Cable Adds Record Number Of New Digital Video, Cable Modem Subscribers
The nationís cable operators added more than 720,000 new digital video subscribers to their customer rolls during the first two months of 2000, according to figures released by the National Cable Television Association. The numbers, gathered in an NCTA membership survey, showed an acceleration nationwide in deploying digital cable service, and far outpaced the number of new customers added by direct broadcast satellite firms during the same period. This means that a total of 5.8 million consumers now have added new digital video tiers of programming since the service was first introduced in 1996. Cable operators also added more than 250,000 new high-speed Internet cable modem customers during January and February, a record increase for the two-month period. This brings to 1.85 million the number of cable modem customers in the U.S. Digital video service provides increased channel capacity through compression of four to twelve digital video signals in the same 6MHz slot previously occupied by a single analog channel. As a result, customers in newly rebuilt cable systems are able to receive dozens of new programming services. Digital video also offers crystal-clear video images and CD-quality sound, plus the opportunity to obtain numerous future interactive services. Networks have fielded some 60 new digital channels in recent months in response to added capacity and consumer demand. Examples of new special interest programming include six new movie channels from HBO, nine new music and youth channels from Nickelodeon and MTV, five new weather specialty channels from the Weather Channel, a variety of new foreign language and cultural channels (including Indian, Italian, Arabic, Filipino, French, South Asian and Chinese), eight new channels from Discovery, plus new offerings on biography and history (from A&E), music (from BET) and various additional movie offerings. The significant rise in both digital video and cable modem subscribers in early 2000 continued the cable industryís trend toward rapid deployment of both services. Numbers of both groups - digital video subscribers and high-speed Internet cable modem subscribers - tripled during 1999 after a similarly dramatic increase the previous year. This year, deployment of both services is scheduled to accelerate. For example, citing rising customer demand, one major operator, Time Warner Cable, recently announced its intention to increase its capital budget for digital video and cable modem deployment from a planned $1.6 billion to nearly $2 billion during 2000. ""Weíre pleased that consumers are enthusiastically taking advantage of the new services that upgraded cable systems are able to offer,"" stated Robert Sachs, NCTA President. ""The cable industry is working to bring consumers the best technology and services available, at a reasonable price. This is further proof that competition is providing beneficial choices and prices to the American consumer. Earlier, the Cable and Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM) released a survey showing impressive positive customer response to their upgraded, digital cable offerings. Of nearly 2,600 consumers polled, 95 percent expressed satisfaction with their service. The survey also showed that digital-cable customers are keenly anticipating new interactive services, including video-on-demand, ability to pause live programming and recording capabilities without a VCR. Source: NCTA