>> communicators attended two recent technology conferences and talked with some of the participants. we visited tech fair and spoke with innovators there. but first from chicago, interviews with some of the leaders and attendees at the national cable television association show. >> host: communicators has met up with matthew skin who is the general counsel of tivo. i'm going to pretend tivo is a household word now, we don't have to explain what your business is. tell me about this high-speed demonstration of internet. >> guest: i think what i'm seeing and what that means is operators big and small are realizing that they need to innovate and get the internet into their settop boxes and into

the home in a way that makes sense for cable. and that's something that tivo has been doing predominantly with smaller cable operators like rcn, suddenly and now charter, really upgrading their user interface, bringing in broadband content. i think it's terrific for the industry to be doing all that, and it's something that needs to be done in an age where consumers want to watch things on their ipads, want to, you know, sewer act with content -- interact with content in different ways, want to have a multistream experience and, you know, have access to youtube on their television. things as simple as that, and facebook, and integrate it all. you know, it's all being driven by consumer demand, and, you know, cable's kind of responding to the challenge. >> host: what percentage of your business right now is hardware versus software technology, and where's that going in the future? >> guest: well, tivo's a software company. we make hardware mainly as a necessary evil.

we don't make money in hardware, we don't really like making hardware. um, we actually run on cisco boxes in europe and samsung boxes in europe. um, we'll probably be running on other vendors' hardware in the u.s. in the near future. >> host: and tell me about what you're most excited with your technology, your software this year. what are you talking about in the business? >> well, what we're showing at the floor today, actually, ironically, is hardware that we're showing a multi four-tuner dvr that allows you to have one single cable card in your home and non-dvr devices in other rooms that can access from one central location in the room as well as internet content and other things that are all brought together in one user interface. >> host: in your role as general counsel, do you have a message for washington either policymakers or regulators who might be listening? >> guest: well, the one thing

we're not seeing on the floor today is we're not really seeing any innovation in retail devices. we're not seeing, there's a samsung tv that gets a cable app, but we're not really seeing an opportunity for more and more devices to get this content, you know, in furtherance of some congressional policies. >> host: so what's the message then? >> guest: um, the message is there's still work to be done in that area. >> host: and that's the message to congress or to the manufacturers? >> guest: i think it's a message to the industry and regulators and everyone. >> host: thank you very much for visiting with us. hope to see you again in washington. >> guest: thank you for the time. >> host: we're on the floor of the 2011 cable show this chicago, caught up with sean of espn, he's responsible for sales and marketing. this is a show with a lot of promise. what's keeping you awake at night these days?

>> guest: oh, i sleep like a baby at night, but when i get up in the morning, i think a lot. this is my 23rd ncta show, and i think the compliment of technology, the energy, the interest of kind of making one plus one equal eight among the content providers, the suppliers and the contributors is really shining through at this show, and i think a lot of things are kind of coming out of that. saw brian roberts demonstrate the cloud-based, um, remote control, you're seeing a lot of applications on the authentication front from content providers that are in partnership with their multichannel distributers, so there's a lot of really good and interesting things coming out of the show which i think will, ultimately, serve consumers better and the business' model over the long term. >> host: do you feel more competition than you've ever felt before? >> guest: we've been competing in a very competitive market space for the past 32 years at

espn, so there's really nothing new. i think so many people look at espn and say, hey, you have no competition. you know, george is famous for saying, you know, it's really because no one else looks like us per se. but when you look at the aggregate of our component pieces, but when you look at each one, you know, competition is fierce, and, you know, it's just, i think it's demonstrative of the value that the sports genre has to the consumer and how this is driving not only the linear platforms, but all these tertiary platforms. and i think it's also important to note that with the proliferation of, you know, viewership consumption behavior on computers, on tablets and internet-connected smartphones, the consumption of media is not a zero sum game. it's really, you know, it's much more additive, it's making things like fantasy, um, being able to access content and creating new markets of time with people's brand, it's all adding back to the core, and we're seeing consumption on the linear television platform grow

