Top TV and programming executives recently sat down for the National Cable and Telecommunications Association’s Cable Show panel. The panel included executives from Comcast, Time Warner, Cox, News Corp and Viacom. The main topics of interest were the growing competition from internet based services, how to provide programming to ‘all screens’ (tablets, smart phones, PCs) and affordability.

With mounting pressure from Hulu, Netflix and Amazon, the cable companies need to start considering how to make their content accessible through new devices that are constantly evolving. Creating ‘on demand’ content for any device was at the forefront of the discussion. Apple and Google were also acknowledged as competitors who could present to be a problem for cable companies. While some executives agreed the increase in canceled cable subscriptions may be due to content not being accessible on particular devices, others felt the cause was affordability.

It’s a known fact that the economy has caused many people to cut out some of life’s luxuries (in many cases, cable TV). However, not all canceled subscriptions can be attributed to the economic downturn. Stale content and paying high monthly rates for far more content than one cares to watch are also big problems. Time Warner has been testing a package called “TV Essentials”. If given a wider release, this could appeal to those consumers who want the bare minimum without all the fluff that leads to inflated rates.

Overall, it seems that the cable companies are aware of their cyber competitors. They seem to be taking steps to provide consumers with what they desire out of their cable service and programming for their TVs in their TV lift cabinets. Whether they actually follow through with their plans, remains to be seen.