The Western Show Pulls the Plug

Anaheim— For decades, The Western Show provided the backdrop for crucial developments in the history of the cable industry. It was where CNN founder Ted Turner signed his first affiliate agreement and where John Malone first prophesized the 500-channel universe.

But after 36 years, the annual California Cable & Telecommunications Assn. confab is slipping into history itself, a victim of industry consolidation and a faltering economy.

"It's kind of sad," said cable construction worker Eugene Cudnohoski, who remembers when the show bulged with exhibitors. "That's when she was fun. Now she's dead."

The show's Dec. 2–5 finale at the Anaheim Convention Center had the feel of both a funeral and a wake. A pall of mournful finality hung over the near-empty concourses. Among the announcements was Motorola signing its last purchase order on the exhibit floor. A retrospective of the show, entitled "The Last Roundup," played on TV screens in nearby hotels.

But there was plenty of handshaking and backslapping too. "It's a gathering of the 'old farts' of cable," said Laura Rosado, vice president of sales and marketing for Great Lakes Data Systems, a Carlsbad, Calif. cable billing company.

One such pioneer was Ralph Morrow Jr., owner of Catalina Cable TV, who procured a cable license for Catalina Island, off the Southern California coast, in 1984. "I must be the last independent cable operator in the free world," he said.

The CCTA started The Western Show off small, holding its first event at San Diego's Hotel Del Coronado in 1968. As the state became home to more and more operators and the industry became more fragmented, The Western Show moved to its longtime home in Anaheim — first at the Disneyland Hotel, then the convention center — and expanded into a national event.

At its peak in 2000, there were 35,000 attendees and about 300 exhibitors. But the confluence of massive consolidation among cable operators, the slowing economy and programmers pulling their support dealt the show a staggering triple punch.

Then Sept. 11 hit and, like many other events held in the last quarter of 2001, The Western Show bled attendees and exhibitors. To keep fleeing exhibitors involved in the show, the CCTA started renting out hospitality suites.

The association tried to reinvigorate the show in 2002 by renaming it BroadbandPlus and expanding beyond its traditional base of cable operators and vendors and into new technologies. The show that year drew 10,000 attendees and 193 companies to an 80,000 square foot exhibit floor.

"As cable consolidated, we tried to broaden it beyond the cable industry," said CCTA Vice President Jerry Yanowitz, a 20-year veteran of the event. "But the market voice was really telling us it's time — it's been a great 36-year run."

The organization debated whether to pull the plug before — or after — this year's event. In the end, the CCTA decided it would be better if attendees and exhibitors arrived at the show fully informed.

The final show attracted 6,150 attendees and featured a 30,000 square foot show floor with 150 exhibitors.

"Some people thought it was the last show and they didn't need to be here, but some people said they wanted to be here because it was the last show," he said. "I think it worked to our benefit."

The Western Show isn't the only cable event to fade away due to changing industry and economic conditions. An event called The Eastern Show, produced jointly by The Atlantic Cable Partners and the Southern Cable Telecommunications Assn., has also been canceled.

That leaves The National Show, hosted by the Natl. Cable & Telecommunications Assn., as the last large annual cable industry gathering. The 53-year-old event is held each May at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans.

That's a prospect that doesn't please Lon Rosado, CEO of Great Lakes Data Systems, or Catalina's Morrow either. Both said what they liked best about The Western Show was Anaheim's dependable weather, and its convenience.

Anthony Starkey and two co-workers from Mentis Broadband, based in Greenwood Village, Colo., always appreciated the opportunity to visit balmy California in December. But in light of the event's ever-shrinking size, the show's demise isn't all that surprising. "It was destined to happen," Starkey said.

The show's shuttering won't just affect exhibitors and attendees, but also the CCTA. With the tradeshow traditionally providing about 40 percent of association revenues, officials will have to scramble to find other ways to fund the organization.