Every time my manager approached big network executives or even cable, they told him I was too dangerous. They couldn’t trust me.
‘Monty Python And The Holy Grail’ is a hugely important movie to me. I remember watching it for the first time on cable when I was about 13 years old.
There are these creative shows, all on cable, that are just so daring and out there. That’s the stuff I really want to be a part of, like with ‘Sucker Punch’ and ‘Hangover 2.’ Those movies didn’t hold back. They really went for it.
Human attention is limited, and a massive number of newly browsable books from the long tail necessarily compete with the biggest best-sellers, just as cable siphons audience from the major networks, and just as the Web pulls viewers from TV.
I think it’s good news that cable television is so, so supportive of the Louis C.K.s, the Lena Dunhams, the Matthew Weiners, and the Vince Gilligans. There’s just so many people fearlessly making their stuff, you know?
I’ve often wondered what it would have been like if we’d had cable news during the Vietnam War and Watergate.
Many of our constituents have one option for cable TV and one price. Our constituents desire choice.
I don’t own cable, but my TV came with a Netflix button.
I don’t have cable. I just never watched a lot of TV.
What’s great about cable is that the ceiling of expectation is lowered because fewer people have to tune in for it to be a success. You don’t need 23 million people a week like you do in broadcast.
Cable TV? Stressful? Never.
Evidence and economic theory suggests that control of the Internet by the phone and cable companies would lead to blocking of competing technologies.
Frankly, with HBO and Showtime and cable shows, the DVD box sets and all, you can have a product that doesn’t make you feel like as soon as it’s projected, it’s thrown away. It’s really a piece of art.
Cable’s on fire. Traditional broadcast TV’s hearing a death knell. I sample as much television as possible. I like ‘Homeland,’ ‘Game of Thrones,’ ‘Veep.’ Now reinvention’s important.
A great thing is happening on cable TV. You see characters change in stories over years, like in Tolstoy. That’s a whole, thrilling new form that I really enjoy. They are Tolstoy-an in their endless character development and narrative changes… a show like ‘Breaking Bad’ is astonishing.
I remember one of my writers on ‘Weeds’ got a new apartment and didn’t get cable or a dish. He just hooked his computer up to the TV. I was like, ‘This is it. This is how it’s happening.’
It was no accident that I made ‘Hoop Dreams’ because it concerned a sport that I loved and hoped would be my dream, however far-fetched that turned out to be. Because of the success of that film, Hollywood pigeonholed me as a sports biopic guy, which led to ‘Prefontaine’ and two cable sports films.
I remember one night, my parents were out at a function of some kind and I had just gotten cable in my room. That was a big deal, and I saw ‘Blue Velvet’ on HBO. It blew my mind in a way that I don’t think children’s minds are supposed to be blown, but they probably shouldn’t be watching ‘Blue Velvet.’
Cable television stations in America are now producing such smart, in-depth, non-formula, character-based dramas. Film has turned more and more into big action or cartoons.
John D. Rockefeller wanted to dominate oil, but Microsoft wants it all, you name it: cable, media, banking, car dealerships.
I didn’t have cable growing up. I never saw ESPN or GameDay.
Some of the greatest shows in history – ‘Seinfeld,’ ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ and ‘House’ – had puny starts but the benefit of schedule protection, increasingly scarce in today’s DVR world. Cable nets can tolerate small ratings, building hits in progress like ‘Breaking Bad,’ or marathon their way to a ‘Duck Dynasty.’
The more I watched cable, the more I realized the value of newspapers.
When I was a kid I had a ball in San Francisco because my Uncle Lou was a gripman on the California cable car line.
My mom has this thing where if I’m doing anything doing dirty or crazy, she sniffs it out and yells at me. But the good thing is my mom doesn’t have cable, and so much of the stuff I’ve done was on cable, so many times she’ll miss it. I tend to gloss over the crazier things I shoot.
It’s really difficult for mainstream – let’s say, cable outlets – to talk about things like income inequality, wealth inequality when the advertisers that are funding their shows are the same corporations that want to ensure that the same system continues.