as a result. >> host: the competition for sports rights and the dollars involved with that seems to be in direct competition with consumers who are wanting to pay less and less because they've got so many options. how do can you manage that going forward? >> guest: we try to, you know, we try to program espn across all our platforms with a complement of content that, you know, drives the most value that we can. and we try to be smart about, you know, the investments we make. we don't buy everything, we don't have everything. so i think we have a very good handle of what's reflective of our value this terms of our relationship with our distribution partners, but espn has no, um, direct influence on terms of retail pricing to the consumer, so i'm probably not the best person to ask about, you know, retail pricing and the consumers' bills. >> host: i'm just thinking about all of the devices people are watching things on now and having the options there, and someone used the expression yesterday trading analog dollars

for digital pennies. >> guest: yeah. but what we're doing is we're taking digital dimes, and we're adding them to analog dollars. because you cannot get the espn services, um, on any of these new platforms unless you are a paying video subscriber to a multichannel content company. and you also have to, you know, if you're espn or espn2, you have to have expanded basic. >> host: it's all additive. >> guest: it's all additive, and we're trying to drive, you know, the price value relationship and support the entire ecosystem. >> host: so what are you taking away from the show? did you learn anything new this year? >> guest: oh, you know, i think i was encouraged by the interoperability of devices, i was encouraged by the cooperation between the myriad partners into one end, and i think that there's, you know, a lot of opportunity to exploit

technology from a content holder's perspective to continue to drive our brands, our business models and support our distribution partners. >> host: sean bratches of espn, thank you for spending a few minutes with "the communicators." >> guest: good to see you. >> host: we are on the floor of the cable convention in chicago and caught up with fcc commissioner clyburn. thank you so much for spending a minute with us. >> guest: i wouldn't miss it. >> host: just curious about walking around this floor and through your eyes as a commissioner, what are you seeingsome. >> guest: i see options. anyone in america can see and feel themselves and experience things on this floor. you've got all types of programming options, you have all types of platform options, and that is what we want. we want every single person to, no matter where they are financially, no matter where they are in terms of, you know, intellectual engagement to see and be able to experience

themselves through entertainment and education, and you've got that at this show. >> host: in this society right now it's all about jobs, jobs, jobs. in your role as a commissioner, what kind of regulatory approach do you want to take to encourage the innovation and apply the best regulatory touch? >> guest: to make sure we have the right type of balance. and when i say that, to make sure we have the type of regulatory engagement that persons will be comfortable in terms of their interaction especially online and especially with organizations and companies, with the companies make sure we are productive partners as well as regulators in this process, that we get the regulatory balance right to encourage innovation, investment, but to encourage that type of interaction with the consumer that all of us benefit. the engagement is healthy and productive. >> host: thanks for talking to us. >> guest: thank you very much. >> host: we're in chicago on the floor of the cable show as it's called, 2011, and have caught up with amy tyson who runs bend

broadband in bend, oregon. tell our viewers about your business. >> guest: we have a wireless service that serves more of the rural areas with a great fixed wireless product, so we're getting broadband out to the folks who don't have it as well as serving our communities. >> host: wanted to ask you about a new business you've just announced which is you're getting into the cloud computing or server business. >> guest: right. >> host: tell me more about it. >> guest: well, we were looking for a network operations center to serve our own needs, and at the same time our area hospital was also looking to do some things differently with their own, um, serving capabilities from the server standpoint and moving those needs locally to central oregon. so we combined our discussions and be our facility -- and our facility then grew lance armstronger so we could -- larger so we could accommodate

them. and as a result we also have some other outside customers in the center including financial institutions and now a technology company in addition to serving our own needs. and the facility is very unique, susan. it's carbon neutral, and as you may know data centers are usually known for being very high users of power, and we've made a lot of efforts in our facility to make sure that it's a green facility, and that has some appeal for certain customers. so we're very excited about it. >> host: oregon seems to have become a central hub for cloud computing. why has that happened, do you think? >> guest: well, i think the power costs in oregon are low, and our area has low temperatures, so you can use a lot of heat exchange type system to cool the with outside -- facility with outside air which makes it more efficient to operate. plus, where we live there's a

