• Hug a soldier; or kiss a vet.  Don’t just leave it at “Thank you for your service.”  Although, to be clear, that beats the hell out of how we got welcomed home from Southeast Asia back in the ‘60s.

• On the road again this week ... Tuesday is NYC for the SNL Kagan Cable MSO Summit (details here); rest of the week is DC for a little lobbying and a visit with NCTA’s Michael Powell.  American Roamer’s Bryan Darr, Cable Data’s Jonda Martin and I will be showing the latest generation of strategic and tactical best interactive telecom/entertainment/info map in the world.  Called MapELEMENTS, it has everything in it that matters to our industries.

• Speaking of lobbying, gotta give great kudos to ACA’s Matt Polka and friends for keeping the pressure on the FCC over retrans ... every side of it gets an ex parte presentation with latest being the try to keep broadcasters from colluding.  Keep it up!

• It’ll be a great evening on the 21st of May in Boston as the next class joins the Cable Center’s Cable Hall of Fame.  The 2012 class is a great one ... in alphabetical order it includes Ann (Hey! find me a job!) Carlsen; Leo (Summer of Love) Hindery; Debra (place your BET here) Lee; Gerry (the other Philadelphia) Lenfest; Phil (it’s not that cold up north) Lind; and Larry (Retire?  Are you Kidding?) King.  All have made the cable industry better from Ann’s serious people skills thru Leo’s remaking of cable clusters thru Debra’s even-handed handling of BET thru Gerry’s class act thru Phil’s steady and remarkable contributions above and below the 38th parallel to Larry’s domination of real cable talk.  Put it on your calendar now.

Meanwhile, wondering about those companies who famously haven’t been paying taxes the past 3 years?  Check for relevant names here.  Of note, telecom companies included paid an average 3-year tax rate of 8.2% in ’08, 10.1% in ’09 and 9.6% last year; but not all paid even a thin dime.  I won’t list the usual suspects you’ll find because I’m a little tired of the vitriolic responses I sometimes generate.

Though, to be clear, all (seemingly) followed the law.  And, as Dr. John Malone often said, “Show me the rules and I’ll follow them.”•

Google Moves on Pay-TV

In truly over-the-top fashion, Google is reportedly considering a pay-TV service delivered directly over the internet. While the rumors are still technically only rumors, new information offers some insight into what might be the internet giant's next big move…

Speculation has swirled around a possible Google pay-TV service since the company unveiled plans to build a crazy-fast fiber optic network in Kansas City. Friday the WSJ reported on the company's recent hiring of Jeremy Stern, a former cable exec tagged to negotiate with major media companies (e.g. Disney, Time Warner, Discovery…) for content deals.  Or, how to construct a fantasy from little info ... as Friday's The Evening BRIDGE commented, "Can you say overbuild?"

No one has officially commented on the developments, but several sources have written about how Google has all the pieces in place to make the service a reality… Google TV for software, Motorola for set-tops, YouTube for additional content and Hulu(?) for content rights… However, Bernstein analyst Carlos Kirjner said Google's plans have "absolutely nothing" to do with competing with cable. •

Etc.: ESPN's Sex Scandal - Grassley to Block FCC Noms - Netflix's Cable Strategy

Scandal du Jour: A strange legal battle is brewing between recently-axed ESPN content SVP Keith Clinkscales and an unnamed former ESPN executive over, among other things, sexually-explicit allegations surrounding current ESPN field reporter Erin Andrews. Deadspin has all the details.

Gov't: Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said he will block President Obama's bi-partisan nomination of Republican Ajit Pai and Democrat Jessica Rosenworcel to the FCC not because he objects to the nominees themselves, but rather because the agency refused to honor his request for more information on LightSquared. --- A couple months ago we shared some news out of Longmont, Colorado about the town wanting to build its own fiber network and receiving some strong resistance from Comcast and CenturyLink. After the first attempt at passing a voter referendum failed, the town tried again and won 60% approval. DSL Reports has details (and an interesting conversation after the story).

Strategy: If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then cable should relish the adulation Netflix seems to be offering the cable industry. A story in Ad Age says Netflix's biz is "vulnerable" and studios are tickled pink the company is spending millions on content… "Using older content to build a video distribution business is exactly how cable networks began," writes Brad Adgate. "And maybe Netflix should look a little further along cable's history for inspiration of its own." --- Developments that could spur a new revenue stream for landline MVPDs are multi-footprints. Cable360 has a story about Cisco's plans to get involved with content delivery network (CDN) federations that will allow providers to offer internet-wide services as opposed to being limited to their own networks. Interested? --- First Redbox, now Blockbuster… New details have emerged about the company's plans to increase prices for movies at its Blockbuster Express rental kiosks beginning next week. Says Home Media Magazine: New DVDs will rent for $3 for 1st night and an additional $1 for the 2nd night during the film's initial 28-release (after that, $2 for 1st night/$1 for 2nd). All titles will be $1 after 90 days of release with Blu-rays costing an additional $1 per rental.

Analyze This: Bernstein initiated coverage of the U.S. internet sector with top picks on Google and Amazon. The firm also initiated coverage on Netflix, eBay and Yahoo! with 'neutral' ratings. --- A piece in the Washington Times says "… giving up cable is cool these days." Read one reporter's conclusion on the cost of cutting the cable cord.

Q3: CBS reported a 2% y/y increase in revenue to $3.37B with operating income during the period increasing 33% to $703. Net earnings at the company were $338M, equal to $.50 per diluted share, with an FCF balance of $947M compared to $467M in Q310. --- U.S. Cellular reported a 66% increase in operating income during Q3 to $101.6M with service revenues increasing 5% to $1.04B. The company said its smartphone users increased to 26.2% of its total customer base with ARPU of $52.41. --- LinkedIn reported 63% y/y membership base growth to 131.2M with increased y/y revenue of $139.5M. The company also reported a net loss of $1.6M compared to net income of $4M in Q310 which helped drive shares down 9% in trading late last week. --- Rural telco Windstream's earnings dropped 16% for the period on the company's recent $891M acquisition of Paetec. The company reported a Q3 profit of $71.5M ($.14 per share) down from $85.2M y/y.

M&A: WSJ says Time Warner has made an unsolicited bid for Dutch TV production company Endemol for ~$1.38B. Endemol, which owns the rights to shows such as "Big Brother" and "Deal or No Deal," is in the process of restructuring about €2B in debt.

Research: Pyramid says smartphone sales in Latin America will reach 31M units this year totaling $6B in revenue.

SkyREPORT: Eutelsat reported its first quarter revenues of €295.4M ($406.5), a 3.4% y/y increase. The company said video applications accounted for 67.4% of all revenues (€198.2M) as it is now transmitting a total of 3,952 TV channels across the globe (an increase of 252 channels). --- DIRECTV said last week that it will launch an "Apple-like" on-screen guide in December on the satcaster's HD DVDRs. CEO Mike White called it "a little bit of the future in our HD user interface…"

--- Catch today's media market news in The Evening BRIDGE. •