Cable as Broadband Provider Showcased at 1998 Western Show; General Sessions to Feature Gordon Crawford, Barry Diller, Leo Hindery, Gerry Laybourne, & Bob Wright
November 30, 1998
OAKLAND, Calif., Nov. 27 /PRNewswire/The California Cable
Television Association (CCTA), host of one of
the country's largest cable and
telecommunications industry conventions, will
highlight cable's emerging role as a leading
broadband provider with Cable Clicks!, the
theme for the upcoming 1998 Western Show,
scheduled for December 1-4, to be held at
the Anaheim Convention Center, in Anaheim,
Calif.
From the rollout of cable modems to the
launch of digital video to the plans for IP
telephony, The Western Show will cover the
range of the cable industry's technological
development, and how these significant
changes will impact marketing, programming,
operations, and regulation.
This year's attendance is on pace to be the
largest ever -- drawing from national and
international representation in the fields of
cable, telephony, satellite and computer.
"Some have likened what's happened in the
last year to cable as an epiphany," said C.J.
Hirschfield, CCTA Vice President of Industry
Affairs. "We've seen new levels of success in
viewer appreciation, business opportunities
and technology. Whether it's the click of a
mouse or a remote, cable has strengthened
its connections with its customers and has
become an integral part of the
telecommunications landscape."
The 1998 Western Show General Sessions
will include the following.
-- Tuesday, December 1 (3:30 p.m. to 5:00
p.m.) -- Kicking off The Western Show will
be Jim Louderback, Vice President & Editorial
Director, On-Air Personality, ZDTV
moderating Cable Clicks! - How Silicon Valley
Sees Cable. The session will include a
discussion on the progress of the cable
industry featuring some of cable's new
technology partners: Scott Kurnit, President
& CEO, The Mining Co.; Avram C. Miller,
Corporate Vice President, Director, Business
Development, Intel Corporation; Guy L. "Bud"
Tribble, Vice President, Architecture and
Technology, Consumer & Embedded, Sun
Microsystems; Mario Vecchi, Vice President,
Broadband Development, America Online; and
Alan Yates, Director of Digital Television
Platform Marketing Group, Consumer Products
Division, Microsoft.
-- Wednesday, December 2 (9:00 a.m. to
10.30 a.m.) -- CNBC Business Center Anchor
Maria Bartiromo will lead a discussion about
where the cable industry is headed and how
consumers will be affected by the changes
that lie ahead. Her guests will include:
Gordon Crawford, Senior Vice President,
Capital Research and Management Company;
Barry Diller, Chairman & Chief Executive
Officer, USA Networks, Inc.; Leo J. Hindery,
Jr., President, Tele-Communications, Inc.;
and Bob Wright, President & Chief Executive
Officer, NBC, Inc.
-- Thursday, December 3 (8:30 a.m. to
10:00 a.m.) -- Ben Stein, author, actor and
host of Comedy Central's Win Ben Stein's
Money, will moderate Thursday's General
Session, which will examine technology's
driving role in the communications and
entertainment industries. The session will
feature: Geraldine B. Laybourne, Chairman &
CEO, Oxygen Media; Dr. John C. Malone,
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer,
Tele-Communications, Inc.; James Robbins,
President & CEO, Cox Communications, Inc.;
and Scott Sassa, President, NBC
Entertainment.
In addition to the General Sessions, the
convention will feature more than 20
educational sessions and peer workshops
that examine key issues facing the cable
business today, including marketing,
programming, technology, finance, and
human resources.
The 1998 Western Show will also include the
sixth annual CableNET(R) exhibits a joint
project of CCTA and CableLabs and exclusive
to the Western Show. This year's theme,
Plug and Play, will demonstrate the
interoperability efforts of the cable industry,
highlighted in a special living room and Small
Office/Home Office demonstration area and a
retail concept store. The exhibits will include
multiple cable modems, Internet telephony
and video conferencing, and digital
entertainment services, running over the
hybrid fiber-coaxial cable system.
In addition, Friday, December 4 will again be
Educator Day at The Western Show, where
over 350 teachers meet to explore and
discuss the ways that cable programming
and technology can assist in teaching
students.
The CCTA is the cable industry's largest
state cable television association,
representing more than 350 cable television
companies and serving more than 6 million
cable television customers.
More information on the 1998 Western Show
can be reached through CCTA at
cct-assn.org.
SOURCE California Cable Television
Association
[Copyright 1998, PR Newswire] |
