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Rani Long
"Mining the New Cable Economy" may have been the theme of CTAM's annual confab last week in Boston, but ways to provide reliable customer service repeatedly rose to the forefront of the panel discussions, regardless of the technology being discussed.
When asked how the consumer will profit from digital, programmers and operators responded that consumers will receive simplicity, convenience and a wide variety of choice.
Tom Rutledge, senior EVP-Time Warner Cable said simply, "People are willing to pay for better things." Bundling of services, the value of dealing with just one company for phone line, Internet and cable service, was often mentioned as one way to offer convenience. "If we can't get the industry doing it," says James Robbins, president/CEO of Cox Communications, "we're going to leave money sitting on the table. Bundling is important because that's want the consumer wants. We need to be customer-focused."
Kim Kelly, COO/CFO of Insight Communications, agreed. "Customers will want to make one call, get one bill, and have just one service person come to their home."
With the rollout of broadband services, says Robert Pittman, America Online president/ COO, "Interactivity makes the existing television business more robust and more consumer-centric."
The cable industry has the opportunity to increase video services revenue using the power of interactivity with the television, he stresses. Convenience is key not only in the cable industry, but in every business, he adds.
Building brand, says Pittman, is also "critically important," as "brands and convenience are the keys to the new medium's growth."
Daniel Somers, president/ CEO, AT&T Broadband, says, "This is no longer the cable business; this is broadband." Tackling the threats posed by the satellite dish industry, he says, "I think the bloom's come off the rose for satellite. Digital and interactive services provide new opportunities for the cable industry to gain momentum back from the satellite business."
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