lot of sunshine, and we have a large solar array on the roof of the facility. >> host: so are you excited about the prospects of this as a revenue source for you in the future? >> guest: we are. i think it's the direction things are going from an efficiency standpoint. many businesses are at a point where they're trying to figure out what to do with their own server farms and facilities. they need to upgrade those facilities, and do they want to move into a facility like ours, move into the cloud or spend the resources to do their own? so we're very excited to be on the front edge of this with technology that's very efficient and secure and safe. we also have tier iii up time institute rating which really talks about how reliable the facility is, and i think we're the only one in oregon to have both the operations and the design tier iii rating. so we're very excited about the opportunities. >> host: how many new jobs did you create? >> guest: we created ten new jobs with this investment in if our region, and i think it's a

nice piece to the economic puzzle for our region to attract businesses into the area to get experience with some of the benefits that central oregon offers to businesses, perhaps relocating there. >> host: let me move, and this'll be my last because i know your time is short too. another hat which is you're on the board of the telecommunications commission, the sponsor of the show. you've been to a few of these, what's the message coming out of the show this year? >> guest: well, susan, you're right. it has been, i think -- i've been coming to these for about 30 years, and i have to say the energy is terrific. it's terrific. i think it has to do with a lot of the excitement around the new, the new services that we're offering. tv everywhere, kind of the convergence in our sector with new competition, new opportunities, new ways to engage with our customers through, um, video experiences maybe that they haven't had

before. so we're really, we're really delighted with the energy at the show, the turnout is slightly ahead of where we've been in the past couple of years. and i, here it is 4:30 in the afternoon, and it's just a hive of activity. so i'm thrilled. >> host: amy tykeson of bend broadband, also a member of c-span's board of directors for which we thank you for your contributions. >> guest: happy 30th birthday to c-span. >> host: thanks very much for your time. we're on the floor of the ncta show in chicago and caught up with michael willer in, a long time member of the ncta and c-span boards. nice to see you, sir. >> guest: nice to be here. >> host: you're frequently on stage talking about this business. it seems to be in a real period of transition right now. tell me what's going on in this business. >> guest: enormous transition. it's a breathtaking amount of change going on in the industry. i just left the general session where brian roberts demonstrated

the next generation of user interface on the exfinty project which will be a leading indicator of where the cable industry's user interface world is going, and it's just a whole new way of navigating the endless choices of channels and programs that consumers now have available to them. >> host: keep hearing from those of you who are leaders in the business about listening to consumers, but the technology's going to be all so new that what's the relationship between exposing people to the options versus consumer demand? >> guest: well, consumers are telling us what they want. i mean, the formula's pretty simple. if you open your ears and listen, they have unlimited sources available to them to choose programming from all kinds of different places, and we east can take -- either can make it easy or hard for them to get it. the harder we make it, the more people will look for alternatives.

>> host: what digital devices are you using right now that you weren't say even a year ago? is. >> guest: me? >> host: yeah. >> guest: well, an ipad. now i live in new york city, and i'm able to watch morning joe on my ipad with my earphone in so i don't wake my be wife up before i even get out of bed. [laughter] so that's kind of a pretty neat addition to my disable service. -- cable service. but there are smartphones, the settop box is dramatically changing to be able to interface with cloud-based applications and interfaces, so, i mean, it's just breathtaking change. >> host: let me just bring you back to a big concern for the country which is jobs and the economy. what do you see happening here that might be encouraging for the country with regards to economic power of this business and/or jobs creation?

