Anstrom ankles NCTA for cabler

Exec working up a storm at the Weather Channel

By CHRISTOPHER STERN

WASHINGTON -- National Cable Television Assn. prexy Decker Anstrom has blamed Hollywood budgets and professional sports salaries for the rising cost of cable programming. But in his new role at the Weather Channel, Anstrom may wish to be more careful when it comes to ridiculing his program suppliers.

Anstrom surprised Washington's entertainment industry lobby Thursday morning with the announcement that he was ankling the trade org to become president and CEO of the Atlanta-based Weather Channel. The departure will be effective Aug. 1.

Anstrom is credited with resurrecting the cable org's political reputation in Washington almost single-handedly during the last five years. When he was tapped to lead the org in 1994, NCTA was still reeling from the bruising battle over the Cable Act of 1992 -- the law that reintroduced rate regulation to cablers. The rough and tumble political tactics of Anstrom's predecessor, James Mooney, had alienated many members of Congress, and the cable bill was the only legislation to survive a presidential veto during the Bush Administration.

Exit called 'a huge loss'

Anstrom's departure is a "huge loss to the cable industry," said House Telecommunications chairman Billy Tauzin (R-La.). Tauzin added that Anstrom had been very effective in rehabilitating cable's reputation in the wake of the 1992 legislation. Anstrom was also one of the highest-paid lobbyists in Washington with an annual salary of $821,864.

Anstrom presided over one of the most remarkable legislative turnarounds for any industry in Washington. He was tapped to head the trade org shortly after cable was re-regulated by Congress and announced his departure two weeks after those regulations were officially taken off the books on March 31. Anstrom is given a large share of the credit for convincing Congress that it should include cable deregulation in the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

Reshaping cable's image

"Decker is largely responsible for reshaping cable's image in the public policy arena," Eddie Fritts, prexy of the National Assn. of Broadcasters, said Thursday.

Some say that cable won the deregulation with the false promise that it would use its fiber-optic infrastructure to compete with the local telephone industry. Others blame the FCC and the intransigence of the Baby Bells for cable's slow entry into telephony.

In addition to his regulatory battles, Anstrom, along with Fritts and Motion Picture Assn. of America topper Jack Valenti oversaw the yearlong debate over the introduction of content ratings for television programming. Of the three, Anstrom was the most aggressive in pushing for tougher ratings on TV content.

The announcement caught many in the industry by surprise, and the NCTA immediately announced the creation of a search committee that includes cable industry honchos to find a new trade org topper by the time Anstrom is scheduled to leave on Aug. 1. Comcast prexy Brian Roberts, Time Warner Cable chairman and CEO Joe Collins, A&E Television president and CEO Nick Davitzes and others, including Anstrom himself, have been named to the search committee.