Carl Weinschenk, Editor

The Reuters report on Cablevision Systems’ call on its quarterly results [http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0510539620100805] suggests that the operator is continuing its tradition of thinking outside the (cable) box.

The report says that the company is testing technology that will enable it to provide, in the words of President Tom Rutledge, “everything we offer” to any screen-enabled, IP-connected device in the home. The story points out that the service will not be aimed at moving video outside the home, so rights issues should not arise.

Cablevision is well served by its entrepreneurial approach. It is up against a fierce competitor in the New York City metro area in Verizon and its FiOS service. Cablevision can’t afford to back down in the face of such a fierce foe and in such a fierce market. And it hasn’t. It has been at or near the forefront of many innovations, perhaps most notably the Wi-Fi cloud that covers much of its service area.

It is going to take more of this thinking to thrive going forward. In June, I wrote a feature on the untethering of television, which is commonly referred to as “TV everywhere.” [http://broadbandgear.net/2010/06/why-arent-you-thinking-about-tv-everywhere/]. The most basic takeaway is that nobody really knows what is going on. The state of flux extends to just about everything about video: where it comes from, to what devices it is sent, the needs and fancies of the people watching it, and other issues that were once settled for decades. In this environment, operators who are too closely tied – physiologically, technically or both – to the old way of operating will see things slowly slip away.

Cablevision doesn’t do everything right (ask any Knick fan). But their aggressive and pugnacious attitude is what is needed now – and especially in New York.