Comment Anyway, the cable industry isn't hoarding... (Score 1) 102
As I posted last week on our blog, NAB's charges are unfounded: http://www.cabletechtalk.com/wireless/2011/03/24/hoarding-buried-alive-under-misinformation/
Comment A few corrections (Score 1) 111
As an actual representative of the NCTA, I wanted to offer a few corrections/clarifications to the discussion above.
As for the seemingly conflicting numbers of cable homes that are listed on our website, the answer lies in how you count households. One set of numbers comes from a company called SNL Kagan and another set of numbers comes from A.C. Nielsen Media Research. Total households is something between 126-127 million, but includes seasonal homes, vacations properties and so on. Kagan also has a figure for occupied households. Nielsen is only interested in counting homes with TVs and people in those homes who are watching. Therefore, the larger figure is homes passed, while the smaller figure in homes with people in them. It's a difference of counting homes that could buy service or counting homes with TV viewers in them.
As for the accusation by Orange Crush that Comcast (and presumably other cable operators) built their infrastructure "with a lot of government subsidies," this is not so. The cable industry has invested more than $110 billion over the last 10 years in its hybrid fiber-coaxial infrastructure and used their own capital and private capital. Cable is in a different position from the phone companies and broadcasters.
Finally, there appears to be some confusion over what the "70/70" test means. Someone thought it meant 70 % of 70%, or 49%. While Bob of Dole is correct that it could be this low, that doesn't account for current market conditions. The denominator in the fraction is 70% of households passed by service of 36+ channels. The numbers of homes passed today actually happens to be around 98%. After homes passed, the next part is homes that actually buy cable service. Most estimates put cable penetration below 65 percent, and the FCC's last estimate was well below 60 percent. See Adelstein's remarks on this point.
As for the seemingly conflicting numbers of cable homes that are listed on our website, the answer lies in how you count households. One set of numbers comes from a company called SNL Kagan and another set of numbers comes from A.C. Nielsen Media Research. Total households is something between 126-127 million, but includes seasonal homes, vacations properties and so on. Kagan also has a figure for occupied households. Nielsen is only interested in counting homes with TVs and people in those homes who are watching. Therefore, the larger figure is homes passed, while the smaller figure in homes with people in them. It's a difference of counting homes that could buy service or counting homes with TV viewers in them.
As for the accusation by Orange Crush that Comcast (and presumably other cable operators) built their infrastructure "with a lot of government subsidies," this is not so. The cable industry has invested more than $110 billion over the last 10 years in its hybrid fiber-coaxial infrastructure and used their own capital and private capital. Cable is in a different position from the phone companies and broadcasters.
Finally, there appears to be some confusion over what the "70/70" test means. Someone thought it meant 70 % of 70%, or 49%. While Bob of Dole is correct that it could be this low, that doesn't account for current market conditions. The denominator in the fraction is 70% of households passed by service of 36+ channels. The numbers of homes passed today actually happens to be around 98%. After homes passed, the next part is homes that actually buy cable service. Most estimates put cable penetration below 65 percent, and the FCC's last estimate was well below 60 percent. See Adelstein's remarks on this point.
Slashdot Top Deals
Getting the job done is no excuse for not following the rules. Corollary: Following the rules will not get the job done.
