• by Wayne Friedman , December 17, 2009

Non-cable TV distributors -- satellite and IPTV -- continue to eat into the market share of cable systems.

The Television Bureau of Advertising, through data obtained by Nielsen Media Research, says "alternative delivery systems" now hold just under a 30% market share among all TV homes -- at 29.3%, its highest levels ever.

This figure is up from the 28.7% number of November 2008. The TVB says ADS are now in 32.5% of all TV homes that pay monthly fees to receive TV and cable programming packages. Satellite distribution continues to comprise the lion's share of all ADS. Satellite distribution is 29% in all TV homes, up from 28.4% a year ago.

Many big ADS markets continue to be in the Southwest and West regions, with Albuquerque-Santa Fe taking the top spot among ADS distributors: a 52.4% share of all subscription-based TV distributors. Salt Lake City is No. 2 at 47.2%; Greenville, South Carolina is at 46.4%.

Many medium-sized and smaller markets are well over 50% in market share for ADS. In markets size 50 through 100, Shreveport, La. comes in first place at 62.6%, with Springfield, Missouri at 60.8%.

Why is knowing ADS shares important? The TVB -- the TV station advertising group that competes with the cable industry's ad efforts -- says local TV advertisers may not be getting all coverage from its local cable buys.

Says Susan Cuccinello, senior vice president of research for the TVB: "Local cable commercials are not seen in ADS homes, so local advertisers need to deduct the ADS percentage of the audience if they are included in the cable systems' submissions."