October 12, 2007

A Bittersweet Night in Denver

On the Circuit with CableWorld Editor Seth Arenstein

DENVER — The 10th annual Cable Hall of Fame induction ceremonies last night dripped with irony.

On a night when the industry’s thoughts turned to the prototypical reluctant executive, Jim Robbins, a few unnecessarily long speeches, something Robbins abhorred, stained an otherwise wonderful yet toned down evening.

The reminders of Robbins abounded; photos throughout The Cable Center of Robbins, part of the edifice’s permanent display of cable leaders; brief shots of Robbins in several video tributes to the night’s honorees, showing a healthy, smiling visage; and the Cox table at the dinner, whose many empty seats were a stark reminder of the loss.  

Even the weather had a Robbins connotation. Denver’s thermometer reached a balmy and a highly unusual 80 during the day. Was this Mother Nature’s tribute to one of cable’s most fabled golf nuts? Undoubtedly so, many felt. 

While the night’s mood was somber, it was not morose. When laughter was called for, the crowd complied, politely, greeting Rich Cronin’s video appeal for The Cable Center with frequent laughs. 

Before anything else started, Bill Bresnan was on stage, presenting a quick yet heartfelt sendoff of Robbins. He wisely chose a verse from Anchors Aweigh, and read it well. No video tributes, no soft music, just a brief moment of silence. Robbins, the former Navy man, would have appreciated it.

No doubt the man who arguably did more than any CEO to advance women and diversity in cable would have been proud of — and seen the irony in — the fact that the night’s first and last inductees were women; ABC Disney’s Anne Sweeney batted first, with NCTA’s Barbara York up last.

More than a few felt the ladies stole the show with their eloquence and brevity, the latter a characteristic that Robbins valued. Their preliminaries were also top notch; Sweeney’s video featured the cast of Desperate Housewives; York’s presenter, June Travis, did a brilliant job introducing her “best friend.”

Another touch that Robbins would have appreciated from the male inductees was their tributes to their wives. Several credited cable with helping them to meet their spouses. 

Robbins would also have enjoyed some of the irreverent tongue of emcee Tom Bergeron, host of ABC’s Dancing With The Stars, a fellow New Englander who got his start on cable, doing local access in Haverill, Mass., his hometown. Bergeron noted that ABC Disney exec Anne Sweeney was “the reason I am here tonight…literally, I flew in on the Disney corporate jet.” Later, noting OpenTV/Vyyo honoree Jim Chiddix’s advocacy of hybrid fiber coax while using a slew of technical jargon, Bergeron remarked, “I have no idea what I just said.”

In fact, the tribute to Chiddix was excellent, proving how crucial “Gentleman Jim’s” work has been to so much of what we now take for granted in cable, including digital ad insertion (Bergeron had fun with that one), digital set-top boxes, VOD and HD. Chiddix’s insistence that fiber technology should not be hoarded by ATC but shared with the industry, a crucial historical moment, was also well documented by The Cable Center’s video tribute.

It’s debatable what Robbins would have felt about a later Bergeron remark. The evening’s first three honorees, Sweeney, Chiddix and Doug Dittrick, an industry icon who now spends most of his time and resources performing humanitarian work, spoke well. Their pre-meal inductions lasted a shade more than 30 minutes.

After dinner the pattern of brevity was, for the most part, discarded. Glenn Britt’s video was excellent, highlighting his business philosophy of innovation and ending with the thought that cable has yet to finish its job of using technology to better its customers’ lives. Then Britt’s presenter, Time Warner board member Nick Nicholas, alternately battled the teleprompter and spoke for what seemed to be an eternity, but was really just a bit more than 15 minutes.

After that Britt had a tough job. The crowd was restless and, unfortunately, the Time Warner Cable Chairman and CEO went on a shade too long. There were some highlights, though. We learned that Britt had a stint in Tehran, working on a Time Inc. book publishing venture with the Shah of Iran. And he humorously recounted why he’d gone into cable 35 years ago from Dartmouth business school: “They offered me a job.”

More than a few in the crowd saw the irony in Britt’s regrettably long speech. Ellen East, Jim Robbins’ longtime communications chief last week announced that she was leaving Cox to head to Time Warner Cable. “She’ll have her hands full,” was the sentiment uttered by more than one attendee.

Bergeron piled on Nicholas and Britt, you might say. After Britt sat down, Bergeron remarked, “We’ve been able to experience our honorees’ careers tonight…in what almost seems like real time.” The crowd roared for the first time all night. And then, “Well, look, I wasn’t planning on being invited back next year.”

The next honoree, Bob Wright, also piled on. After he was ably feted by Discovery’s David Zaslav, who emphasized Wright’s dogged pursuit of cable properties for NBC, and how he (Zaslav) got his former job at NBC by writing a letter to Wright after reading of his cable ambitions, Wright came to the podium. “You could have gone on longer, David,” Wright said. “We should have Nick Nicholas [introducing me] next time.”

But then, Wright, too, spoke longer than he should have, and seemed to ramble. His interesting story of dragging NBC “kicking and screaming” into cable was marred by his lack of brevity. But his long speech couldn’t erase the memory of a great clip from his video. In it, Jerry Seinfeld noted in an interview that he’d known the former NBC chief for 17 years. “And, so, what do you think of Bob Wright?” the interviewer asked Seinfeld. “15 years would have been plenty.”

It was up to NCTA’s Barbara York to restore order to the evening as the Wright and Britt inductions took nearly 50 minutes. As the last inductee York dreaded the task. Like Robbins, she disdains the spotlight. But nobody in cable is more considerate of timing and organization than York, who’s planned 26 National Shows.

York’s brief speech, where she repeatedly thanked her staff and colleagues, was the definition of eloquence. And it was her first time reading from a teleprompter. The man who emphasized execution, Jim Robbins, would have approved.