Free Lunch at CTAM

First, the good news: Char Beales’ luck with weather continues. It’s nearly mid November in Boston and coats were optional today, as the Sun drenched Beantown for CTAM’s opening, with the mercury topping 60 degrees. You might recall last summer’s climate in D.C. for CTAM’s first day was humidity free and a balmy 75 degrees, prompting most CTAMers to think their D.C.-based colleagues were exaggerating the travails of summer in the Capitol City.

More good news: There were some gems in the breakout sessions on Day One. Particularly interesting was a 2-part session about social networking led by journalist and blogger Paul Gillin.

The not-so-good news: After years of advocating that trade reporters get a shot at moderating panels during cable’s trade shows, we were disappointed in today’s opening lunch panel, whose moderator allowed it to veer away from what sounded like an interesting topic.

The panel was advertised as “Will the Financial Crisis Slow HD?” After an opening salvo on that question, a discussion of the country’s economic miasma and how it might harm sales of HD sets and, as important, how marketers should anticipate or react to that possibility was addressed only cursorily. The marketing for the panel quoted a CEA report saying sales of HDTV sets would jump 5% this holiday season. Yet with a sluggish economy, would that prediction stand? In addition, would consumers cut back on purchases of HD programming tiers?

Instead of a discussion of those questions what followed was an hour-long mix of well-tread territory, focusing mostly on the fact that nearly half the owners of HD TV sets don’t yet receive HD service from cable or DBS operators. There were also a slew of softball questions that allowed panelists to recite mini commercials for their brand.

Incidentally, the few thoughts offered about the economic question were impressive and not gloomy. Starz’ Tom Southwick, who was the most effective speaker this afternoon, noted many expect retail prices of HD sets could “drop and drop pretty dramatically” this season, which would be a plus for cable. “We’re cautiously optimistic,” Southwick said.

Another plus, Southwick added, was the rise in the number of HD channels launching. That number could double to more than 100 channels by January, from 57 in Jan’07, he said.

Southwick, and several others on the panel, voiced the standard line that cable is a good value in a downturn. People tend to “nest more,” he said, and so they watch more cable, saving money on going out for dinner followed by a movie.

HDNet marketing chief Bill Osborn was one of the few panelists who addressed marketing directly, saying that Americans have “an emotional connection” with television. “They won’t turn off their sets” in a bad economy, he added. “We must market to that emotional connection.”

The only other question that was directly marketing related was the final query put to the panel, at the end of the hour. What can programmers and operators do to improve HD marketing was the question. The responses were strong. Southwick said cable must roll out as many HD channels as it can. Osborn urged “get out of your sandbox” to tell the story of HD, on demand to push HD. For operators, increase bandwidth. Discovery’s Rebecca Glashow pushed her “compelling programming” theory, saying programmers must create standout HD content that consumers “have to watch.” HD shows whose word of mouth tip them into mass culture will help HD marketing, she said.

It wasn’t entirely the fault of moderator Chuck Ross that the presentation fell flat, although he seemed unprepared compared to the social networking session run by Gillin. The panel, while strong, was lacking in one important respect—it didn’t include a cable operator. You have to wonder if that was by design.

On the other hand, while the food for thought was sometimes mundane, the lunch provided by the Convention Center staff was pretty good. And free.