Cable's fascination with Steve Jobs driven by Apple innovation

I won't forget that day in late 2005, soon before Christmas, when I opened a package in the newsroom at Multichannel News containing a $400 iPod. It was one of the fifth generation video iPods that Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) had just begun selling that fall, and Cablevision's (NYSE: CVC) Rainbow Media division thought the iPods would make a nice present for reporters.

My colleagues and I never got to use those iPods, since we couldn't accept gifts worth more than $50 (some reporters at other publications felt more comfortable keeping the iPods since Rainbow had placed electronic media kits on the devices). But since that year, when Steve Jobs and Apple first introduced the video iPod, measuring Apple's impact on the cable industry has been a big part of the beat of any industry reporter.

While word that Jobs is stepping down as Apple CEO is big news, as media blogger Jeff Jarvis notes, it's too soon to eulogize Jobs. I won't do that. But as Jobs steps down, it is fair to measure the impact he has had on technology, the media business, and our industry in particular.

Jobs is resigning from Apple just as his latest product--the iPad--is beginning to drive big changes in the cable industry, and the way consumers navigate and consume video programming.

Cable programmers and operators have paid close attention to Jobs and Apple since the launch of the iTunes Store and the debut of the first iPods that could display video. While both broadcast and cable networks have been able to grow revenue by selling individual TV episodes and complete seasons through iTunes, the popularity of the iTunes Store hasn't changed the way cable operators do business.

Even though consumers can choose to buy only the shows they're willing to pay for through iTunes, that flexibility hasn't driven cable and satellite providers to offer consumers a la carte programming packages. Instead, digital cable programming packages have continued to increase in size, and the amount of money consumers pay for programming from their cable and satellite providers has continued to increase as well.

The cable industry has also been fascinated with Apple TV, the Internet video set-top that allows consumers to access programming they have downloaded from the iTunes Store. While some industry observers wondered early on if Apple TV would shake up the pay TV business, Apple hasn't seen significant demand for the product, and the vast majority of consumers continue to rely on a cable or satellite set-tops to watch video programming at home.

Where Jobs and Apple have had the biggest impact on the cable industry has been with the introduction of the iPhone and the iPad. The popularity of the iPhone and the iPad have seen both cable programmers and distributors create applications that allow subscribers to watch live video programming on the devices, set remote DVR recordings, and use the mobile devices as a remote control.

You didn't have to walk far on the floor at The Cable Show convention in May to see the impact that Jobs has had on the industry. Apple didn't buy an exhibit in Chicago, but dozens of technology vendors used iPads in their booths to hawk technology involved in enabling multiscreen video delivery and navigation.

And while most pay TV customers still don't have an Apple iPad, the nation's biggest cable and satellite companies have teams focused on building applications for the iPad and other mobile devices. Jobs is stepping down from Apple just as his vision is beginning to drive major changes in the cable industry.--Steve