5 TIMES
Cable profits increased five times the amount of their programming expenses during a three-year period, according to a 2009 study.
302 vs. 10
Among Nielsen's 312 top-rated programs during the 2009-10 TV season, 302 aired on broadcast TV. Ten appeared on cable.
10 TIMES
An American household is ten times more likely to experience a complete cable system outage due to poor customer service than to be deprived of its first-choice TV channel because of a retrans dispute.
0.01%
The percentage of annual pay-TV subscriber viewing hours disrupted due to a retransmission consent impasse.
$3.28
The amount of money received per subscriber, per month by Time Warner-owned cable networks like TNT, TBS, Boomerang and others, according to SNL Kagan figures reported by AllThingsD.com.
85 CENTS
The amount of money received per subscriber, per month by Cablevision-owned networks like FUSE, WE tv, IFC, AMC, and Sundance, according to SNL Kagan figures reported by AllThingsD.com.
|
Cable
Rate Increase*
|
Rate
of Inflation**
|
|
| 1999 |
4.0%
|
2.2%
|
| 2000 |
5.0%
|
3.4%
|
| 2001 |
8.2%
|
2.8%
|
| 2002 |
5.6%
|
1.6%
|
| 2003 |
5.4%
|
2.3%
|
| 2004 |
4.2%
|
2.7%
|
| 2005 |
3.9%
|
3.4%
|
| 2006 |
3.9%
|
3.2%
|
| 2007 |
3.8%
|
2.8%
|
| 2008 |
3.7%
|
3.8%
|
| 2009 |
3.0%
|
-0.4%
|
Sources:
* SNL Kagan. Percent change is based on the weighted
average rate. ** Bureau of Labor statistics
CABLEVISION WAS AGAINST RETRANS FEES BEFORE IT WAS FOR 'EM
Cablevision hates retransmission consent when it involves highly-rated broadcast programming aired by the likes of ABC and their network affiliates. But when Cablevision-owned networks like AMC, WE tv and FUSE are negotiating with other pay-TV providers like AT&T's U-verse, well, that's a different story. Nellie Andreeva | Deadline.com
VERIZON FiOS LEANS ON LOCAL TV TO PICK UP TIME WARNER SUBS
In a preemptive move to try and get Time Warner Cable subscribers to switch to Verizon's FiOS service, Verizon is leveraging its carriage of local television stations in a new advertising campaign. “Count on ABC7 for the best programming. Count on FiOS for ABC7,” read a recent full-page ad in the Los Angeles Times. Brooks Barnes, Brian Stelter I The New York Times
CABLE TO FEDS: LET THE MARKET WORK, EXCEPT ON RETRANS
Cable operators do a delicate dance in asking the federal government to step in and provide additional regulation related to retransmission consent, while simultaneously urging the federal government to butt out on net neutrality. Steve Donohue | LightReading.com
'COST OF CABLE CONTINUES TO SOAR'
In advocating for more consumer choice for cable viewers, this Los Angeles Times columnist notes, "Meanwhile the cost of cable continues to soar. In April, Time Warner Cable once again jacked up rates for about 500,000 Southern California customers, after a January price increase for the rest of the company's nearly 2 million local subscribers." David Lazarus I LATimes.com
TIME WARNER CEO BEWKES: RETRANS IS "A GOOD THING"
"On balance, it's a good thing." That's Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes speaking in March at a conference in Palm Beach, Fla about retransmission consent. No word on whether Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt agrees. Claire Atkinson | Broadcasting & Cable
FACT OF LIFE: CABLE LIVES ON BROADCAST RERUNS
This analysis correctly notes that "the most expensive shows that generate the largest audiences are usually developed on broadcast TV before migrating to cable channels. It's partly history and partly economics, but cable networks anchor their programming with reruns of shows that were once broadcast." Ryan Nakashima | Associated Press