Seven Things That Will Change Cable TV in 2004

摘要

No industry in American business is rocked by change more than cable. And few other industries are whipsawed by such a complex array of forces: technology, Wall Street, government regulation, advertising, and the ever-changing tastes of an increasingly splintered audience. Cable operators have been regulated, deregulated, re-regulated, and deregulated again. Now the latest hue and cry from Washington regulators: Cable should be under stricter indecency standards. Congress is also mulling a tax for high-speed Internet services-and the idea of forcing cable to sell networks "a la carte." The deal market is hot again, sparked by Comcast's audacious, though failed bid for Walt Disney Co., which demonstrated more than anything the industry's confidence in uncertain times. Adelphia Communications will be auctioned to the highest bidder soon, and Wall Street is hungry for more deals.