It's that time of year:  Christmas lights and predatory sales clerks, coins clinking in Salvation Army buckets and lots and lots of lists for the year ahead.

So maybe it's a little early for lists.  But if the retail industry can have Black Friday sales starting on Thursday, I can have lists starting on Dec. 2.  Therefore ... Here are three picks for companies worth watching very, very carefully next year:

Netflix:  This one is a duh:  First the streaming/DVD company scares the pants off the entire traditional media biz by multiplying subscribers faster than tribbles (beating all but Comcast and DIRECTV in paid streaming subscribers), and then .... Then they get arrogant, split their services, hike their prices and – presto! chango! – those tribbles become lemmings careening off the space ship.  (Like minus 810,000 in 3Q11.)  Sounds grim.  Is grim.  Analysts and investors are uber grim.  Still ... Netflix closed the third quarter with nearly 21.5 million domestic streaming subscribers plus existing contracts with a whole lot of content providers.  That remains a mighty big ship and one we suggest you keep your eye on.

DISH/EchoStar:  Okay, so these are really two separate companies.  But they're controlled by the same corner office and it certainly looks like that corner office has big plans for combining the two in some sort of "new" media play designed to boost DISH out of the doldrums and Charlie Ergen into another clutch of billions.  

Let's take a look at some recent happenings:  Over the last few weeks our mail box has been flooded with correspondence from laid off DISHites telling us they've been informed that their "skill set(s) do not fit in with future plans" for the company. Meanwhile two key execs – EchoStar's David Rayner and DISH's  Ira Bahr – have also officially departed.  EchoStar has bulked up with a whole lot of wireless spectrum via DBSD and Terrestar which Sprint has recently helped clear for use via a non-interference deal ... DISH has added muscle with a potential Netflix competitor, Blockbuster ... analysts are atwitter over a potential new play for DISH including wireless two-way .... Given all the smoke rising from this camp, it might be good to watch for a fire.

Time Warner Cable:  It's been weird watching Time Warner Cable lately:  They had a miserable third quarter (down 269K video subs and 8K VoIP subs).  Investors are obviously spooked as TWC shares have hit serial 52-week intraday lows in the past few weeks.  Video margins have been falling.  But ... but ... some of the smartest analysts we know are still bullish on the company.  That's a financial judgement, of course.  But it also reflects business strategy where we note that CEO Glenn Britt has been among the first in MVPD-land to publicly address two critical factors for the future:  The ascendance of broadband as a core business opportunity and of poverty as a real threat.  Over the next year, we're betting that TWC will get more aggressive with video packages designed for thinning pocketbooks ... We think they're likely to be among the first to move into usage-based charges for broadband service (a double-edged but necessary sword) ... With the expected acquisition of Insight, they'll shore up their footprint strength.  But you get the idea.  Another very interesting company to watch.•

Cable's 'Next Frontier': Tablets?

As 'TV Everywhere' campaigns equip MSOs with a powerful customer retention tool, many companies are dealing with the inherent challenges of mobile pay-TV. And as valuable as laptops and smartphones are to any successful TV Everywhere strategy, Inside Track claims that tablets - thanks, in part, to the iPad - are where cable operators should be focusing their energy.

According to the reseaerchers, consumers have been "primed" by the touchscreen on their smartphones and are ready for something bigger, yet still portable. The firm says viewers want a larger screen specifically for video and, with sales expected to exceed 450M units by 2015, tablets "fit the bill perfectly."

Cable companies pushing apps to the market "can offer subscribers a smarter, more personalized and more mobile viewing system then conventional TV," the firm says. At the same time, advertising, premium subscriptions and other monetization opportunities are ready to explode.

One word: Tablets. •

Etc.: House Panel OKs JOBS - 'No Chance' for HBO on OTT - 10 Best Ads of 2011

Rules & Regs: The House Energy & Commerce Committee's communications subcommittee voted 17-6 in favor of the Republicans' spectrum bill known as the JOBS Act. Analysts say partisan disagreements remain and to expect further changes given Democratic control of the Senate. Stifel Nicolaus' Chris King said the bill is a positive for AT&T and Verizon and noted that broadcasters, who immediately praised the vote, absolutely love it. The subcom also adopted a GOP amendment that prevents the FCC from using its authority to impose net neutrality on wireless providers, a provision Dems called a "poison pill" that kept the two parties from coming together. --- The Minority Media and Telecommunications Council (MMTC) came out in favor of both the Protect IP Act and SOPA. --- Media reform group Free Press, along with 50+ other groups, wrote a letter to the FCC urging the agency to "make diversity issues a priority" in its upcoming media ownership review. --- In related news, Free Press President Craig Aaron says as a senator, Barack Obama fought to prevent media consolidation… now he's pushing George W's "failed policies." Read more at Huff Post.