When I’m about ready to press the cable release on the View camera, I’ve tried to anticipate some of the challenges I’m going to encounter in the darkroom.
I found out a lot of stuff through MTV, and I didn’t even have cable, I just saw it at friends’ houses. But my culture in junior high was totally influenced by it.
I act probably a lot more than you see. I happen to choose movies that don’t have much of a life, or I choose movies that are shown on cable instead of as features.
I don’t think you have to be in these serious, heavy, independent little movies to be an actor. Some of the most interesting acting I’ve seen is on cable television.
I’ve worked in network and cable on and off for a number of years, and you just understand what your parameters are. A lot of times, I think the best work that my team has come up with comes from having to deal with certain boundaries.
I watch sports and cable news. I’m a political junkie, so that’s my interest.
I’ve been a huge fan of the cable network FX for a very, very long time. I think their brand of comedy is incredible. For me, as an audience member, that’s a go-to channel.
Cable television is such a part of our society now. Oftentimes, the shows are really good, and you’re just like, ‘Well, it’s worth sitting through the sex and violence because the narrative is so great.’
Charter hired me – which, to be honest, took some humility on its part, since I have helped lead public campaigns against cable companies like Charter – to advise it in crafting its commitment to network neutrality.
When I was leaving NBC News to go to CNN, people would say, ‘What?! Why would you possibly leave the ‘Today Show’ to go to cable?’ If I would’ve listened to people, I would’ve been on a great platform, but I wouldn’t have grown as a journalist. So far, most of the steps in my career have been really good.
And I was asked if I would come and help with the recovery of this great British company, Cable and Wireless, and I’m delighted to become part of the new and very talented management that have been brought in to that company as well.
Our legislation addresses broadcasts over the public airwaves, but I hope the cable and satellite industries see the importance of this issue and voluntarily create a family tier of programming and offer culturally responsible products.
Americans hate their cable companies – for bumbling installers, on-again-off-again transmissions, peculiar channel selections, and indifferent customer service. The only thing cable subscribers hate more than the cable company is not being able to get what it delivers: multichannel selection and good reception.
Unsurprisingly, an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) – once a luxury for room-sized computer installations – is now a standard item both in home offices and all the networked tiers above, protecting servers and online service providers, Internet backbones, phone companies, and even cable TV networks.
Even to current-events junkies, the notion of a 24-hour news channel sounded like a gimmick when the Cable News Network launched more than 30 years ago.
I like cable: you only work four months out of the year and have the other eight months to do movies if you want.
The cable makers are the ones who are willing to take risks and do something original and push the envelope some.
As a congressman, why should I be forced to peruse cable stations and blog sites for information on the discussions and then be asked to vote for the deal when I have no input and no time to know even what’s in it?
All of the people who are using their BlackBerries or their iPhones, Facebook, all of the people who are sitting in cafes and hotels rooms doing their work, they’re all using wireless technology, and we shouldn’t assume that the only way of the future is high speed cable.
Ideally, in the future, you’ll just pay your cable company for the stream, which you’ll be able to watch and manipulate through whatever means on whatever devices you like.
The name of my first comedy album was ‘Raised by Cable.’ Coming up and watching all of these weird movies on different channels was such an influence on me and an influence on how I do standup. It informs everything I do.
You look at shows on cable, and there’s a lot of smart writing out there.
Radio has always been a niche business. Cable television has always been a niche business. Magazines have always been a niche business.
Windows never planned for a VR device. When you plug a HDMI cable into the computer, Windows thinks it’s a new monitor. The desktop blinks. It tries to rearrange windows and icons.
Cable penetrates 70 percent of American audiences now.
I guess when I got to MSNBC in 2009, I brought Bernie Sanders to cable probably more than anybody else.
The cable package continues to be the greatest value in the history of entertainment. The average hour watched on cable television costs between 15 and 25 cents. For most people who cannot afford other kinds of entertainment, it is their entertainment.
