Building Blocks

Tom Dawson spent some 23 years as a writer and editor on two Ohio daily newspapers, including seventeen with The Blade of Toledo, owned by Block Communications, Inc., which also owns Buckeye CableSystem. In 1986, he transferred to Buckeye. During his career there, he coordinated design and construction, new business development, community affairs, and government relations dealing with all regulatory and compliance issues for the cable company. In 1994, Dawson was named vice president/regulatory affairs of Buckeye TeleSystem, a sister company. He retired in 2009 after 40 years with the Block organization, but went back in 2010 as a consultant dealing with the same issues as before he retired.

[This book] is full of fascinating history and anecdotes. . . .It is a book that ought to appeal to anyone in the cable industry, especially if they need to figure out how to cope with the bewilderingly fast changes in technology and viewer habits and preferences.

• ForewordAcknowledgments IntroductionPart I: The Early YearsChapter 1, “She wanted pictures with her radio” Cable’s earliest days, from concept to realityChapter 2, “We were doing it the hard way” Twice the channels, but twice the problems: Buckeye begins to growPart II: Building for the FutureChapter 3, “Our localness and service will set us apart” At Buckeye, the customer has always been rightChapter 4, “He who owns production owns the client relationship” Expanding into advertising sales and productionChapter 5, “You couldn’t get a dial tone in Sandusky when that call-in show was on” In Toledo and points beyond, Buckeye extends its reachChapter 6, “We spent the money to continue the business” For Buckeye’s service area, a new high-fiber dietChapter 7, “We’ll do whatever we can to help Toledo reach its full potential” Voice, video, data, home security: Fiber optics boost Buckeye’s capabilitiesChapter 8, “They’re leaders in technology and communications” The company’s trophy case gets increasingly crowdedPart III: What to Provide the Viewers, and at What Cost?Chapter 9, “We experimented with everything we even had a fish tank on camera” In Buckeye’s early years, programming and production were decidedly ad hocChapter 10, “We can give viewers something they won’t see elsewhere” No tower, no transmitter: TV5 debuts as a different kind of broadcasterChapter 11, “Everybody wanted to be part of the excitement” BCSN becomes a local-sports sensation Chapter 12, “Their demands are outrageous on their face” Negotiating with satellite programmers and large broadcasters: not for the faint of heartPart IV: The Future Chapter 13, “Broadband is the business” For cable, telecom, and media in general, the times they are a-changin’Appendix