Bio

(Photo by Sean Badding) 

Jimmy Schaeffler at the 2022 DISH Analyst Conference in Las Vegas, NV 

Chairman & Chief Service Officer (CSO)

The Carmel Group

Telephone: (831) 622 1111 + (831) 419 3099 

Email: jimmy@carmelgroup.com 

An almost five-and-a-half-decade-long telecommunications, technology, entertainment, and media industry veteran, Mr. Schaeffler began his professional career with ABC Sports, during the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics. Despite his youth, he played a pivotal role there. In Germany, he worked daily and closely alongside the late and much-respected Roone Arledge and Peter Jennings, as well as the renowned commentators, the late Frank Gifford and the late Jim McKay, and scores more making up one of the world’s all-time great broadcast teams. This was the first of a great many legal-, production-, and content distribution-related projects undertaken by Mr. Schaeffler, right up to today, as Mr. Schaeffler is not one to retire. 

Building on that iconic broadcast foundation, Mr. Schaeffler became a producer, executive, attorney, and business affairs executive with ABC Sports. As an example, he worked at the Innsbruck, Montreal, and Lake Placid Olympic Games, including deep involvement in the 1984 Games in Sarajevo. He also successfully completed stints with ABC Sports Films, The American Sportsman, Monday Night Football, and ABC’s Wide World of Sports, to name but a handful more. The first two commitments were under the aegis of the respected, multi-Emmy Award winning producer, John Wilcox.

For 1976-78, Mr. Schaeffler worked as an account executive for Mark McCormack’s International Management Group (IMG) in New York City, focusing on alpine and nordic skiing, speed skating, and bicycling sports. During 1986-90, Jimmy Schaeffler was the Assistant General Counsel for the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC), in Colorado Springs, CO, and afterwards served in Aspen, CO, as the vice president and general counsel of the Aspen, CO-based Adventure World Productions and Ashcroft Ski Touring. Again, under the aegis and direction of John Wilcox. 

More recently, Mr. Schaeffler was the Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) analyst for Paul Kagan Associates, in Carmel, CA. As the company’s cable and DBS expert during 1992-1995, Mr. Schaeffler was the principal author, researcher, and analyst for the monthly Kagan DBS DBS Report, PayTV, and Sports Media newsletters, and the sole researcher and author for the inaugural edition of what was then the industry’s premier data book, titled The State of DBS.

His most recent in-house company publications under the umbrella of The Carmel Group and of public exposition, include “2002 DBS North America, Trends, Analysis, Projections,” a 319-page, 132-chart treatise, where he served as its publisher, editor, and principal author; as well as “DVRs 2006: Time In A Magical Box”; and “Unlocking Cable’s True Potential: A Guide To Revenue Growth In An Age of Piracy”; as well as “DVRs 2007: Time In A Magical Box”; plus, hundreds and hundreds of published trade and magazine articles he has written during the past 53+ years, a huge core of them central to the satellite, cable, broadcast, wireless, and Over-the-Top (OTT)/broadband/streaming media industry sectors (to view samples, Google “Jimmy Schaeffler” for thousands of entries). 

In April 2008, Mr. Schaeffler published his first book for the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), as part of the Focal Press Executive Technology Briefing series, and 275+ pager called Digital Signage — Software, Networks, Advertising, and Displays: A Primer for Understanding the Business. An additional book by NAB and Focal Press about Digital Video Recorders was also published in mid-2009, titled, DVRs: Changing Advertising and TV Forever. Both books may be accessed via the website: www.amazon.com/ref=cs_503_link. Videos discussing each book can be accessed on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deVf3IAWAkk and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mv1YMXtEQds. One of his most current project includes a 2023 book of similar length and number of graphics, for publisher Taylor & Francis, entitled The Internet of Things Becomes the Internet of Life.

Because of his specific well-known expertise in the delivery of content via satellite, Mr. Schaeffler was also asked by the industry’s pre-eminent technologist, the much-respected telecom engineer, D.K. Sachdev, to be the lead co-author of the all-important chapter in the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics’s publication, “Success Stories In Satellite Systems.” The title of this chapter, including a key graphic from The Carmel Group, is The DBS Dimension: How DBS Success Was Achieved. Several citations in articles by those such as the esteemed Andy Pasztor of the Wall Street Journal included his views and insights. A 2025 project focuses on The Carmel Group’s gathering of a team of five pre-eminent LEO satellite engineers addressing the many questions surrounding the newly popular Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite telecom sub sector. 