Retrans: Hearst is threatening to pull stations from AT&T, Charter, SureWest (and others) at the end of the year if it is unable to negotiate new retrans deals. The company has started notifying viewers that they may lose access to certain local channels if a new agreement cannot be reached. --- DISH Network and Nexstar signed a new, multi-year retrans deal allowing the satellite company to carry 55 TV stations and other digital programming properties of Nexstar and Mission Broadcasting. Financial terms were unavailable. --- Time Warner Cable agreed to extend its negotiations with Victoria Television Group for 24-hours after the two sides' current contract expired midnight Wednesday.

Strategy: HBO Co-President Eric Kessler told attendees of a video conference in NYC that there is "no chance" HBO will ever license its hit shows ("Boardwalk Empire," "True Blood" et al) to OTT services such as Netflix and Hulu. Why? Kessler says those companies are direct competitors trying to steal some of his pay-TV audience. He also said cord-cutting is a fad… --- CenturyLink says it will start employing internet usage caps on subscribers beginning February. According to the company's EUP (Excessive Use Policy) a customer's service can be terminated if they exceed their usage allowance after being warned.

Deals?: Reports Thursday said Hulu may still be headed for a sale. Variety has a story saying that while factions within the News Corp./Disney/NBCU ownership group may have disagreed on the merits of staying in the video aggregation biz, those who wanted out could always revisit that stance in the future…

Gov't: Sen. Chuck Grassely holds that he will indeed block President Obama's FCC nominations of Jessica Rosenworcel and Ajit Pai if he doesn't get the answers he wants on the White House's LightSquared deal. Politico has details on the lone … ranger.

Online: A group self-identified as TeamPoison has hacked the United Nations' Development Programme (UNDP) and posted email and log-in details to more than 100 workers. The agency says the attack was on an old server with old information; the group teased future hacks. BBC has details. --- Streaming music service Spotify is looking to expand from simply a music app to an all-encompassing audio platform with lyrics, playlists, articles, charts and photos. CNN has more. --- The Weather Channel launched a new desktop app for Windows with a Mac version coming soon. --- Time Warner Cable is now offering its TWC TV app for Android tablets. Cable 360 has details.

Service: Charter upped the speeds of its internet service to enterprise and residential customers across 95% of its footprint at no additional cost. Business customer service details can be found here while residential service upgrade info is here.

$$$: Clearwire inked a deal with Sprint worth up to $1.6B in payments of WiMAX services which enables the troubled wireless company to make its $237M interest payment on a handful of notes and build out its planned LTE network. --- Verizon's board declared a quarterly dividend of $.50 per share payable Feb. 1.

Mobile: In-vehicle tech developer Creative Mobile Technologies and its media subsidiary signed a deal with Disney's ABC TV and sales arms to distribute content (and ads) from local ABC stations in NYC to ~6,600 taxis equipped with CMT tech.

SkyREPORT: Eutelsat said that, as of March 2012, it will unify the names of all its satellites under the established 'Eutelsat' brand. For example, the company's W6 at 21.5 degrees East will become Eutelsat 21A and Atlantic Bird 2 will become Eutelsat 8 West A.

Up, Down & Over There: The NHL signed a distribution deal with Russian state broadcaster VGTRK/RTR for broadcast rights to several games per week. The league's games will be split between the FTA channel Rossiya2 (passing 80M HHs) and Sport1 (3M HHs). --- SeaChange founder/CEO Bill Styslinger is reportedly retiring, his duties being filled by current board member Raghu Rau. BroadbandTV News says Thomas Olson, former CEO of Katz Media Group and National Cable Media (and current SeaChange board member) has been named chairman. --- SkyItalia is pulling its application for DTT frequencies. The company told the Ministry of Economic Development and the European Commission that the cumbersome process with uncertain results make it impossible to invest in the technology.

Advertising: Here's AdWeek's 10 Best commercials of 2011.

Programming: VH1 said it is venturing into the TV movie biz with a series of scripted bio-pics starting with the 90's female hip-hop trio TLC. --- BET said its top-rated scripted series "The Game" and "Let's Stay Together" will return next year with 22 episodes.

Green: Verizon Wireless is running a trade-in program for wireless electronics devices that allows users to bring in old or out-dated mobile units (from all carriers) for credit. Learn more.

Accolades: Communications Technology named Ohio-based Buckeye CableSystem the 2011 system of the year.

People: NBCU SVP of gov't relations Meredith Baker and CBS SVP, Washington John Orlando were both elected to The Media Institute's board of trustees. --- Verizon's board elected company CEO Lowell McAdam as chairman and Melanie Healey (President, N. America Proctor & Gamble) as new board member.

--- Catch today's media market news in The Evening BRIDGE. •