Time Warner Cable said it will soon introduce a low-cost, smaller package of TV channels. The “budget-oriented video offering” is “consistent with our belief that some customers would like a smaller package,” CEO Glenn Britt told analysts Thursday after the company reported Q3 financial results. Cablevision executives endorsed the idea but said it would be difficult to implement given the preferred regulatory treatment TV stations enjoy among all sources of cable content.

The elections may be over, but the race for House Commerce Committee chair next session is heating up. Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., confirmed Thursday that he wants the job. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, made a public plea to incoming freshman Republicans to support him for the post. Due to GOP term limit rules, Ranking Member Barton must get a waiver from the House GOP Steering Committee to stay atop the committee. House Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., and Fred Upton, R-Mich., who among those interested in the position has the most committee seniority, also want the job.

The congressional power shift from Tuesday’s elections is expected to have several effects on national satellite policies, said industry executives and lawyers. They pointed to export control overhaul, mobile satellite services spectrum and the role of satellite broadband as the most obvious and immediate areas where changes could take place.

CenturyLink and Qwest continued to see access line loss and a slowdown in Internet subscribers in Q3. The companies are waiting for approvals from 10 states and federal regulators of their plans to merge.

A GOP wave claimed longtime telecom heavyweight Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., and other Democrats in rural states, as Republicans seized control of the House Tuesday. The Republicans also won seats in the Senate, but the Democrats maintained power there. The GOP gain is seen as bad news for net neutrality supporters, while the loss of House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Boucher is a setback for rural telcos who supported his efforts to overhaul the Universal Service Fund.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski faces tough oversight from the new Congress starting in January, after Republicans picked up as many as 70 seats in the House Tuesday. That was more than the 55-seat swing that gave Republicans control of the House in 1994. But it’s unclear whether Genachowski will face the kind of Commerce Committee investigation Kevin Martin faced when Republicans lost control of the House four years ago (CD Sept 14 p1). The Republican takeover of the House also could have a long-lasting effect on FCC policy, particularly Genachowski proposals on net neutrality and broadband reclassification. Genachowski was an adviser to former Chairman Reed Hundt when Democrats lost control of both the House and Senate in 1994.

Split control of Congress may mean it takes longer for some telecom legislation to pass, but if the past is precedent, bills still will be approved, industry officials said. With Republicans taking over the House and Democrats keeping their majority in the Senate, the initial focus will be on budget issues, they said. House Commerce Committee members initially will try to undo health care and energy legislation championed by the administration and passed in the 111th Congress, some said.

Nexstar and Sinclair TV stations sold a record amount of ads to political candidates, their supporters and issue advertisers in the run up to Tuesday’s elections, their executives told investors Wednesday after reporting Q3 results. Both companies expect their total 2010 political sales to exceed those of 2008 despite the lack of a presidential election this year. “The category is just absolutely explosive,” said Steve Marks, chief operating officer of Sinclair’s TV division.

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Cybersecurity officials from the National Security Agency and ICANN agreed Wednesday that infrastructure measures such as using the DNSSec specifications are the most efficient ways to protect government and other networks. But they disagreed sharply at the Military Communications Conference over the benefits of introducing strong authentication.

Republicans won almost all races Tuesday in the eight states with utility commission seats up for grabs. That means Republican majority commissions in many of these states.