DTV2009: Cable Companies Dreaming Of Subscriber Dollars Rolling In

Cable companies are jumping with joy at the thought of acquiring a big chunk of the 18-22 million homes currently getting their TV over-the-air that'll be forced to go digital come February 17, 2009. While most cable providers already provide digital service, a good percentage of those with OTA TV would be either first-time subscribers or those who've let their subscriptions expire. Research company SNL Kagan estimates that at least 10% of those with OTA TV now will opt for pay TV come DTV2009 and the majority of those will head for cable. Interestingly a weak US economy is helping the situation as people flock for entertainment in its cheapest form possible: cable. Maybe that's way companies such as Comcast and Time Warner Cable, both of whom were flagging badly in the first couple of months of 2008 have since respective stock price increases of 40% and 38.5%. We never thought we'd say this, but maybe it's a good time to invest in the cable industry.

Via Information Week

Read More in: Digital TV Transition 2009

Related Articles:

• Comcast Taking Advantage Of Mass DTV Switch Panic, Offering Up Free Cable - Oct 09, 2008
• DTV2009: A Looming National Crisis, Battery Power, And The DTVPal Plus - Sep 24, 2008
• DTV2009: Wilmington Kills Off Analog For Good - Sep 09, 2008

Came straight to this page? Visit TV Snob for all the latest news.

Want to share this post with others? digg this and add to del.icio.us.