Tech's the Western Show Star

K.C. NEEL

With some cable programmers shunning the major conventions, technology will again be the star of this week's Western Cable Show in Los Angeles.

The California Cable Television Association will kickoff "Broadbandwagon" Nov. 28 with some TK attendees and TK exhibiting companies.

A testament to the Western Show's emphasis on technology can be found in the agenda: There are no programmer-based panel sessions during the three-day confab.

While several programmers are beginning to trim their exhibit schedules overall, some say that the Western Show's emphasis on technology is even more reason to skip going through the paces of manning a booth.

Among the networks skipping this year's show floor are Showtime Networks, Starz Encore Media, Playboy TV and International Channel.

The absence of some programmers has been offset, CCTA officials say, by technology-oriented firms, some exhibiting for the first time and some, including Microsoft, expanding their booth space.

"The Western Show has become the place where our industry assesses what's happened over the past year and explores the possibilities of where we're going in the next," says CCTA president Spencer Kaitz. "'Broadbandwagon' will be especially helpful this year because it will answer many of our questions about broadband by not only allowing attendees to hear the experts speak, but to see how the technology works."

For the eighth year in a row, the CCTA and CableLabs are presenting CableNET, a hands-on demonstration of what technology has to offer consumers in the way of voice, video and data services. More than 70 technology companies - from silicon providers to hardware manufacturers and in-home electronics vendors - will showcase services ranging from streaming video to on-demand services. This year's exhibit will also feature more living space demos that will highlight how cable is changing consumers' day-to-day lives.

The exhibit includes a "broadband home" area, a cable headend equipment display and a cable office. Each area will have about 30 displays with the latest set-top boxes, wireless home networking services and voice communications over cable and the Internet.

The show will also feature a slew of speakers ranging from old standbys, such as USA Networks chairman Barry Diller and Liberty Media chairman John Malone, to newcomers such as Larry Ellison, Oracle's chairman and John Chambers, Cisco Systems chairman.