• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, March 9, 2011

In its battle to out-compete local cable for ad dollars, the TVB said a record number of Americans are getting video programming through an alternate delivery system (ADS), using Nielsen data.

National ADS penetration rose to 30.6% of U.S. TV homes in February, up from 29.8% for the same month the year before. It accounts for 33.8% of pay-TV customers.

"Advertisers that buy cable locally need to know that local wired cable systems' ability to deliver commercials continues to erode," stated TVB head Steve Lanzano. "In fact, in quite a few markets, a majority of those paying for video programming are now getting that programming via ADS rather than from a wired-cable system. "Local cable commercials are not seen in ADS homes," adds Lanzano, "and so local advertisers need to deduct the ADS percentage of the audience if they are included in the cable systems' submissions."

Among the top-50 markets, the Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C. area had the highest Ads penetration at 47.2%, followed closely by Birmingham and Albuquerque. Among top-10 markets, Atlanta leads at 38.7%.