Eight people on one panel is at least four too many. I understand the politics of it all, but the more people you pile onto the stage (no matter how brilliant and deserving each is of being there), the more disjointed the session and less memorable its take-aways. With that complaint registered, however, I think the heavy-loaded panel sessions at The National Show this week have actually been good. Today’s densely-populated session was moderated by former FCC Chairman William Kennard. It would have been very interesting had the panelists turned the tables on Kennard and asked his opinions on the FCC of today. Alas, Kennard was the one asking the questions, and they ranged across the expected spectrum: competition...net neutrality…national franchising…obliteration of the traditional TV advertising model…the cable industry’s ongoing punishment by Wall Street.

On competition, Cox Communications President Pat Esser called the competitive pressure from the RBOCs “one of the biggest myths” in the marketplace. “Aspirational press release after aspirational press release from the RBOCs tends to wear on you after a while,” he said, but noted that it has been Cable, not the telcos, that has delivered true competition. He relayed that within three months of passage of the Telecom Act of 1996, Cox had the pieces in place to begin delivering local phone service, and within eight months had signed up its first customer. Tom Rutledge, COO of Cablevision, said the cable marketplace is bigger than most people realize, and he cited the tremendous opportunity of the commercial business, which he said is as big or bigger in local markets than Cable’s residential opportunity.

Mark Cuban, President & Chairman of HDNet, not surprisingly addressed the opportunities enabled by HD, especially in the run-up to the digital transition in 2009. “Maybe not this Christmas, but probably next, there’s going to be a real, real battle” in sales of HD sets and service, he said. “The company that executes best is going to get the customer. I think Cable is in the best spot, because Cable has been through these wars before.”

Asked by Kennard about the threat posed by DVRs and time-shifted TV on advertising revenues, the programmers on the panel responded with glass-half-full answers. Advertisers are eager to take advantage of all of the new delivery platforms emerging, stressed NBC Universal Cable President David Zaslav. Said Tony Vinciquerra, President & CEO of Fox Networks Group: the medium and the model will evolve. “We’re going to be fine.”

Kennard noted that two of the companies represented on the panel—Cox and Insight— had gone private in the last two years. To the others, he asked, “Why isn’t Wall Street getting your message?” Glenn Britt, President & CEO of Time Warner, said that, despite great results quarter after quarter, cable companies are getting punished because of Wall Street’s overblown concerns over competition (primarily competition from the RBOCs) and new content delivery mechanisms like Internet TV. Rutledge echoed, “The risk from the bells is definitely way overblown. But the risk from new media is really more an opportunity than a risk.”