Going back to The Carmel Group’s inception during the mid-1990s, The Carmel Group has delved deeply into surveys, starting with those of retailers and executives tied closely to the U.S. DBS industry. In 2015-16 and 2020-21, Mr. Schaeffler completed detailed and lengthy surveys of, respectively, 555 and 770, U.S. wireless operators, who were members of one of the lead U.S. trade groups, the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (WISPA). Hundreds of vendors in those sets of surveys were also queried. Before that, in the early part of this millennium, he lead surveys of nearly 1,000 small-to-mid-sized U.S. cable operators, collecting and analyzing that data for a study/report delivered by the American Cable Association (ACA) (since known as ACA Connects), on its behalf, to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 2002 (See, link,  http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/view;jsessionid=Sx3QSLLSgzsDyyRSjQMhT1zLp2LrlyhvpNQxDFYWvjXzyyMtXRz3!-1469015862!-528136363?id=6516285346).

Additionally, in 2007, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) commissioned Mr. Schaeffler to research and prepare an 11-page critique and charts that officially opposed the Sirius acquisition of XM satellite radio, on behalf of the NAB and the broadcast industry. This was presented to staff members of the U.S. Congress, to assist their understanding and analysis of that proposed duopoly-to-monopoly merger. A write-up Opinion contribution by Mr. Schaeffler was published by USA Today, to accompany this project. 

Mr. Schaeffler is also currently continuing a private study for the country’s top fixed wireless content service providers, aimed at delivering them key data that will provide greater opportunities to grow their businesses, especially in the form of data that is particularly relevant to operator, vendors, financiers and policymakers, as noted above. In earlier phases, e.g., that of 2016-17, studies like this involved dozens of ninety-minute interviews with key Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) providers, and numerous case studies, as well as two 70+ question surveys of 169 of 555 BWA operators and dozens out of almost 50 BWA vendors. The first Report from this series, entitled Ready for Take-off: BWA Providers Prepare to Soar with Fixed Wireless/The BWA Industry Report 2017, was published on March 17, 2017. It can be accessed by all, at the Publications and Home pages of The Carmel Group, at www.carmelgroup.com.  The second Report from this series can also be accessed, for free from the home page of The Carmel Group’s website at www.carmelgroup.com.

Jimmy Schaeffler has also been asked often to assist, in-person, overseas-based clients, including TV-related entities such as NTT, DirecTV Japan, and SkyPerfect TV in Japan; South Africa-based Irdeto in China and The Netherlands; Hannover Fairs Satellite Conferences in Hyderabad, India, Washington, DC, Hannover, Germany, and Istanbul, Turkey; and the globally-dominant fixed satellite services (FSS) provider, SES, in Luxembourg and Washington, DC.  

As further evidence of his versatility and range within the media, technology, entertainment, and telecommunications spheres, in late 2013, Mr. Schaeffler delivered the keynote luncheon address, entitled “The Future of Video Distribution: Are You In, Or Out?” before 600 attendees at the 2013 Wireless Service Providers Assn. (WISP) annual convention in Las Vegas, NV. He did the same again approximately six years ago, delivering the 2020-21 WISPA “Lift-off” Report. As noted above, he is currently continuing the commission of a wireless infrastructure and content survey and report (like that above done for the ACA). Recently, Mr. Schaeffler authored a critical white paper for IBM, entitled The Top 10 Keys for Using Data Analytics to Drive Profit in the Media & Entertainment Industry, published in Broadcasting & Cable and Multichannel News magazines,” in October of 2015. 

As hinted above, Mr. Schaeffler is regularly consulted and his positions are quoted in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Time, Newsweek, TheStreet.com, The New York Post, The Financial Times, Bloomberg/Business Week, The Indie, NPR, Reuters, The Hollywood Reporter, The New York Times, USA Today, Investor’s Business Daily, and The Los Angeles Times, for example. He has regularly contributed articles to and been quoted by key trade journals such as Fierce Cable, TWICE, Via Satellite, Satellite News, Broadband Breakfast, PolicyBand, and Private Broadband. Mr. Schaeffler also currently writes a semi-regular column, titled “Mixed Signals,” for the Number One pay TV and telecom industry trade publication, Multichannel News. 

