Audio Video News

The weather forecast for the cable industry is cloudy, to judge by attendance at this year's Western Cable Show. Typically one of the biggest annual events for the cable television industry, this year's convention was attended by only 17,056 people, approximately half the number that attended the year before. Attendance disappointed the <A HREF="http://www.ccta.org">California Cable Telecommunications Association</A>, which hosted the event in Anaheim the last week of November.

If you've been steadfastly waiting for the perfect reason to buy a new HDTV set, here it is: <A HREF="http://NBCOlympics.com">NBC</A> and <A HREF="http://www.hd.net">HDNet</A> announced last week they will broadcast selected events at the upcoming 2002 Olympic Winter Games from Salt Lake City in 1080i high definition video with Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround audio.

Cable companies may be the accidental beneficiaries of the recently announced EchoStar-DirecTV deal, in which smaller direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service <A HREF="http://www.echostar.com">EchoStar</A> won approval from General Motors to buy its subsidiary Hughes Electronics Corporation, operator of <A HREF="http://www.directv.com">DirecTV</A>.

One fact of life is that when people stay home, they tend to watch more TV. That generally gloomy reality hasn't put a dent in TiVo, Inc.'s bottom line. In fact, it's helped immensely. The San Jose, CA&ndash;based maker of personal video recorders (PVRs) has reported a 29% jump in revenue for its fiscal third quarter, ended October 31.

Consumers have lost another forum to express their opinions about the year's best films: Blockbuster says it has decided to cancel next year's Blockbuster Entertainment Awards. The company says that the ceremony, originally scheduled for next April in Los Angeles, has fallen victim to the economic uncertainties generated by the September 11 terrorist attacks and an overall sluggish market.

Bundled speaker systems are great solutions for folks just getting into home theater or looking to put together a secondary system in a small room. Boston Acoustics has just this market in mind with its new System 9000II, a five-channel-plus-subwoofer package that retails for right around a thousand bucks.

The Federal Communications Commission has changed some of its rules governing the transition from analog to digital television, according to an unofficial <A HREF="http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Mass_Media/News_Releases/2001/nrmm0114.html">... about a "reconsideration order" issued November 8.