With the huge capital projects either done or nearly completed, the cable TV industry is looking to 2003 and beyond to reap the fruits of its investment in infrastructure.
The year past saw the
merger of two huge MSOs (AT&T Broadband and Comcast), $14 billion in capital spending to allow MSOs to offer advanced services like digital cable and telephony, and a shift in viewership, with cable
beating broadcast in primetime and total viewership for the whole year.
Robert Sachs, president and chief executive officer of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, said Thursday
morning that despite a bad economy, there was good news following all that investment.
“The industry saw strong growth in all of the new advanced broadband services,” Sachs said. They included:
A 26% increase in digital cable customers, from 15.2 million at the end of 2001 to 19.2 million at the end of 2002. Substantial growth in the cable modem sector, with a 57% increase from
7.2 million customers a year ago to 11.3 million in December 2002.
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“To continue to bring services like these to our customers, the industry proceeded with the aggressive upgrading and rebuilding program that has been under way for the past five
or six years,” Sachs said. But the $14 billion spent – about $200 a customer on average – represents a reduction from 2001 as those projects come to an end.
On the programming side, Sachs pointed
to the growth in nationally distributed cable networks as well, from 287 in 2001 to 308 and still growing by January 2003. At the same time, cable operators’ programming investments went up 15% from
$9.5 billion a year ago to $10.9 billion in 2002. Cable-originated programming is being recognized by the industry at large, which awarded more than 40 Emmys at the last ceremony as well as numerous
other awards during 2002.
The industry is bullish on the prospects of high definition television. Sachs said it represents a key area of growing in the years ahead. MSOs are offering high
definition programming in 62 of the top 100 DMAs nationwide plus another 30 DMAs. Sachs said the HD segment of the industry is in its early stages, with less than 2% of TV viewers having the proper
equipment so far. But he said the industry was moving ahead to offer customers more higher-definition services.
In recent weeks, Charter Communications announced a high-definition TV deal with
HDNet and Bravo announced it would be offering an all high-definition channel in the future. ESPN will be broadcasting in high-definition sometime in April with the completion of its new studio in
Bristol, Conn. Discovery, HBO and Showtime have channels that are heavily HD.