• by Wayne Friedman , April 1, 2020

Compared to the U.S. economy as a whole, cable TV operator/broadband companies will “remain relatively stable” through the COVID-19 crisis, says Moody’s Investors Service -- with a slight 2% revenue estimate decline through 2020.

Moody’s expects a 2.3% increase in revenue for the cable/broadband sector in 2021. Before the crisis, Moody’s had projected a 5% climb in revenues for 2020 for the group.

Cable and other TV companies are experiencing a “sharp rise in TV viewership and broadband demand, despite some temporary operational disruption.” The latter comes from a surge in broadband usage.

“We expect greater demand across residential, commercial, governmental, and mobile carriers,” say the authors. “Video viewership and engagement is rising sharply, with subscribers spending extraordinary time watching TV for news and entertainment comfort.”

By way of comparison -- looking at the 2016-2018 recent period- - the cable sector averaged better growth than the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) -- at 4.6% versus 2.2%.

During the last crisis -- the great recession of 2008-2010, where the sector fell to a 2.7% (2010) growth rate from a 5.3% (2009) --- cable/broadband averaged 8.2% better revenue growth than U.S. GDP in the two down years, 2008 and 2009.

Moody's noted that many cable/broadband companies -- AT&T, Comcast, Charter Spectrum, Cox Communications, Mediacom Communications, Altice USA, CableOne; and Verizon -- are loosening up broadband/data usage and speeds for low-income families in addition to offering longer-length free promotions overall for new customers.