Posted on 12/15/2008 8:16:05 AM PST by Kevin J waldroup
EW YORK (Reuters) - Time Warner Cable Inc will likely sell fewer than expected video, Internet and phone subscriptions this year, and expects a further decline next year due to the worsening U.S. economy, Chief Financial Officer Rob Marcus said on Monday.
"In 2008, we're on track to deliver less than 2.5 million additional revenue-generating units," Marcus told the Reuters Media Summit in New York, adding that that was less than what the No. 2 U.S. cable company had originally anticipated.
Revenue-generating unit, or RGU, is a cable industry term used for each video, Internet and phone subscription sold. Time Warner has sold around 2.1 million RGUs in the first three quarters of 2008, implying that it expects to add 400,000 RGUs in the fourth quarter.
Analyst Thomas Eagan of Collins Stewart said he had forecast Time Warner Cable to sell 2.6 million RGUs in 2008.
"We pulled back our numbers after the third quarter but maybe we didn't pull them back enough," Eagan said. "It appears the dramatic slowdown they saw last month hasn't really abated."
Time Warner Cable said on its third-quarter earnings call last month that it saw a slowdown in customers signing up for premium services, such as digital video recorders and pay-per-view TV.
Marcus said the company will likely sell fewer services overall next year, after new subscriptions growth already slowed markedly in September when investment bank Lehman Brothers collapsed and the financial crisis steepened.
"I would say coming in 2009 ... it's going to be less than that (2.5 million), though I have no doubt it will be a significant number," he added.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
“Cable Networks DeathWatch™” seems a bit premature. May as well start up the Internet Deathwatch™ as well. Add in the Cellphone Deathwatch™ too.
Why are we gunning for the cable networks to die?
Seems rather silly.
no sympathy for them. I pay extra for an HD tier with TimeWarner cable. Every 2 or 3 months, I call them and ask, when are more channels coming to the HD tier, I pay extra for it (their adds on TV say it’s free), and each and every time they say next month, next month new HD channels will be added to your tier. this has been going on for year and a half.
no sympathy... hope they go down. try $100 a month for 15 years... that is $18,000 I have given them....
But what do I know, I'm not a greedy cable executive.
HD TV is free on Time Warner. I get all local channels in HD, and much more like NatGeoHD, DiscoveryHD, FoodTVHD, HGTV-HD, etc. I won’t pay for the HD package because it has too much junk like HDNet (Mark Cuban/Dan Rather).
Verizon Fios is the only way to fly.
“SNL Kagan data also indicates that cable penetration of homes passed peaked at 65.5% in 1998. As of yearend 2006, cable subscriptions stood at 65.4 million, or 58.4% of 111.9 million homes passed, according to the data. Due to two recent quarters of declining cable subscriptions, this figure is likely to drop further by the end of 2007, SNL Kagan said.”
http://www.marketingcharts.com/television/snl-kagan-cable-subscription-data-contradicts-fcc-chairman-kevin-martin-2634/
HDTV (High Definition Television)
is here today, and it’s FREE!
See the Public Service Announcement
Don’t be misled…
you don’t have to use a pay service to have “High Definition Television” (HDTV)
http://www.myfreehdtv.org/body.html
No, I agree, like everything else in life cable’s gotten more and more expensive, but it’s also gotten better. My cable/internet is now up to $103/month, but since I quit smoking (Tobacco Industry DeathWatch™), I’ve happily moved recaptured money to make up the difference and even had a little extra left over.
Selective sins, I guess.
According to two recent studies, HDTVs are now in about one-third of all homes, making it increasingly important for pay TV operators to deploy a strong high-definition offering if they wish to retain current customers. And the Consumer Electronics Association predicts that some 27.7 million new HD sets will be sold in 2009.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6620569.html
“No, I agree, like everything else in life cable’s gotten more and more expensive, but it’s also gotten better. My cable/internet is now up to $103/month, but since I quit smoking (Tobacco Industry DeathWatch™), I’ve happily moved recaptured money to make up the difference and even had a little extra left over.
Selective sins, I guess.”
PS thank you for the laugh
We would love to switch to something else...AT&T, Verizon, DISH...but cannot. These services are not yet offered in our area and we have too many trees for DISH.
How about a HUMAN BEING DeathWatch™ ?
I’m so mad at Time Warner right now! They just moved the channels around again and now we only have Cspan from the house and the Senate isn’t on anymore. GGGGGRRRRRR!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.