HBO, NBC Most-Carried Networks In High-Definition Nationwide, BuyingHDTV.com Survey Finds; Seattle Leads Nation in Cable HDTV Channel Availability

1-Sep-04

BuyingHDTV.com has announced the results of its survey of high-definition cable channel availability in the top 25 U.S. markets. HBO and NBC are the most-carried channels in high-definition, with 98-percent of the cable companies in the top 25 U.S. markets offering those two channels in HD. ESPN HD is carried on 82-percent of the cable systems in the top 25 markets, while Discovery HD Theater is on 86-percent. Several channels available in high-definition are carried on fewer than half of the cable systems in the top 25 markets, including Bravo HD+ (4-percent), Cinemax HD (48-percent), Encore HD (0-percent), HDNet and HDNet Movies (42-percent each), TNT HD (18-percent), and The Movie Channel HD (2-percent), indicating that the industry still has considerable work ahead of it in delivering a full slate of HD channels to its customers.Residents of Seattle have the highest average number of HD cable channels available to them, 15.0. Chicago is next at 14.0, followed by Boston at 13.7, and Baltimore, Cincinnati, Denver, Houston, Miami and Tampa at 13.0. St. Louis is last among the top 25, at an average of eight high-def channels available to local cable subscribers. Cablevision offers the most channels in HD, 16, while Bright House Networks is second at 13.0 per market. Comcast averages 12.8 high-def channels per market. Charter offers the fewest HD channels among cable companies serving the top 25 markets, at 9.0 on average. HDTV is rapidly growing in consumer adoption, and with over two-thirds of U.S. television households subscribing to cable TV service, cable company carriage of HDTV channels is a critical factor in the government-mandated transition from analog to digital transmission of television signals. A similar BuyingHDTV.com survey of satellite HDTV channel availability shows that VOOM is far and away the nationwide leader in the number of high-def channels it offers, at 37 (not including local over-the-air channels). It is somewhat difficult to directly compare satellite and cable providersí HD channel availability, as satellite companies provide their customers with digital tuners that can receive local over-the-air digital channels with an antenna. Reception of these channels varies widely based on a customerís location. ìHDTV is a truly revolutionary technology, but our data show that there are still large regional discrepancies over how much programming is available in high-definition,î said Mark Kersey, president of BuyingHDTV.com. ìAs consumer awareness and adoption of HDTV increase, we expect that cable companies around the country will continue to add new high-def channels to satisfy their customersí demands and to keep up with satellite competitors.îThe full list is available at www.BuyingHDTV.com.

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