He is either now active on or has been on the editorial boards of Private Broadband magazine, the satellite industry trade and service groups, the Satellite Broadcasting & Communications Assn. (SBCA), and the Independent Multifamily Communications Council (IMCC), as well as the advisory board of the Wall Street satellite financial investment company, Near Earth LLC.

As alluded to above, Mr. Schaeffler is also an accomplished speaker, preparing and speaking regularly at keynotes and on panels at industry trade shows, such as the NAB Futures Summit, The NAB Show, WISPAPALOOZA, WISP America, The INTX/Cable Show, Automechanika, Connected Mobility: The Future of Transportation, CES, IBC, and WISPAPALOOZA, for example. In early March 2017, Mr. Schaeffler delivered his speaking and moderating assets to the Denver Chapter of the Society of Cable Technicians and Engineers (SCTE), for its final plenary session involving Arris, Corning, and Ruckus Wireless, as participants discussing the Internet of Things, 5G, streaming and streaming obstacles and opportunities, as well as cyber-security in the cable and greater pay TV industries. In March 2023, he participated in yet another session, together with the VP of Policy for WISPA, where he introduced a new publication, he recently authored and edited, for the magazine titled WISP Magazine. 

Mr. Schaeffler holds a Bachelor of Arts degree (with high honors) from the University of California at Berkeley. He also speaks reasonably fluent German (having lived in Murnau and Kaufbeuren, Bavaria, in 1972-73, and having studied several terms at Germany’s famed Goethe Institute for almost a year). He holds a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, where he served as a staff member of and writer for the esteemed Owen’s Civil Law Project and the prestigious “Green Pages” of the one-of-a-kind Pacific Law Journal. 

Mr. Schaeffler has recently rejoined the active practice of law (prior to that he was on “inactive” status top launch The Carmel Group, in 1995), Mr. Schaeffler held active law licenses in California, Minnesota, Colorado, Washington, DC, and before the United States Supreme Court. He has been a member of the California Bar since 1991.

On the government side, Mr. Schaeffler also has had significant governmental legal experience. He has served both as a judge pro tem and a deputy district attorney for the county of Monterey, CA, during the 1990-1995 timeframe. 

Listing-wise, Mr. Schaeffler’s greater telecommunications industry specialties and involvement include:

• The Future of Video and Data Distribution
• Internet, Online Video, and Over-The-Top (OTT), i.e., streaming, Software Applications, Formats, and Hardware Telecommunications (e.g., Satellite, Cable, Telco, Broadcast, Internet/Mobile/Broadband, Fixed Wireless, Mobile Wireless), i.e., New Media and Traditional Media 
• Cable
• Fiber
• Telco
• Satellite TV 
• Cellular and Wireless
• Broadband 
• Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) and Hybrid Fiber Wireless
• Digital Satellite Radio
• Digital Video Recorders
• Satellite Telephony
• Digital Signage
• Interactive + Time-shifted TV (Digital Video Recorders, Video On-Demand, Advertising, etc.)
• Gaming
• Security
• Piracy and Security Analysis and Recommendations

These areas of expertise above are frequently practiced via:

• Litigation Support
• Consulting and Company Introductions
• System Sales and Purchases Transactions
• Financing and Fundraising 
• Authoring Reports and Studies
• Speeches and Conferences & Presentations at Hundreds of Conferences
• White Papers and Studies/Reports

Mr. Schaeffler’s and The Carmel Group’s Specific Litigation Support includes:

The Carmel Group’s litigation consulting and expert witness experience dates back almost three decades, to our initial breach of contract damages analysis conducted for a large pan-Asian telecommunications concern, located in Malaysia, in the mid-1990s. The Carmel Group’s data was instrumental in allowing that client to reach a significant high multi-score million-dollar settlement, at the higher end of the range the client expected. Since that experience, The Carmel Group has been involved in numerous cases, large and small, on the national and international levels, typically focusing on projections and forecasts, historical analysis and presentation, as well as actual estimates of industry overviews, revenues, standards, practices, customs, costs, models, infrastructures, and profits. Mr. Schaeffler has more than once been called upon to set standards in the industry as to what would be termed “commercially reasonable” in a business and consumer context. He has also served repeatedly as a consulting and testifying witness. 

