Sachs' Legacy: Keeping the Regulators Out and the Programmers In

Cable World, Jan 24, 2005

By John P. Ourand

In July 1999, when Robert Sachs started as the president and CEO of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, he had a simple mandate: Keep the regulators' noses out of cable's business.

Sachs, who departs his post later this spring, has earned nearly unanimous accolades for achieving that goal. He has established one of the most sought-after legacies among D.C. lobbyists: He oversaw one of the longest periods of regulatory stability in cable's history.

"It may seem ironic to mark a person's legacy by what didn't happen, but perhaps Robert's greatest legacy is that no new onerous regulation or legislation was imposed on the industry on his watch, demonstrating Robert's substantive understanding of the industry and his keen ability to navigate politics," says Cox CEO Jim Robbins.

Sachs' five-plus years on Mass. Ave. was marked by no regulations. No programmer defections. No cloak-and-dagger intrigue.

It's not to say there wasn't potential for something. Just two years ago, some were warning about a "perfect storm" brewing that would lead to a harsh reregulation for the industry. With President Bush seeking reelection, corporate scandals tarnishing cable's image on Capitol Hill and MSOs raising rates, some worried that the conditions of 2003 mirrored the ones of 1991, when cable was hindered with strict rate regulations. Throw in ESPN and Cox's carriage battle (argued within earshot of Congress) and the industry's shrinking conventions, and it looked to some like cable was about to implode.

Nothing happened.

Some in the industry feared that the indecency debates and broadcaster demands for digital multicasting would hamper cable.

Nothing happened.

Others were concerned that new business, like high-speed data and cable phone, would be subject to onerous legislation.

Still, nothing happened. And most of the industry executives I contacted said that Sachs' work ethic and consensus-building skills are the reasons why.

"Our primary goal for the past five years can be summarized in two words- -regulatory stability," says Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts. "Robert succeeded in keeping the industry focused on this objective. We achieved most, if not all, of our business goals, and despite many pressures, Robert was able to keep us together as an industry when it counted. He is a steady and focused leader who helped us forever change for the better, and begin the process of the new digital world."

Sachs has his detractors. Who could forget Multichannel News' description of him as a multiple-personality-suffering "Sybil"?

Some see Sachs as standoffish and not aggressive enough. They describe him as being fortunate to have his term coincide with a deregulatory shift in Washington, D.C. Even a staunch Democrat like Sachs will find supporters in today's Washington, with its deregulatory agenda.

But for every complaint about Sachs, there are several cable executives who hold him in the highest regard. Steve Effros, a cable consultant and friend of Sachs, has described the NCTA president as the right guy at the right time for the industry.

He is not Decker Anstrom, one of NCTA's most popular chairmen, who has some of the best people skills in the industry. Anstrom's tenure is remembered for leading cable out of the regulatory abyss, forging the 1996 Telecommunications Act and rebuilding cable's image with regulators.

Nor is he Jim Mooney, considered by many to be the most disastrous NCTA president of the modern era. It was on Mooney's watch that cable was saddled with the 1992 Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act.

"Robert has done a terrific job of successfully steering the NCTA through a period in which it has faced a number of thorny and complex policy issues," Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt says. "He has managed to keep a sometimes fractious group of cable operators and programmers together by keeping the focus on the major issues that unite us rather than the smaller issues that cause friction."

Showtime chairman Matt Blank also hailed Sachs for his ability to keep operators and programmers working together. "He was particularly effective in galvanizing the industry on the issues of a la carte, tiering and indecency," he says.

Sachs also will be remembered for his role in working with the consumer electronics industry, negotiating a one-way plug-and-play agreement with a group that has historically frosty relationships with cable. In fact, Sachs calls his failure to find common ground with the National Association of Broadcasters one of the disappointments of his tenure--even though he helped cut deals with public broadcasters. "Those strengthened relationships will serve our companies well in the future," Anstrom says.

While Sachs' detractors only would agree to speak off the record, he has strong on-the-record support from the industry's highest-profile executives, who applaud his ability to keep regulators out and programmers in.