is. >> guest: well, we're still creating jobs. in the worst recession since the great depression, cable industry continues to create jobs, grow its employment base. i think that an understanding of what we're living through right now despite the general economy in telecommunications in general is no less important than the development of the future of the planet than the industrial revolution was, you know, hundreds of years ago. >> host: michael wilner, thanks for spending a few minutes with c-span at the show. >> guest: sure, susan. >> host: david porter is the executive director of the walter case foundation. thanks for being with us at the chicago cable show, 2011. the new head of the national cable television association has suggested that cable hasn't told its stories very well and how much good work it actually has done. walter cates foundation is one of those good stories. tell me what it does. >> guest: the foundation was founded over 30 years ago with the idea of increasing diversity across the entire cable industry

for our work force, for our programming content, for our suppliers, and it really represents the commitment of the industry that the ceos of most of the major companies serve with our board of trustees and have allowed us over the years to create programs and activities to provide funding for be organizations within the industry to continue to advance the work of diversity across the entire industry. >> host: how does it work? give me an example of a major program that you do. >> guest: well, um, we fund leadership development programs for senior executives of women and color that are sponsored by the national association for multiethnicity in communication. we fund a large program for the emma bowen foundation which is a foundation that's designed to get high school students and freshmen in college interested in our industry, and it gives them internships and scholarships that go throughout their undergraduate experience.

um, we also have an annual dinner which is one of the best known events in the industry called the kaitz dinner where all the industry comes together to reck these and reward a company which has done significant work in the area of diversity. >> host: how is the cable industry doing overall in terms of diversity employment, not just these programs to help people get expose today the industry, but actual employment within the industry? >> guest: the industry is doing a good job. certainly, every company would economist there's more work to be done, but our companies are actively involved in the continuing to not only recruit, but develop additional programs to retain employees and move them up to the senior ranks. so if you look across much of the industry, you'll see women and people of color over the last decade or so have really made great strides. almost across every one of our companies. >> host: well, let me flip for our last question to the other side. people of color or women who are watching this interview, so much

focus on jobs in if our economy right now. what would you tell them they need to do to be prepared for good jobs in the cable industry? >> guest: well, i think the first thing i would do is tell them, remember, cable is high-tech. so you want to have a technological background. um, if you can do that, that's great. i think, also, cable is big business. so if you're interested in any of the business fields, finance, marketing, operations, all those things, we're a great place for that as well. and can then finally, of course, if you want to be on tv, you know, we're aware of -- we're where most of the content's being created these days. >> host: dr. porter, thanks very much for talking to us. >> guest: thank you, it's been my pleasure. >> "communicators" also attended a technology fair on capitol hill. we talked with some of the innovators who were showing their wares. >> host: and another one of the exhibiters at the consumer electronics show on capitol

hill, jack perry is the founder and ceo of sink pack. mr. perry, what do you make? >> guest: we've created an authentication technology to move broadcast television over the top of the internet. and so when you look out at the landscape out there, you've got netflix and hulu and google tv, and those are all extraordinary products. the one thing that's missing on the internet is live broadcast tv, and the reason it's not there is we haven't -- until we built the technology to do so -- there hasn't been a platform to do it. >> host: and be what kind of technology do you use? >> guest: so we use the digital broadcast spectrum as a catalyst to engage a viewer online. so we're, essentially, listening for the over-the-air broadcast, and when a consumer has a connected tv or a connected device at home and we hear those broadcasts, we then turn that consumer rather than getting content over the air or over cable or over satellite, we then transition them to getting

content on the internet instead. >> host: and you've got a chart down here in the middle that shows, walk us through that very quickly. >> guest: yeah. so, essentially, we install a piece of hardware at the station that then creates a proprietary broadcast. it's sending out a broadcast of our data over the air, and in a household you have a new connected tv, or you have this device here, a sync link. it hears those broadcasts, catches them and sends them back through the internet. and when it passes through the internet, it creates a unique consumer id. that id is then set up to the sync box which is here, and then it is sent out over the air. and what's really important and special about our technology is when that happens, there's only one household in the world that knows that broadcast is coming. so we've taken the one-to-many broadcast medium, broadcasting that we know, and we've embedded little kernels of data in there

so each individual household has the equivalent of keys to online content sent to them over the air. so then they can watch anything they want over the internet on their smartphone or ipad or laptop because we've sent the rights to them over the air to do so. >> host: now, is this also mobile technology? >> guest: it's absolutely mobile in that it uses, um, any wireless device can now access your home television regardless of where you are to get the content that's going on in your home. what's different about the way we do it is as opposed to, say, a sling box which is a great technology, but it moves content in and around your home upstream and then downstream. we just reach into the home with your smartphone, find what content you're entitled to and then go back to the cloud, if you will, the internet and deliver the content directly down to you. so it's a more efficient way of delivering content over the web.