As an example, The Carmel Group was employed in 2004 and named in trial by TiVo’s counsel, Irell Manella, in the now rather famous/infamous TiVo vs. EchoStar patent infringement trial that, relying on The Carmel Group’s expert consulting, concluded in TiVo’s favor in mid-March 2006 and again in 2011. The Carmel Group’s data and financial damages analysis was a critical element behind the jury’s $70+ million verdict, and many later parts of the litigation, including appeals, as well. In the same approximate timeframe, litigation support by The Carmel Group is said to be critically important to efforts to resist and overturn the proposed merger of Echostar and DirecTV. The Carmel Group’s well known “Ping-Pong” chart analysis — analyzing DirecTV’s actions and Echostar’s reactions, and back and forth for almost a decade — is a thing of folklore among a tiny part of the telecom industry.  

Recognizing the importance of discretion in today’s hyper-competitive landscape, The Carmel Group places a high premium on our clients’ privacy, security, convenience, identity and, of course, confidentiality.  That is a strong measure of our character. 

The Carmel Group’s and Mr. Schaeffler’s client experience, nonetheless, within the public domain, includes, as a snap-shot, these dozen federal and state court cases below (seven of which involved breach of contract and related business and consumer contract and tort claims; and several of which involved topics such as integrated receiver-decoders (IRDs), low noise block amplifiers (LNBs), and other antenna and set-top box related piracy and security analyses):

Dwango v. Spahn

Videotron vs. Bell ExpressVu

Goldwasser vs. TiVo

TiVo vs. Cisco

Forgent vs. DirecTV

EchoStar vs. News Corp.

EchoStar vs. NDS

TiVo vs. EchoStar

TiVo vs. Motorola

TV Polska vs. EchoStar

Sears vs. DirecTV

Measat vs. Phillips

Similarly, Mr. Schaeffler also served as expert outside counsel and witness to The Asian Network Entertainment (TANE) and the Korean Christian Broadcasting Channel.

During the last decade, Mr. Schaeffler acquired additional skills in the financial and policy sectors, working with a large regional bank to assist in the national marketing of hundreds of its Small Business Administration (SBA)- and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)-related (and other) financial products.

In greater recent detail than that above, in 2020-21, Mr. Schaeffler and The Carmel Group were again selected by the DC-based telecom trade group, WISPA, to write a second volume about the U.S. fixed wireless and hybrid fiber wireless industries (See, https://www.wispa.org/media/vi/543.2024/01/2021_WISPA_Report_FINAL-compressed.pdf).  The ensuing report is titled “Lift-Off: Internet Service Providers Take Flight with Fixed Wireless and Hybrid Networks, The 2021 Fixed Wireless and Hybrid ISP Industry Report.” That extensive and well-received report can be accessed by also going to The Carmel Group’s website and home page at www.carmelgroup.com. Thousands of telecom and banking industry professionals, for example, already have used and referred to it. 

Most recently, podcast and webinar work with WISPA and WISP Magazine to further spread the impressive word of the U.S.’s broadband industries, has been an important slice of The Carmel Group’s extensive portfolio.

Additionally, several key projects involving mergers, acquisitions, and other valuation endeavors have been implemented within the past several years, giving The Carmel Group an entire new base upon which to assist those wishing either to get involved in or get more deeply involved as a stakeholder in fixed wireless, hybrid fiber wireless, and related broadband and streaming media concerns.

Fulfilling his charitable bent, Jimmy Schaeffler founded the University of Denver’s Willy Schaeffler Scholarship Fund (WSSF), which with a cadre of eminent supporters has since 1984 raised more than $1.5 million for a “foreign exchange scholarship for disabled scholar-athletes, with a preference for competitive skiers.” He is also active with fundraising and served on the committee for the U.S. Ski and Snowboard & Paralympic Teams’ Denver Ski Ball, which raised $750,000 in 2024, as well as for his high school on the Monterey Peninsula, where he and his family have been leading donors, since the mid 1960s. At Robert Louis Stevenson School (RLS), Mr. Schaeffler organized a 55th class reunion on the Pier at Stillwater Cove in Pebble Beach — with speaking engagements by Pebble Beach Company CEO David Stivers and RLS CEO Dr. Dan Griffith — in June 2025; as well as an ongoing monthly Zoom call joyfully reuniting the classes’ dozens of surviving members. 

There will be more. Much more.