Lo-Res, 6 mb - Making Connections - Time Warner Cable

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ATC’s status as a profitable, rapidly growing, publicly held
cable television operator in the early 1970s soon attracted
the interest of executives at Time Inc., whose cable and
broadcast properties were not considered industry leaders.
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Cable public access channels were well-suited for carrying
programming featuring primary and secondary school
events, such as spelling bees, as cable system operators
worked to strengthen ties with local communities.
“The Next Big Thing”
34 Making Connections : Time Warner Cable and the Broadband Revolution
Hauser had actually considered buying or
investing in systems operator TCI in 1972, but
the debt-ridden company, with its aging rural
infrastructure, didn’t look like the future of
telecommunications to him. He was confident
he could fix the problems at Warner’s systems.
But he wanted to invest in cable only if he had
a shot at helping the medium realize its potential,
much like Rifkin and Royal Little highlighted in
ATC’s first annual report. If not, why bother?
“I made a deal with Steve Ross that I would undertake
to see if we could come to the next big thing
in cable television,” he said. Their goal was to “give
people something … that they wanted and see if
we could build an industry out of this. And if we
didn’t, then we’d drop it.” 6