No Labor Day issue

Here are some thoughts to pique your interest as you sit through a no-Labor Day (pun intended) withdrawal from your regular FierceCable fix on Monday.

The initial ground rules for what's going to be the FierceCable 15 of innovative companies and/or technologies that are now in the field and benefiting cable operators will be released Tuesday. With a tip of the hat and acknowledgement to CableLabs and its Innovation Showcase, the FierceCable 15--who will be announced just before the SCTE Cable Tec Expo in October (giving you plenty of time to submit ideas and back them up)--will consist of working companies with working technologies either in the field or ready for deployment. Nominations and suggestions can and should come from everywhere; cable operators, vendors and even analysts who track the industry.

The only qualifier: Whiteboard entries will be discarded. This will be a listing of everyday technology that benefits the cable industry in innovative and, perhaps, profitable ways. Again, ground rules and how to participate will be announced in next Tuesday's post-Labor Day issue.

Also coming next week is a Q&A with Motorola CTO Dave Grubb, an industry veteran who sat down for some hot--and not so hot--dialog about the direction of one of the cable industry's notorious set-top duopoly members. Look for that next Wednesday.

And, of course, as the summer ends and the news season heats up, look for a continuation and even a ramp-up of the daily analysis of goings-on in the cable industry that you've grown to expect from FierceCable. Tell your friends. The new season starts Tuesday, and it should be a hot one--even as the temperatures outside cool.