• Advertising Age, Monday, October 13, 2008 9 AM

As the credit crunch tightens, it's a safe bet consumers won't cut off their cable or satellite-TV service, counting on escapist fare from the comfort of their couch. But the amount of service they use may see some changes.

While half of pay TV's health is aligned with the slumping housing market, the other half is aligned with consumer electronics, which remains strong. Last week, the Consumer Electronics Association reported home-entertainment sales maintained a mid-single-digit growth rate.

Shawn DuBravac, CEA's economist, says consumer-electronics spending is "one thing that people hold on to, even though they may cut down pieces of it." Those pieces can include costly TV sports tiers and Internet service, as younger subscribers buy Internet on an a la carte basis and watch TV on Hulu and iTunes.

Read the whole story at Advertising Age »