Q1 2013 shows a 50 percent decline in...
Q1 2013 shows a 50 percent decline in the number of new cable video subscribers from the same period last year, according to an investment newsletter from the Pivotal Research Group released Tuesday. Analyst Jeffrey Wlodarczak said in order to…
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get cable video subscriptions to rise, “the housing market is going to need to materially improve” and suggested cable operators offer bundles including data and subscriptions to online video services like Amazon Prime to entice price-focused customers. “We believe a player like Amazon is likely quite willing to materially incent cable to move in this direction,” said Wlodarczak. He said such a deal might pressure programmers to walk back retransmission consent fee increases. The report also said cable’s share of the data market had slipped to 72 percent, from 78 percent during Q1 2012. However, Wlodarczak said cable still had the “lion’s share” of the data market, which he said would continue for infrastructure reasons. “We continue to believe that given likely continued skyrocketing demand for data speed that any copper based alternative is in trouble, which is why AT&T is trying novel technologies to try to increase the throughput of their copper plant by [2015].” Wlodarczak said satellite stocks should be attractive to investors and that cable stock prices will continue to rise, driven by “increasing investor understanding that cable in the vast majority of the U.S. owns the dominant way consumers will access the Internet."