April 29, 2008

Cable Seen as More Vulnerable to Housing Slump

Operators suffer basic sub losses as HD lifts DBS in first quarter.

By Steve Goldstein

News Briefing for Tuesday, April 29, 2008

The economic downturn is hurting cable operators more than it’s hurting the satellite distributors and telcos, according to a Reuters poll of eight analysts. Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Cablevision are projected to have lost a combined 98,400 basic video customers in the first quarter of 2008, while DirecTV and Dish Network are estimated to have added a combined 320,000 basic subscribers, who were attracted by the satellite companies’ high-definition offerings. The spiraling housing market will likely lead to more defections from cable, the analysts say, although the actual number of basic sub losses is less alarming than the slowing growth of cable’s RGUs. Cable’s digital phone product is also a question mark, since the trend across the board is toward dropping fixed phone service in favor of mobile service. [Reuters]

Speed is good business, so Comcast will give business more speed as the MSO today announced it’s increased speeds for Business Class Internet service tiers at no additional cost for Comcast Business Class Internet customers. Comcast download speeds reach 16 Mbps and upload speeds hit 2 Mbps. The speed enhancements come soon after the launch of the Business Class Bundle, where business owners can bundle Comcast high-speed Internet with digital voice and video. 

HBO scored the most Emmys among cable and broadcast programmers last night during the 29th annual Sports Emmy Awards ceremony at New York's Lincoln Center. HBO nabbed eight sports Emmys, followed by Fox (five) and ESPN (four). CBS, ESPN.com, NBC and TNT each went home with three Emmys. [EmmyOnline]

And a special nod to our friends at The Golf Channel, which grabbed its first sports Emmy last night, winning The George Wensel Technical Achievement Award for its virtual, putting-line technology called AimPoint. The graphics technology predicts the break of a putt and suggests where a player must aim to hole out.

The Nashville-based Documentary Channel named Spinnaker Media founder James J. Ackerman chairman of the board. Previously, Ackerman was CEO of OpenTV and chief executive of British Interactive Broadcasting. Ackerman will work with founder Tom Neff on the distribution and financial strategies for the self-proclaimed “voice of the independent documentary filmmaker.” Documentary Channel launched on Dish Network in January 2006, and now reaches over 21 million homes.

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