>> host: is this product on the market now? how did you develop it? what's your background? >> guest: i actually created the technology that sits between ec co-- echostar and answers the question, what channels should this subscriber get. so as we fast forward, that was 1996, to 2011 the question is how do we move broadcast television now to this new platform, perhaps an even better platform which is over the top or over the internet. so we started out two years ago developing the technology. we're today deployed at 12 stations. we have 38 stations in queue for the month of june, so we'll be at 50 stations here very, very soon, and we expect our commercial launch of the technology to happen at ces 2012, so this coming january. >> host: where are you based? >> guest: we're based in cede rabds -- cedar rapids, iowa.

>> host: how many jobs associated with sync pac? >> we have 14 engineers running around our building, but as we become a more consumer-oriented business, we theoretically could create hundreds of jobs to manage the whole notion of tv over the top of the internet. >> host: where are your boxes manufactured? >> guest: we manufacture our boxes right in cedar rapids, iowa, so we kept everything right here at home. we're building a thousand of these right now that will deploy at all of the stations, the first thousand stations, and we plan on keeping everything here. >> host: jack perry, why are you here at the capitol hill show to show this to legislators? >> guest: well, one of the issues with respect to broadcast television today is how do you enable it to play on the internet? and so that is as much a business issue as it is a policy issue, so we're here to make sure that when anyone says, boy, we can't move broadcast television to the internet, that we respond to that person with

saying, well, yes, you can, and here's how. so we're here to make sure that everyone inside the beltway knows the technology exists. >> host: what's the national association of broadcasters' view of your product, and are you using a lot of spectrum when you do this? >> guest: yeah. two great questions there. one, both the consumer electronics association and the nab are investors in our company. so in getting their endorsement about do you like the way i'm doing this, you know, they ended up both becoming an investor in the company or investors in our company. the spectrum that we're using is zero because we're embedding our tokens into, essentially, the null packets or the leftover data that doesn't, isn't filling up that 1939 that each station has. so it's very, very spectrum-efficient to do this. we can move 100% of the households over the web from over the air to over the web with very few bits being used to do it.

>> host: jack perry, founder and ceo of sync pac showing us some of the new technology on display here at the capitol -- consumer electronics show on capitol hill. anthony fornito, double agent with the geek squad of best buy. what are we looking at? is. >> guest: basically, this is a representation of all the amount product that best buy recycles every given day, every minute the store's open. so far to date we've taken in approximately 500,000 tins. hopefully by 2014 we'll reach our goal of one billion tons of recycled material. >> host: these are all old computers and related electronics equipment, correct? >> guest: yep. computers, tvs, cell phones, basically, anything related to your technology needs of today. >> host: is e-a growing problem? ? -- e-waste a growing problem?

>> guest: yes, i would say so. best buy tries to do it with our companies to limit our carbon foot print of the products we're putting out. >> host: so this laptop or, yeah, this laptop that we have right here on top, what will happen to this to get it recycled? >> guest: it'll get broken down, the screen will get torn out, all the internal parts will get torn out. some of them will get sent back to manufacturers that can reuse it, the rest will get broken down and reused in another fashion in, you know, industrial or farming or something like that. >> host: are there dangerous chemical or products in these computers? this. >> guest: yes. with every laptop that you recycle you have the lcd screen which are chemicals inside of that which aren't good for landfills, and ask also the batteries on the inside of both laptops and desktops are toxic. they sit on the ground too long, they can leak into the ground, and that can cause ro