Report: Cable video still dominates in Top Ten markets; telcos small but growing

MAY 10, 2010 -- SNL Kagan, in partnership with MediaBiz, has released a report on the U.S. multichannel video market that analyzes subscriber counts, penetration, and operator performance nationwide and by market. According to the report, the multichannel video market expanded from 97 million video subscribers at year-end 2008 to 99.9 million as of year-end 2009. However, performance was mixed among the three distribution categories. Cable subscribers slipped from 62.6 million to 62.1 million, while DBS subscribers increased from 31.3 million to 32.7 million. Telcos showed the biggest gains, with video subscribers growing 65%, from 3.1 million to 5.1 million.

The analysis shows that cable is still the dominant provider in the Top Ten markets in the U.S., with the highest relative market share in Boston at 74.9%. DBS has its highest share in Atlanta, with 43.4% of the video market, while telco’s strongest foothold is in Dallas-Ft. Worth at 14.1%.

SNL Kagan, a division of SNL Financial LC, provides financial intelligence and market research in the media and communications sector.

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