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2000 Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association Show READ ALL ABOUT IT! PAGE 5 Executives Urge Satellite to Keep Up Aggressive Pace The satellite TV industry needs to keep working hard if it wants to keep taking customers away from cable operators. “We have more competition now than ever now that cable has finally gotten its act together and is finally installing digital set-top boxes in customers’ homes,” NFL Enterprises' Tola Murphy-Baran said in a speech yesterday. Although the DBS services continue to add subscribers at record clips each month, “We can’t afford to stop now,” said Eddy Hartenstein, head of DirecTv’s global operations. Though some analysts have questioned whether the DBS services can maintain their brisk sales pace, “There’s no sign of any let-up in the momentum,” he said. With the introduction of local-into-local and numerous interactive services, satellite TV has a good competitive story to tell consumers, executives said. However, as the products and services become more robust, the job of teaching consumers about them becomes more difficult, speakers said. To that end, the satellite TV industry needs to become increasingly dedicated to educating its sales force, who will in turn educate consumers. Although DBS is attracting customers away from cable, “They can just as easily walk away from DBS if we don’t remain vigilant” about taking care of them, Hartenstein said. Murphy-Baran said the SBCA’s reorganization should help the industry act in a more efficient way to build upon its successes. She encouraged attendees to get their companies more involved with the “new and improved” SBCA. Attendance Flags at MDU Conference The prevailing consensus is that this year’s multiple-dwelling unit/multi-housing conference at show was a good idea, bringing together private cable operators and owners of multiple-dwelling units to do business and learn about new developments and technologies. But the conference proved a double-edge sword. While many of the exhibits on the show floor were busy and business introductions were being made, MDU educational panel discussions were sparsely attended. “It’s been frustrating the last couple of days because the 325 people that were registered for the conference are so busy on the floor and doing other things...that the conference unfortunately didn’t have as good attendance as we had hoped,” said Bill Burhop, executive director of the Independent Cable & Telecommunications Association, which conducted the MDU Conference for the Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association. Even so, “There is a cadre of people out there that want to learn and want to provide that competition [to franchise cable]. But it is very hard to provide the education they need to do that,” Burhop said. TURN THE PAGE OTHER ISSUES TO LOOK FOR: Monday, July 19, 2000 Tuesday, July 20, 2000   Please direct questions about this site to general.mail@satbiznews.com q 2000 Satellite Business News Inc. All rights reserved.