New York City
Strategic Concepts & Mechanics
Primary Evidence
"ADVICE: Where we made our original mistake in financing this small com- pany whose product was excellent was in not anticipating trouble and poten- tial lawsuits from the landlords. It was obvious that the high cost of installing fire control systems could not be passed on to the tenants under their long-term leases and that the $400 million cost therefore had to come out of the landlords' pockets. It is vital, therefore, not to get into a similar situation involving regulations requiring building owners to absorb huge capital expenditures. Landlords are heavy contributors to the politicians in all cities, and they have too much polit- ical clout to accept any such huge cost as the fire department's regulations im- posed upon them in New York City."
"Demand for cable service was compounding, spreading from its rural roots as an antenna service and into some of the largest urban centers, from New York City on down as a source of new and unique programming. It had taken the young industry thirty years to sign up 13 million subscribing homes by 1978. Just four years later, that number had doubled to 27 million subscribers. And the total had doubled again to 54 million six years later, up fourfold in a decade."