with their substantial cable network holdings. These parent companies used broadcast retransmission consent to further the distribution of some of their cable networks, so relationships, while not totally harmonious, were relatively peaceful.
But the harmony ended with recent bitter retransmission consent battles fought on a local market level. Discussions are underway to find ways to help prevent such battles in the future.
How will the Comcast/GE/NBC marriage change things?
Stay tuned!
